Cuba gets acquainted with scientific and educational potential of SPbPU

Peter the Great St. Petersburg Polytechnic University was visited by a representative delegation represented by Professor Alberto Turro Breff, Advisor for Education and Science of the Republic of Cuba, and Professor Delis Sevila Rodriguez, Higher Education and Science Specialist.

As part of the visit of representatives of the Embassy of Cuba in the Russian Federation to Polytechnic University, a meeting was held with Vice Rector for International Affairs Dmitry Arseniev and directors of specialized institutes, dedicated to the development of scientific and educational partnership. Joint projects, exchange programs and prospects for cooperation in key areas for Cuba were discussed at the event. First of all, these are energy, construction, digital technologies, training of managerial personnel in specialized sectors of the economy

The meeting began with a welcoming speech by Dmitry Arseniev, vice-rector for international affairs: Polytechnic University’s cooperation with Cuba has a long history, it was actively developed in the 90s and 2000s. Today we have restarted our relations with Cuban universities, our professors participate in conferences in Cuba, the first Cuban master’s degree and postgraduate students have appeared at IIME&T and ICСS. We are open to partnership with many universities, but our key strategic partner is the Technological University of Havana (CUJAE).

Special attention in the conversation was paid to two major joint projects of SPbPU and CUJAE submitted to the competition of the Ministry of Science and Higher Education of the Russian Federation. The first project is aimed at ensuring Cuba’s energy security, and the second project is aimed at developing technologies for processing organic waste into biogas. Both projects have already passed the first stage of the competition, and the parties discussed further steps for their realization.

An important issue for discussion was the task of obtaining quotas for Cuban students in engineering and technical fields. The Russian Federation implements jointly with the Cuban Ministry of Higher Education the 100 Scholarships program, under which Cuban students, who have passed the appropriate selection, study in Russian universities completely free of charge. The joint initiative of Polytechnic University and CUJAE is to fix a certain number of places for engineering training within these quotas.

The Embassy Counselor was introduced to the educational initiatives of Polytechnic University for Cuban partners: Winter School in Engineering with free participation of Cuban students, SmartCity2030 Project Marathon with teams from Russia, Cuba, China and Brazil, as well as publications of joint research in journals indexed by Scopus.

Cuban colleagues were given a tour of the Polytechnic University campus. They learned about key events in the life of the university at the Museum of History of SPbPU, visited the laboratories of the Institute of Electronics and Telecommunications and the Polytechnic Supercomputer Center.

Today, energy is a priority for Cuba. It is important for us to create a network of educational centers throughout the country to train specialists together with Russian universities. We are also interested in online learning. In 2026, Havana will host an international congress with the participation of 500 universities. We are waiting for Polytechnic as a key partner to present joint achievements in the field of AI and sustainable development, Dr. Alberto Turro Breff summed up the visit.

The meeting ended with agreements on the preparation of a roadmap for cooperation and mutual visits of delegations. St. Petersburg Polytechnic University confirmed its status as one of Cuba’s key partners in higher education and technological innovation. The participants expressed confidence that joint efforts will help strengthen scientific and educational ties between the two countries and contribute to the development of a sustainable Cuban economy.