On Friday, November 27th, an online meeting was held between the Rector of South Ural State University Aleksandr Shestakov and Sherzod Mastafakulov, the Rector of University of Kokand, Uzbekistan. The goal of the meeting was to discuss the collaboration between the two universities in the fields of education and science.
"SUSU is one of the leading universities in Russia and has an impressive standing in national and international rankings. We are interested in a long-term and mutually beneficial collaboration with your university," stated in his welcome speech Sherzod Mastafakulov.
According to the Head of the Department for Science and Research at University of Kokand Nuriddin Murodullaev, in order to develop and strengthen their positions in the scientific and educational sphere, the academic staff and students of their university need to know the Russian language because Uzbekistan receives many of the research studies and programmes from Russia.
In the course of the meeting, agreements were reached on opening a SUSU Pushkin Institute Centre at University of Kokand and on launching a programme of advance training for the academic staff teaching Russian as a foreign language.
"SUSU is a university uniting Europe and Asia. It is a versatile university created on the models of foreign universities, which offer disciplines of natural sciences, engineering, and humanities. Today more than 1500 international students from 63 countries from around the world are obtaining their education here. Within the frameworks of the strategy of joining the global educational space, our university is fulfilling its task of a broad cultural interaction and mutual exchange between the peoples of the East and the West. We are actively collaborating with the Consulate of the Republic of Uzbekistan in Ekaterinburg and rapidly expanding our partnerships circle. As a result, 350 students from Uzbekistan are currently obtaining their education at our university. A common thing that we see among the universities of the Republic of Uzbekistan is the interest in the Russian language. Today we have agreed upon opening a SUSU Pushkin Institute Centre at University of Kokand and have discussed the possibility of launching a programme of advance training for the academic staff teaching Russian as a foreign language in December with further awarding the certificates to those who will complete training under this course," shared SUSU Rector Aleksandr Shestakov.
"We have a history of long and friendly relations with Uzbekistan. Currently, we are collaborating with 15 universities of the Republic of Uzbekistan, and have opened our own faculty at one of their leading engineering universities, at Namangan Engineering-Construction Institute," noted the SUSU Vice-Rector for International Relations Olga Yaroshenko.
Reference information: In 2014, following the task by the Ministry of Education and Science of the Russian Federation, a process of forming a Pushkin Institute partner network was launched under the aegis of the Pushkin State Russian Language Institute. This project is among the major ones in the sphere of promoting the Russian language and culture in the global scientific and educational space. As part of the program, special centres have been opened in 20 leading universities in Russia, including one established at South Ural State University.
The project aims at promoting the state language of Russia in the global educational space, forming of a positive image of our country, and enhancing its international stature.
In 2018, under the guidance of the Head of the Department of International Relations, Political Science and Regional Studies Liudmila Shestakova, SUSU began its work on creating its own Pushkin Institute network at its partner universities, which offer education in Russian in China. This became possible thanks to the fact that our university received a subsidy for fulfilling the events aimed at appropriate functioning and development of the Russian language. Today 9 SUSU Pushkin Institute Centres are operating in the People's Republic of China.