KRSU and SPbPU: development through partnership

Polytechnic University discussed the development of the Kyrgyz-Russian Slavic University with the participation of representatives of the Administration of the President of the Russian Federation and the Ministry of Education and Science of Russia

Peter the Great St. Petersburg Polytechnic University hosted an extended meeting dedicated to the development of the Kyrgyz-Russian Slavic University (KRSU). The event was attended by the Rector of SPbPU Andrei Rudskoi, Referent of the Office of the President of the Russian Federation Vadim Smirnov, Acting Rector of the Ministry of Science and Higher Education of the Russian Federation Sergey Volkov, and representatives of the Ministry of Science and Higher Education of the Russian Federation, as well as heads of key Polytechnic University’s departments and institutes involved in the implementation of KRSU transformation projects.

Before the meeting, the results of the internship in SPbPU for the heads of KRSU educational programs were summarized, where the Kyrgyz colleagues presented the projects of curriculum renewal in five areas.

The meeting became a platform for summarizing the interim results of cooperation and discussing plans for 2025. Starting from January 2025, SPbPU acts as a coordinator of the development programs of all four Slavic universities. Special attention is paid to KRSU, where Polytechnic University helps to modernize engineering education, scientific activities and human resources. During the year of joint work, the curricula have been redesigned, network programs and professional development of teachers have been launched.

Dmitry Arseniev, vice-rector for international affairs reminded that the active development of the project with KRSU began exactly one year ago with the International Forum in Bishkek, when SPbPU first started comprehensive expert work on the KRSU development program.

During the meeting the responsible employees of SPbPU by areas presented the main results of the past year — qualitative and quantitative results in key areas (educational activities, development of scientific potential, youth policy, distance technologies in education, interlibrary cooperation) and priority areas (construction, electronics and telecommunications, energy, ICT, lean manufacturing). In addition, specific plans for 2025 were proposed for each of the directions and the main problem areas were outlined.

The meeting discussed the progress and development prospects of the Kyrgyz-Russian Slavic University (KRSU) with the support of SPbPU. The participants noted significant steps in joint work: modernization of educational programs, launch of network projects and strengthening of academic mobility. Vadim Smirnov emphasized the importance of a systematic approach to motivating KRSU employees, suggesting the idea of integrating their participation in programs with Polytechnic University into the incentive system.

During the meeting, participants also discussed problem areas: the low level of digital competencies of KRSU faculty, lack of funding for research, and difficulties in adapting Russian educational standards to Kyrgyz conditions. In order to solve these problems, it was proposed to strengthen internships, develop distance formats, and more actively involve young specialists.

Both the polytechnic and KRSU management noted as one of the main problems — the task of personnel renewal. Working with human potential, searching for talents in KRSU and even around it is one of the primary tasks for the coming year. Sergey Volkov emphasized that the key task remains the transformation of KRSU into a leading national university, for this purpose huge resources are being concentrated, including plans to build a modern campus in Bishkek, which will become the center of engineering, humanitarian and medical education.

In the context of the organization of scientific activities, Vadim Smirnov proposed to focus on 2-3 priority scientific-applied projects. Such a project could be a complex cooperation with the enterprise «Alliance Altyn», which was discussed during the recent visit. The second reference point could be the project of interdisciplinary research on the basis of the High-Altitude Observatory of Atmospheric Processes Physics of KRSU. The combination of fundamental and applied tasks will make it possible to achieve practical results, at the same time preparing the ground for future projects and scientific development.

The outcome of the meeting was an agreement to finalize the roadmap taking into account the strategic goals of KRSU and to hold regular working meetings. Andrei Rudskoi expressed confidence that joint efforts will bring the Kyrgyz-Russian Slavic University to a new level, strengthening the position of Russian education in Central Asia.