Polytechnic University and Rossotrudnichestvo held an international webinar for students from Syria

Peter the Great St. Petersburg Polytechnic University and the Russian House in Damascus held an international webinar for applicants and students from Syria. Representatives of international office, Syrian students and graduate students participated in the webinar on behalf of SPbPU. The moderator was Maria Bocharova, Director of the Center for International Recruitment and Communications.

Countries of the Arab world are a strategic area for Polytechnic University. Since the 2000s, the university has been actively cooperating with a number of Syrian universities in a wide range of areas and is actively developing partnerships with them. At the end of May, Polytechnic University signed a protocol of intent to cooperate with the Syrian Higher Institute of Applied Sciences and Technologies (HIAST). Employees and students of another Syrian university, Sham University, participated in a webinar and learned about the educational opportunities and peculiarities of enrollment at SPbPU.

Syrian students study at SPbPU in various programs — from undergraduate to postgraduate. The children choose a variety of training areas: applied mathematics, mechanics, microelectronics, telecommunications, energy, civil engineering, as well as IT, mechanical engineering, biotechnology, humanities and economic sciences. Nine out of 12 main institutes of SPbPU have students from Syria," said Evgenia Satalkina, Head of the International Education Department (IED SPbPU) in her welcoming speech. "We are highly interested in expanding partnerships with the Syrian Arab Republic, and we will be happy to see new students in our educational programs.

From the Syrian side the coordinator of Rossotrudnichestvo representative office in the Syrian Arab Republic Victoria Al-Ahmed and deputy rector of Sham University for administrative part Rania Zrer addressed the audience. Syrian colleagues noted the importance of strengthening cooperation and spoke about the possibility of entering a Russian university on the quotas of the Ministry of Science and Higher Education through the representation of Rossotrudnichestvo. In turn, the head of IED SPbPU Evgenia Satalkina spoke about the prospects of participation in the International Open Doors: Russian Scholarship Project, the winners of which can enter graduate and postgraduate courses at Peter the Great St. Petersburg Polytechnic University and other leading Russian universities without entrance examinations and study for free on account of the Russian budget.

Polytechnic students from Syria told about their studies at the university and their life in Russia, about what their scientific research is about and what plans they have for the future. Alessar Khalil, a graduate of the Higher School of Engineering and Economics, studied global economics at Polytechnic and is now enrolled in the master’s degree program at SPbPU, where he will study economics and organizational management.I chose Polytechnic University because it is one of the leading universities in Russia. For me it is an opportunity to develop in the field of economics, gain professional skills, and in the future to find a high-paying job. Polytechnic is a prestigious university, many people dream of entering here, said Alessar Khalil.

Somar Berro is a postgraduate student at the Higher School of Automation and Robotics. His research field is robotics, mechanics, and robotic systems, which are designed to automate complex technological processes and operations. I like that the Polytechnic University has well-equipped laboratories that allow for a variety of research and experiments. And there are also responsive colleagues here who are always willing to help, Somar shared.

Lara Assalama is a graduate of HIAST Institute. At Polytechnic University, she is working on a research project in machine learning and control and is working with other scientists to develop software technology to control a prosthetic arm. This is a promising area of research because deep learning techniques have literally revolutionized the field of intelligent systems, including computer vision and speech recognition, in recent years. My work aims to create a special system that will help recognize hand gestures using a system of special signals. In the future, it can be used to control a prosthetic arm, Lara said.

Participants of the webinar listened to the speakers with great interest and asked a lot of questions at the end of the video meeting. The event was highly appreciated by the head of the Representative Office of Rossotrudnichestvo in the Syrian Arab Republic Nikolai Sukhov, who expressed his hope for further fruitful cooperation with the Polytechnic University. I am sure that our joint activities will help to attract foreign citizens to the educational programs of Russian universities, said Nikolay Sukhov.

Prepared by the SPbPU International Office