Университетская жизнь / – Page 528

An awards ceremony for the winners of the 2025 All-Russian professional competitions of the Ministry of Education of Russia and a festive concert dedicated to Teacher's Day

The State Kremlin Palace hosted a gala awards ceremony for the winners of the 2025 All-Russian professional competitions of the Russian Ministry of Education and a festive concert dedicated to Teacher's Day.

Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Chernyshenko congratulated Russian teachers on their professional holiday.

"As our President Vladimir Putin said today, teachers have led Russia forward in every historical era. You possess an amazing talent. You not only teach, but also cultivate true patriots and remarkable individuals. You do this masterfully, fulfilling the national goal set by the President of realizing the potential and talents of every person in our country. Together, we are a huge team of like-minded individuals. And together, thanks to the national project 'Youth and Children,' we are making our entire education system even better, more modern, and more effective," noted Dmitry Chernyshenko.

Minister of Education Sergei Kravtsov warmly congratulated the teachers.

"Dear teachers, happy Teacher's Day! This year is significant for us. It's the 80th anniversary of the Great Victory, the Year of Defender of the Fatherland. And today, you, education workers, are at the forefront of the information war. The future of our children and our country depends on you. We extend our sincere gratitude for your work. I wish you happiness, prosperity, success, and new achievements," Sergei Kravtsov addressed the audience.

The head of the Ministry of Education, together with Heroes of the Russian Federation and teachers participating in the SVO, performed the song "We Need One Victory."

In a ceremonial ceremony, awards were presented to the winner of the "Teacher of the Year" competition, Dmitry Balanchukov, a teacher of Chinese and English from the Belgorod Region; the winner of the "First Teacher" competition, Tamara Kotova, a primary school teacher from the Kamchatka Territory; the winner of the "Principal of the Year of Russia" competition, Maxim Astrakhantsev, director of the "Point of the Future" educational complex in Irkutsk; and the winner of the "Educator of the Year of Russia" competition, Elizaveta Bogatyreva from Moscow.

Viktor Sadovnichy, Rector of Lomonosov Moscow State University, noted the high significance of the professional competitions of the Russian Ministry of Education.

"I've been chairing the grand jury of the Teacher of the Year competition for 30 years now. It's clear that teachers are becoming stronger every year. Our students are becoming smarter and more demanding every year. This is only natural. The competition monitors these two processes and tracks our development. We are the strongest education system in the world. I am confident that the winner, the finalists, and all the participants will play a huge role in the life of our country—they will become leading experts, teachers, and scientists," Viktor Sadovnichy told the teachers.

According to a Russian government decree, the winner of the "Teacher of the Year of Russia" competition receives a cash prize of 1 million rubles, while the runners-up receive 500,000 rubles each. The winners of the "Educator of the Year of Russia," "Principal of the Year of Russia," "First Teacher," "Educational Psychologist of Russia," "Special Education Teacher of Russia," "Master of the Year," and "I Give My Heart to Children" competitions each receive prizes of 200,000 rubles.

Please note: This information is raw content obtained directly from the source. It represents an accurate account of the source's assertions and does not necessarily reflect the position of MIL-OSI or its clients.

October 3, 2025

A RUDN University student's project won the international summer school on machine learning.

Translation. Region: Russian Federal

Source: Peoples'Friendship University of Russia

An important disclaimer is at the bottom of this article.

Fernando León, a Master's student in Fundamental Informatics and Information Technology at RUDN University's Faculty of Physics, Mathematics, and Natural Sciences, took first place in the SMILES summer school on machine learning. The school was organized this summer by the Skolkovo Institute of Science and Technology in collaboration with the Harbin Institute of Technology (China).

Fernando's team, which also included representatives from Skoltech and the Higher School of Economics, prepared a project called "LLM Agents for Predicting Public Perceptions of Central Bank Actions."

The team developed a prototype synthetic focus group system based on large-scale language models (LLM). Instead of traditionally gathering real survey participants, the team created 10 virtual "avatars" with distinct socio-demographic characteristics—age, income level, occupation, and financial habits. These "avatars" responded to various announcements and initiatives from the Central Bank, such as changes to the key rate or support measures, allowing them to analyze how these news items were received by different segments of society.

"We worked on the project remotely for a week, choosing the topic from those proposed by the school organizers. The most challenging part for me was that it was my first time working with language models, but I was able to grasp the nuances fairly quickly. After completing the school, we further refined the project and improved our performance," said Fernando Leon, a master's student in the Faculty of Physics, Mathematics, and Natural Sciences at RUDN University.

A project by a RUDN University master's student team demonstrates how artificial intelligence can improve the speed, accuracy, and scalability of financial institutions' communications with society:

Virtual "avatars" provide feedback in minutes rather than weeks and require significantly fewer resources than traditional focus groups. They allow central banks to test and adapt their messages more quickly, increasing their clarity and reducing the risk of negative reactions. The project is easily scalable, and the creation of hundreds or thousands of "avatars" will allow for modeling the reactions of large populations.

For winning the competition, the team received 1 million tokens to use with GigaChat, Sber's artificial intelligence.

October 3, 2025

A student of St. Petersburg State University of Architecture and Civil Engineering (SPbGASU) is a world champion in sambo.

Translation. Region: Russian Federal

Source: Saint Petersburg State University of Architecture and Civil Engineering –

An important disclaimer is at the bottom of this article.

The World Youth Sambo Championships are underway in Bogor, Indonesia. Russian team member Ilya Nikulshin, a student at our university, won the 98 kg junior category!

Ilya is a first-year student at St. Petersburg State University of Architecture and Civil Engineering, specializing in Technosphere Safety.

We congratulate the champion and wish him new achievements!

October 3, 2025

A student from the State University of Management won a prize at the 5th International Financial Security Olympiad.

Translation. Region: Russian Federal

Source: Official website of the State –

An important disclaimer is at the bottom of this article.

On October 3, 2025, the results of the 5th International Financial Security Olympiad in Krasnoyarsk were announced. Maria Vikulova, a student in the World Economy program at the Institute of Economics and Finance and head of the State University of Management's (GUU) student council, won the prize in the International Relations category.

In addition to her, two more of our students and three students from the Pre-University School participated in the finals, and Rector Vladimir Stroyev gave a lecture on the specifics of the Russian governance system as part of the educational program. A total of 600 people out of 65,000 who applied made it to the final round.

We share our impressions of the finale firsthand from today's heroine:

"From the moment I entered the State University of Management, I was passionate about my studies and university life and couldn't imagine my life without them. I see this as a defining stage in a person's life, one that largely determines their future position in society, their interests, and their social circle. That's why I decided to participate in the International Financial Security Olympiad in my specialized area. Of course, I devoted a lot of time and effort to preparing, and it paid off; I won a prize in my section of the Olympiad. However, it gave me something more: the experience of interacting with the international community and like-minded people who are equally interested in this topic. In the future, I hope to become a true professional in my field, worthy of standing guard over my country," says Maria Vikulova.

We congratulate Maria and wish her continued success in various competitions and in her daily studies!

Let us remind you that last year our students also became Olympiad prize winners.

Subscribe to the "Our GUU" Telegram channel. Publication date: October 3, 2025.

October 3, 2025

Fyodor Nikitin: "Find what you can do and do it."

Translation. Region: Russian Federal

Source: Peter the Great St. Petersburg Polytechnic University –

An important disclaimer is at the bottom of this article.

October 5th marks Teacher's Day in Russia. We congratulate all the faculty at the Polytechnic University on this professional holiday, and in our traditional Friday "Person" column, we're giving the floor to one of you—Fyodor Nikitin, a physics teacher at the SPbPU Natural Sciences Lyceum.

Why a Polytechnic University graduate chose lyceum over university teaching, how he teaches children about life using the laws of physics as an example, and where, in his opinion, the Russian intelligentsia went wrong—all this and much more. Read the interview on the website of the newspaper "Polytechnic".

October 3, 2025

Dmitry Arsenyev on Polytechnic University's international competitiveness on its path to technological leadership

Translation. Region: Russian Federal

Source: Peter the Great St. Petersburg Polytechnic University –

An important disclaimer is at the bottom of this article.

Eighth issue video digest "Polytech as a Priority" is dedicated to enhancing the university's international competitiveness.

The host of the graduation ceremony, Dmitry Arsenyev, SPbPU Vice-Rector for International Affairs, emphasized that Polytechnic University is currently focusing not only on attracting international students (the university is one of the leaders in Russia in terms of student numbers), but also on increasing the number of talented young specialists in engineering fields. The Vice-Rector described the mechanisms being used to achieve this, including holding Polytechnic Education Days in friendly countries, creating joint educational programs, and joint institutes with leading partners.

"For me, technological leadership is a very tangible concept," says Dmitry Arsenyev. "It's when, while traveling abroad, we see Russian cars driving on the streets, Russian software running on computers, Russian companies serving as key contractors on infrastructure projects, Russian scientists leading speakers at major global scientific conferences, and no major international project can be implemented without Russian specialists. And international students prioritize Russian universities for their engineering education, and many of them want to stay and build their careers in Russia's high-tech economy."

Video overviews from the Office of Technological Leadership at Peter the Great St. Petersburg Polytechnic University introduce viewers to the university's key achievements and promising developments as part of the "Priority 2030" strategic project. These materials aim to clearly explain the program's concept, present innovative projects receiving grant support, and demonstrate how ideas are transformed into practical solutions. Each episode contains up-to-date information on the university's scientific and technical initiatives and helps trace their development from concept to implementation.

October 3, 2025

Graduates of the Department of Construction Management presented their final theses in the "Startup as a Diploma" format.

Translation. Region: Russian Federal

Source: Saint Petersburg State University of Architecture and Civil Engineering –

An important disclaimer is at the bottom of this article.

Roman Motylev, Aigul Orazdurdyeva, Daniil Koldyshev and Bogdan Pismarkin

Bogdan Pismarkin, Aigul Orazdurdyeva, and Daniil Koldyshev, graduates of the Construction Management Department's Class of 2025, proved that a final thesis can be more than just a stop, but the beginning of a long journey. They presented their thesis in the "Startup as a Thesis" format, not limiting themselves to the university walls: they also presented their initiatives to the Leningrad Region Construction Committee. There, the graduates, accompanied by Roman Motylev, Head of the Construction Management Department at SPbGASU, presented their project to Vitaly Lazutkin, Chairman of the Committee, and had the opportunity to explore their idea in the context of real-world challenges facing the industry.

The VseRuki.Pro graduate project – a service for analyzing, searching, and planning labor resources in construction – is a mobile app that allows you to create orders, find contractors with verified documents, monitor the legality of employees' presence in Russia, and assign them to projects in the event of downtime.

At the meeting, graduates heard about the challenges government officials face when implementing public construction projects. The issue of labor resources is particularly pressing. During the discussion, Vitaly Lazutkin proposed developing the project into a government service capable of quickly addressing issues of labor force organization and distribution, as well as monitoring migrant workers and their work locations.

In the future, graduates may establish contacts with various committees involved in the regional construction industry. This opens up new opportunities for developing their initiatives and demonstrates that university projects can extend beyond the classroom and find practical application at the regional level.

October 3, 2025

Valery Falkov praised the cooperation between the Polytechnic University and the Obukhov Plant.

Translation. Region: Russian Federal

Source: Peter the Great St. Petersburg Polytechnic University –

An important disclaimer is at the bottom of this article.

The Minister of Science and Higher Education of the Russian Federation, Valery Falkov, visited the Obukhovsky Plant Scientific Production Association (part of the Almaz-Antey Air Defense Concern), which has SPbPU as part of its structure. basic department "Robotic complexes for industrial and special purposes".

During the minister's visit, Dmitry Kotolevsky, a fourth-year undergraduate student at the Higher School of Automation and Robotics at the Institute of Metallurgical and Metallurgical Engineering at St. Petersburg Polytechnic University, presented a robotic system he developed for automating the magnetization process. The system is a Cartesian robot that uses machine vision systems and laser rangefinders to identify palletized magnets and determine their spatial orientation.

Implementing this automated solution in production will optimize the technological process and free up labor resources for other tasks, explained Dmitry Kotolevsky.

Valery Falkov emphasized the importance of university-industrial cooperation: "The most important thing is to bring manufacturers and businesses as close as possible to our universities. The Obukhov Plant is a unique team and a unique enterprise that does a great deal in education to achieve its goals."

The "Robotic Systems for Industrial and Special Purposes" department trains IMMiT students in the field of mechatronics and robotics. Some courses are taught on-site, allowing the students to gain insight into the company's scientific, research, and production activities.

Photo: goz.ru

October 3, 2025

A Conversation with the Prime Minister. Student Violetta Molodtsova represented Polytechnic University at a meeting with Mikhail Mishustin.

Translation. Region: Russian Federal

Source: Peter the Great St. Petersburg Polytechnic University –

An important disclaimer is at the bottom of this article.

On October 2, in Moscow, Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin met with winners and runners-up of national professional skills championships, the "Master of the Year" competition, and students and directors of leading clusters of the federal "Professionalism" project. Among those attending the meeting with the Prime Minister was Violetta Molodtsova, a student in the IT department at the Institute of Secondary Vocational Education at St. Petersburg Polytechnic University.

Mikhail Mishustin emphasized that college graduates receive an excellent education, essential for the country. This, he said, enables young people to develop, create a shield for Russia—both industrial and economic—and help achieve national development goals. Independent experts, according to Mikhail Mishustin, highly rate college graduates' professional readiness. Over 80% find employment in high-paying positions at large companies.

During the meeting, employees and students—winners and runners-up of professional competitions—had the opportunity to ask Mikhail Mishustin questions related to the development of secondary vocational education in the country. Below is an excerpt from the conversation between the Russian Prime Minister and Polytechnic University student Violetta Molodtsova.

Violetta Molodtsova: Good afternoon! I am Violetta Sergeevna Molodtsova, a fourth-year student at the Institute of Secondary Vocational Education, Peter the Great St. Petersburg Polytechnic University. I took second place this year. in the "Design and manufacture of prostheses and orthoses" competency at the "Professionals" championship.

This skill isn't my core competency, as I'm studying Information Systems and Programming. I gained quite a few of the skills and abilities I needed to place high in the finals through college, but through extracurricular activities. I'm very grateful to the college for this opportunity. It exposed me to a very important and socially beneficial skill that's actively developing in our region, something I hadn't even considered before. Now I'm considering this specialty as a potential career path and am looking for an internship related to prosthetics.

I'm also very grateful for the championship and glad to have the opportunity to test my knowledge and skills at such a large-scale event. It's a powerful test of stress tolerance, the ability to follow a task, and skills in general. Also, thanks to the introduction of a team module at the competition this year, I was able to work as a team. It was an interesting and unusual experience, because usually in college we complete assignments alone.

I would also like to now give the floor to my fellow countryman Taras, who took part in a similar championship.

Mikhail Mishustin: Thank you, guys, Violetta and Taras. I'm listening—you're so well prepared, speaking professionally about your skills and your ideas. Violetta, it's wonderful that you've gotten so excited and found a direction that will lead you to new professional skills. I'll even ask Sergey Sergeyevich (Kravtsov) to help. You mentioned prosthetics; I know of several wonderful projects in the country. We'll definitely keep you informed. And if you allow, we'll give you your contact information so we can contact you. Because there's a lot of significant development going on right now, both in approaches and technologies. I was told about 3D modeling, 3D printers, and a lot more. Overall, it's quite complex, innovative, but very important and significant for the country.

After meeting with the Prime Minister, Violetta Molodtsova shared her emotions: "This was my first event at such a high level. It was certainly nerve-wracking, but incredibly rewarding! We discussed the secondary vocational education system, and I, in particular, spoke about my participation in the "Professionals" competition. Now I have an even better understanding of the prospects our secondary vocational education system offers. And I'm inspired to further develop my profession and perhaps return to the competition one day as a mentor."

The secondary vocational education (SVE) system is the country's largest educational infrastructure, comprising 3,200 vocational educational institutions and 376 higher education institutions implementing SVE programs. In 2025, the system will celebrate its 85th anniversary.

Secondary vocational education plays a strategic role in the country's development, developing human resources for industry, technology, and social infrastructure. The system employs 199,474 teaching staff, including 147,303 teachers and 18,779 vocational training instructors. In the 2025/2026 academic year, 1.2 million students were enrolled in secondary vocational education programs.

Roman Baibikov, Director of the Institute of Secondary Vocational Education at SPbPU, commented on the results of the Moscow meeting: "Violetta's participation in such a meeting is undoubtedly a well-deserved result of her hard work over the past year. I would like to express special gratitude to Violetta's mentors, teacher Daria Vasilyevna Ivanova, and student Daria Bolotnova. This team's coordinated work earned them a silver medal at the "Professionals" championship finals. Every year, the number of competencies in which our students participate in the "Professionals" championship increases; this year there are 64. Violetta's trip to Moscow was a wonderful gift to our entire college staff for Secondary Vocational Education Day. I congratulate my colleagues and students on this holiday and wish everyone professional growth and the achievement of new heights!"

October 3, 2025

A scientific and practical conference on current issues in the study of history, international relations, and the cultures of Eastern countries has opened at NSU.

Translation. Region: Russian Federal

Source: Novosibirsk State University –

An important disclaimer is at the bottom of this article.

The 8th International Scientific and Practical Conference "EAST-FOCUS: Current Issues in the Study of History, International Relations, and Cultures of Eastern Countries" is being held at Novosibirsk State University from October 2-4. The event is dedicated to the 70th birthday of the candidate of historical sciences and professor of the Department of Oriental Studies. Humanities Institute of NSU Sergei Aleksandrovich Komissarov and Andrei Vasilyevich Varenov, PhD in History and Associate Professor of the same department, who dedicated many years of their lives to teaching and research at NSU. The anniversary couple attended the conference's opening ceremony and are actively participating in its work. The event was organized by Novosibirsk State University and the NSU Humanities Institute. Department of Oriental Studies, Novosibirsk State University, Laboratory of Oriental Studies "Orientir" of the Scientific and Educational Center "Applied and Academic Oriental Studies" of the NSU Mining Institute and Scientific, educational and cultural center "Confucius Institute" GI NSU.

Welcoming the participants of the scientific and practical conference, NSU Rector and RAS Academician Mikhail Fedoruk noted the invaluable contribution of the anniversary celebrants to the development of Oriental studies at the university.

"The university's development vector in terms of international cooperation is focused on the East. This trend has been particularly evident recently. This is evidenced by the significant number of students from these countries studying at NSU, as well as active collaboration with Chinese universities, which will only expand in the near future. Conference participants can look forward to two days of intensive work, meaningful meetings, and discussions on current issues in modern Asian studies. I am confident that this conference will be held for many years to come," said Mykhailo Fedoruk.

As Evgeny Sagaydak, Head of the NSU Education Export Department, noted, this conference traditionally brings together not only renowned scholars from Russia and abroad, but also young researchers of the East. It is here that they exchange opinions and identify areas for collaboration. This year, researchers of the East are celebrating two anniversaries.

"Today we celebrate the contributions of Sergei Aleksandrovich Komissarov and Andrei Vasilievich Varenov to Asian studies. I can say without exaggeration that Sergei Aleksandrovich introduced China to our university. He organized the trip of the first official NSU delegation to China. And today, thanks to him, NSU is one of the leaders among all Russian universities in cooperation with China. Since then, we have implemented many joint programs. Let me remind you that 14 years ago, again with the active participation of Sergei Aleksandrovich, our university opened the first joint Russian-Chinese institute," explained Evgeny Sagaydak.

Andrey Zuev, Director of the NSU Humanities Institute, emphasized the expanding geographic reach of the conference participants. He mentioned that the program is increasingly featuring speakers from various Asian studies research centers and universities not only in Russia, but also from Mongolia, China, Central Asian countries, and Israel. This year, a delegation from Myanmar is participating in the conference.

"We are pleased with the high scientific level of the conference's papers, the participation of high-level specialists representing research institutes and universities, and the interest in Asian studies among young people. This means that this field of scholarship will continue to develop successfully," said Andrey Zuev.

Professor Tserennadmid Sukhtulga of the Mongolian State Agrarian University addressed the conference participants via video link.

"From the eastern Urals to Japan and India, as well as all of Central Asia, we are still united by a common culture and history. The renowned Russian historian and orientalist Lev Nikolayevich Gumilev emphasized the importance of the alliance between the peoples of Russia and the Eastern European steppes. He argued that this alliance helped Russia resist Europe. I firmly believe that the research work of our colleagues, orientalists, will help rediscover many forgotten chapters in the history of our peoples and their cultures," said Tserennadmid Sukhtulga.

The plenary session was dedicated to the anniversary celebrants, Sergei Aleksandrovich Komissarov and Andrei Vasilyevich Varenov. Yulia Azarenko, Senior Lecturer in the Department of Oriental Studies and Director of the Confucius Institute of the Novosibirsk State University Institute of Archaeology, and Maria Kudinova, Senior Researcher in the Department of Paleometallic Archaeology at the Institute of Archaeology and Ethnography, dedicated their report to Sergei Aleksandrovich Komissarov. Ekaterina Girchenko, Candidate of Historical Sciences and Researcher in the Department of Stone Age Archaeology at the Institute of Archaeology and Ethnography of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, spoke about Andrei Vasilyevich Varenov. The celebrants themselves also spoke. Sergei Aleksandrovich Komissarov presented a report entitled "The Magic of Art Deco in Shanghai," and Andrei Vasilyevich Varenov, along with a junior researcher at the "Orientir" laboratory for Oriental Studies, spoke about the Japanese mask theater of Gigaku and its Sanxingdui roots.

On the same day, as part of the conference, an exhibition entitled "Oriental Art Objects in Everyday Life" opened, featuring artifact collections from faculty members of the NSU Institute of Oriental Studies' Department.

The conference is structured around several sections: "Modern and Contemporary History of the Countries of the Near and Far East," "History and Culture of the Countries of the East," "Buddhism in History and Modernity: Philosophy, Culture, Society," "Archaeology and Ancient History of the Countries of the East," "Language and Culture of the Countries of the East," and "Politics, Economics, and International Relations of the Countries of the East."

The conference will conclude with a master class on traditional games of the peoples of Asia, led by Elena Voytishek, Doctor of Historical Sciences, Professor, Director of the Scientific and Educational Center for Applied and Academic Oriental Studies, and Head of the Oriental Studies Department at the Novosibirsk State University Institute of Geology.