Polytechnic University participates in virtual online exhibitions and educational webinars

The coronavirus pandemic has had a significant impact on the admission campaign for international applicants. Many events now take place online. Since the beginning of 2021, Polytechnic University has participated in more than 10 virtual educational exhibitions and held a series of webinars for prospective international students.

Turkey, Argentina, Colombia, Paraguay, Peru, Uruguay, Chile, Ecuador, Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Egypt — these and other countries hosted educational international exhibitions online, in which Polytechnic representatives participated. One of the first for SPbPU was the IEF international educational exhibition in Kazakhstan. Universities from Australia, Germany, Great Britain, the United States, Japan, and other countries participated along with Polytechnic University.

Begin Group’s international educational exhibitions cover three regions — North Africa, South America and Central Asia. In North Africa — Egypt, Tunisia, Algeria, and Morocco — more than 700 people visited the Politex virtual booth. Participants were mainly interested in international Master’s degree programs in English in areas such as computer technology and microelectronics, PhD programs and internships, as well as opportunities for scholarships and grants.

More than 250 people from South America connected to the Politex virtual booth. Participants showed high interest in international master’s programs in construction, international business, engineering, energy, life science and humanities. In addition, many students were interested in graduate and undergraduate programs in English. In Central Asia (Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan), the exhibition is yet to come. It will take place on June 9.

The stands of SPbPU at the largest regional exhibitions of the A2 organization in Turkey and Morocco were visited online by almost 250 participants. Turkish and Moroccan students were mainly interested in general information about the university — its infrastructure, opportunities for research and internships, recreational activities, and a variety of student events. Seeing the excitement from the Turkish applicants, representatives of the Polytechnic University held an additional webinar for Turkish applicants in the official English-speaking account of SPbPU on Facebook, where a student from Turkey shared his impressions about the university.

At the end of April, the Polytechnic University also participated in the virtual educational exhibition «Study in Russia» organized by the Project Office for Education Development and International Cooperation of Rosatom State Corporation and the Peoples’ Friendship University of Russia. The thematic exhibition was dedicated to the Bachelor’s and Master’s Degree Programs in Power Engineering. The pool of educational programs in this area is implemented in SPbPU at the Institute of Power Engineering. Representatives of Polytechnic University conducted presentations of the programs in the format of an open webinar, as well as consulted all interested applicants.

Webinars for international applicants take place regularly and are broadcast from the upgraded Admission Office. Each webinar at Polytechnic University focuses on a specific topic. International student managers talk about the peculiarities of the Admission Campaign during the coronavirus, the university campus as a whole, the innovations of the International Polytechnic Summer School, and individual educational programs. Recently, coordinators of international educational programs and international students at Polytechnic have begun to join the webinars to talk live about educational opportunities at SPbPU

For 2020 and 2021, we were quite expecting applicants to search for the information they needed online. With the Admissions Campaign during the pandemic, online resources are the only source of information. We regularly post updates on the websites of Polytechnic in different languages and social networks, all new information we receive immediately appears in the public domain, commented Eugenia SATALKINA, Head of International Education Department.

All foreign-language websites of SPbPU are regularly updated. For international applicants systematized information is prepared, which includes examples of admission tests and their timing, features of admission 2021/22, and much more. In addition, this year a new online application system has been developed and implemented to make the admission process to Polytechnic University faster and more reliable for foreigners.

Prepared by the SPbPU International Office