‘The Open Doors Olympiad Is a Tool that Helps to Select the Best Students and Ensures Our Stable Development in Science’
A meeting of the Association of Global Universities was held in the White Hall of the Durasov House at HSE University. The participants welcomed new members of the association, summed up the results of the work in 2023 and outlined goals for the next year. They paid special attention to the International Open Doors Olympiad, which attracts students from all over the world. Interest in the Olympiad is growing as foreign applicants get the opportunity to study at leading Russian universities for free.
Valery Falkov, Minister of Science and Higher Education of the Russian Federation, took part in the event. He emphasised that the Association of Global Universities should focus on the international competitiveness of Russian higher education.
‘The number of international students in Russia is increasing. At the same time, we see that the trend towards student mobility remains stable worldwide. Taking into account new challenges and opportunities, the association must intensify its effective activities. The International Open Doors Olympiad represents one of the most successful tools of this activity,’ says the minister.
Irina Karelina, HSE University Vice President and Executive Director of the Association, said that more than 3 million foreigners learn about Russia, Russian education and its science system through the Olympiad channels. Since 2019, more than 350,000 students have participated in the Open Doors, with about 5,000 students and doctoral students enrolling at the best Russian universities.
‘We have managed to double the quality of admissions from students, and at the same time the enrollment figures have increased by about 1.5 times. This year, we received 110,000 applications for master's programmes and 56,000 applications from prospective doctoral students. Our next step in the Olympiad development will be launching of the ‘Postdocs’ track to attract motivated intrnational researchers to Russia,’ says Irina Karelina.
Anastasia Minina, Vice-Rector for International Affairs of St Petersburg Electrotechnical University ‘LETI’, shared some success stories from the winners of the Open Doors Olympiad. She noted that since the launch of the Olympiad and the introduction of international student support, the number of foreign undergraduates and doctoral students at the university has increased tenfold. ‘The Olympiad is a tool that really helps to select the best students and thus ensures our stable development in science. Students become scientists and work at our laboratories,’ says Anastasia Minina.
Pavel Shevtsov, Deputy Head of Rossotrudnichestvo, also highlighted the effectiveness of the Olympiad as a tool for attracting talent and called on universities to actively use the agency network of information resources to promote Russian education abroad. He also drew the attention of the meeting participants to increasing the competitiveness of programmes at Russian universities in order to attract international students.
Yaroslav Kuzminov, HSE University Academic Supervisor, focused on the changes that have occurred in the association. The association has expanded, and Bauman Moscow State Technical University, Moscow Polytechnic University, MGIMO University and Moscow State University of Civil Engineering were unanimously accepted as association members.
‘Our university is interested in joint activity aimed at developing education in Russia. We hope that joining the association will contribute to improving the quality of education and effective implementation of our development programme,’ says Vladimir Miklushevsky, Rector of Moscow Polytechnic University.
The Association of Global Universities currently includes 23 Russian universities. The Southern Federal University will also join it soon.
In addition, the association has established an expert council, which includes Yaroslav Kuzminov, HSE University Academic Supervisor, Nikolay Kudryavtsev, President of MIPT, and Mikhail Strikhanov, Scientific Director of MEPhI. Nikita Anisimov, HSE University Rector, chairs the association's council.
‘We see that Russian universities are in demand among international young people, the interest from foreign countries in our education and our universities is also growing,’ says Nikita Anisimov.
Following the meeting, the association members outlined the main areas of activity for the next stage of development. Representatives of universities will focus on the development of the international agenda. Thus, the association will become the main expert platform for selecting the most successful university practices in promoting Russian education abroad.
See also:
1,700 International Participants Named Winners of Open Doors International Olympiad
On March 16, the results of the Open Doors International Olympiad for master’s and doctoral applicants were announced. The competition is organised by the Association of Global Universities with the support of the Ministry of Education and Science of Russia and the Federal Agency for the Commonwealth of Independent States Affairs, Compatriots Living Abroad, and International Humanitarian Cooperation (Rossotrudnichestvo). HSE University is one of the Olympiad’s organisers and the site of its distributed project office.
Leading Universities and the Right to Award Academic Degrees
Last year, the Russian Federation gave leading universities the right to award their own academic degrees on a trial basis, and this prompted universities to create models for future implementation. What the new system will bring and what needs to be done in order to render it fully operational was the focus of the board meeting of the Association of Global Universities, held on February 12 at HSE.
The Time of ‘Loner Universities’ Has Passed
Today St Petersburg saw the launch of the international conference Education and Global Cities: BRICS perspectives. About 400 representatives of higher education and high-schools, authorities, and businesses from across the world discuss the latest trends in education development, the current role of universities in cities and new paths to resolving current problems in education.
Leading Universities Will Recruit Foreign Students Together
On December 24th 2014, a meeting of the Council of the Association of Global Universities took place at HSE. The Council decided to establish a centre which will focus on recruiting foreign students for universities who are participants of the project 5/100.