Tomsk Polytechnic University has become a member of a new consortium entitled Network Pre-University Faculty for Foreign Citizens. The consortium unites five leading universities, which jointly create and will implement a unique program of training international attendees to study bachelor’s, master’s degree and PhD programs in Russian at Russian universities.
The members of the consortium became Pushkin State Russian Language Institute, Voronezh State University, Moscow State University of Technology “STANKIN”, Peter the Great St. Petersburg Polytechnic University.
“These are universities possessing long-term and successful experience of training international students, as well as possessing preparatory divisions and faculties in their structure. A few years ago, we cooperated with Pushkin State Russian Language Institute in the project of creating a LMS platform entitled Education in Russian. TPU designed online courses in Mathematics, Physics and Informatics. As the result, there was a decision to enlarge a project and create a united network preparatory course,” Evgenia Sherina, Head of the Division for Russian Language of the TPU School of Core Engineering Education, says.
The course duration is 10 months. It will include classes with professors in the distance-learning mode and access to online courses for learning Russian and major subjects in Russian. For instance, training programs to study a bachelor’s degree will be designed in five areas: Humanities (Russian, Literature, History, Social Studies), Economics (Russian, Mathematics, History, Social Studies), Biomedical (Russian, Chemistry, Biology, Physics), Natural Science (Russian, Mathematics, Physics, Chemistry), Technical (Russian, Mathematics, Physics, Informatics).
“At the moment, the consortium members are finishing the design of the courses and reviewing them. The most important is that an international attendee enrolling on the Network Pre-University Faculty can choose a definite university, which will coordinate his training, however, at the same time, he can use the resources of all member universities, have classes with highly qualified professors using all the most up-to-date communication and information technologies. Attendees will also have an opportunity to take part in online events of the member universities of the consortium such as speaking clubs, conferences, academic competitions,” Evgenia Sherina adds.
After completing a training program of the Network Pre-University Faculty, international students will obtain a certificate giving an opportunity to start a bachelor’s or master’s degree at any Russian university where there is a preparatory division. The attendees can choose any member university of the consortium to continue their education as well.
“For TPU, joining a consortium allows extending cooperation with Russian universities, which strength is educational programs for international students. We also will be able to attract more motivated students from different countries, therefore, students will be able to choose our programs.
Furthermore, the consortium members will work with the Russian universities to share the experience of teaching international students. We are willing to give assistance to professors in professional development,” Marina Nebera, Head of the TPU Pre-University Department.
All the information about the areas of work of the consortium, enrollment requirements and university data will be released on the special website. It is planned that the website will be launched in September.