Polytechnic University at the 17th Week of Germany in St. Petersburg: sharing best practices with partners

As many other events this year, the 17th Week of Germany in St. Petersburg took place online. This time, the federal state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern became its official partner. As part of the virtual German Week, Peter the Great St. Petersburg Polytechnic University, together with the DAAD Information Center in St. Petersburg and representatives of universities partnering SPbPU from Mecklenburg-Vorpommern (Hochschule Stralsund - University of Applied Sciences) held an online meeting to discuss international cooperation and provided a platform for the exchange of experience and views on the institution and progress of inter-university relations between Russian and German universities.

Altogether, more than 50 people attended the seminar. The geography of the participants was quite extensive: the guests of the event representated the international departments of universities in St. Petersburg, North-West and other regions of the Russian Federation, as well as teachers interested in expanding inter-university cooperation.

Director of the DAAD Information Center in St. Petersburg Beate KOLBERG welcomed the participants. After that, an expert at the Center for Competencies in the Field of International Scientific Cooperation DAAD in Bonn, Silvia Schmid, gave an overview of DAAD programs aimed at supporting inter-university partnership projects and spoke about ways to establish contacts with German universities.

In continuation of this topic, Alla MAZINA, Deputy Head of the SPbPU Department of International Education and Olga EMELYANOVA, Head of the SPbPU Department of International Educational Programs and Academic Mobility, spoke about the internationalization of educational programs at SPbPU, shared best practices in organizing double degree programs and summer schools and the development of long-term inter-university collaboration.

From the SPbPU part, the online seminar also engaged Nikita LUKASHEVICH, Deputy Director of IIME&T for International Activities, and Nelly KOZLOVA, Associate Professor at the Higher School of Service and Trade. Nikita Lukashevich reviewed the experience of sustainable cooperation with the Hochschule Wismar, University of Applied Sciences, Technology, Business and Design on the execution of international educational project Erasmus+ and the development of educational modules and summer schools in logistics.

“Despite the current situation in the world, the Institute continues to develop cooperation with partners and implement international projects in a new online format and with the support of international services. Particular attention is paid to cooperation with universities of applied sciences, including in Germany, which make a significant contribution to the development of international educational programs and the search for new international projects. The second project is being implemented with Wismar, while a double degree program has been created with Stralsund,” said Nikita Lukashevich.

The topic of “Sustainable partnership through joint international projects” was continued by Gunnar Klaus PRAUSE, Professor at the Hochschule Wismar, University of Applied Sciences, Technology, Business and Design, who shared his positive experience of working with SPbPU. In his comments, Professor PRAUSE emphasized: “For any cooperation, trust is the main currency. All difficulties can be dealt with, and the success of cooperation does not depend on them.”

Nelly KOZLOVA, together with a colleague from Germany Professor Ralph MERTENS, summarized the experience of sustainable cooperation with the Hochschule Stralsund - University of Applied Sciences, with whom a double-degree program for undergraduate students in international trade is implemented, as well as academic mobility programs.

In conclusion, participants and speakers noted how important it was now, in the difficult period of the epidemic and the forced restriction of international exchange, to maintain contacts with partners, discuss further steps for developing cooperation, and look for alternative solutions for implementing joint projects, albeit online.

Prepared by the SPbPU International Office