On the eve of Science Day, a meeting of the Council of Scientific Councils of the structural divisions of SSU was held. Rector Aleksei Chumachenko made a report on the main results of the Saratov University's activities over the past year, outlined the trends of the last five-year plan and the plans of the team for the near future.
The report dealt with all aspects of the life and activities of such a large organism as a university: science and education, maintenance of infrastructure and wages, international activities and social support, educational work with students and university projects.
The year 2022 was the second year of the implementation of the university development program "Priority 2030" with a total amount of funding of 165.7 million rubles, of which 100 million rubles were from the federal budget, 65.7 million rubles were the amount of expenses from the university's own funds. Alexey Nikolaevich noted that the tasks and indicators for strategic projects and policies of the program for this period have been fulfilled.
The University has returned to the format of corporate professional development. In 2022, 43 managers of different levels took part in them. Students have the opportunity to exercise their right to receive two or more qualifications through the Institute of Additional Professional Education, the digital Department, the Startup as a Diploma program and the development of technological entrepreneurship. Five young scientists won the All-Russian startup competition, receiving 1 million each for their project; the NTI grant for the development of student technological entrepreneurship was won. The share of young SSU scientists under the age of 39 is now 80%, which is almost 2.5 times higher than the average in Russia.
The Gazpromneft-SSU center has been launched at the university, which allows for high-tech research projects and expands the labor market for graduates. A network of fab labs has been created with a general focus on "Digital integrative Bioengineering systems" so that students can acquire relevant engineering knowledge as part of additional qualifications.
The list of educational programs has changed significantly over the past five years. A significant number of master's degree programs are related to the development of the digital economy. Over the past two years, about 200 SSU teachers have completed advanced training at Innopolis University.
Within the framework of the Priority 2030 program, work began on the production of its own online courses in 2021. Already, 4 new courses of Saratov University teachers have been launched on the IpsilonUni platform.
Since 2019, the opportunities for students to obtain additional qualifications have been expanded, including on a free basis. The professional retraining program "IT-ensuring the economic and financial activities of the enterprise" is being successfully implemented together with the company Norilsk Nickel Sputnik LLC.
Employees of the Institute of Electronic and Distance Learning are improving the IpsilonUni portal and workflows in the 1C: University system.
The report noted the successes of the Institute of Continuing Professional Education, which provides a high level of training for the teaching staff of SSU, conducts training on additional professional programs for students. In 2022, 346 graduates were trained in 9 professional retraining programs. 1,219 students have completed advanced training courses for free. Retraining of personnel in IDPO is also carried out under the federal program "Employment Promotion". 88% of the total number of citizens trained in the reporting year under the project were employed. In 2021, according to this indicator, SSU became the best in the country.
In his report, the Rector noted the bright events in the field of research and innovation over the past five years. This includes work on the "Priority 2030" program, and the assignment of SSU to the first category among educational organizations of the Ministry of Education and Science of the Russian Federation.
In 2020-2021, as part of the instrument base upgrade program, the university purchased the most in-demand equipment by all structural divisions, including a scanning electron microscope, an atomic force microscope "NTEGRA Spectra", a Brillouin spectroscopy complex, a Zetasizer system, a multifunctional X-ray diffractometer DRON-8T.
Since 2020, our university has been operating the regional scientific and educational mathematical center "Mathematics of Future Technologies", which is funded by the Ministry of Education and Science as part of a subsidy for the implementation of development programs for regional scientific and educational mathematical centers included in the relevant list.
Over a five-year period, the university won two contests of the Government's Megagrant Program, which received an extension of funding for scientific research. 4 laboratories have been created ("Metamaterials", "Remotely controlled systems for Theranostics", "Biomedical Photoacoustics" and "Smart Sleep"), which are successfully operating and developing.
The total amount of grants for science over the past 5 years is 1.6 times higher than the amount of funding for the previous five-year plan. In the same period, there was an increase in the publication activity of Saratov University.
The speaker also paid attention to the pandemic period, which created new working conditions and left its mark on the admission campaign and international activities of the university. SSU has coped with the challenges of the time and continues to establish interuniversity cooperation.
A.N. Chumachenko noted the important work of university volunteers who actively worked at the Headquarters of the SSU "We are Together", collecting humanitarian aid and organizing patriotic actions. They assisted in the placement and creation of conditions in places of temporary stay of mobilized citizens in the region, participated in the project "From RSO to excellent".
The rector also recalled a recent trip to Lugansk, where an agreement was signed between SSU and Luhansk Pedagogical University.
Saratov University remains the main regional platform for the movement of student groups, athletes are pleased with their successes, and the Student Club celebrated the 60th season.
The Regional Centre for Graduate Employment and Labor Market Adaptation has taken the first step towards the beginning of digital transformation in the field of employment by connecting to the online platform "Digital Career Environment of the Faculty".
Over the past five years, the Saratov University media has also undergone a transformation. The Office of Media Communications projects help to tell about the achievements of the university and its intensive life in an accessible way both on the pages of university media and in federal media.
They write about SSU in the news on the website of the Ministry of Science and Higher Education of the Russian Federation, the TASS and RIA Novosti news agencies, etc. The work in social networks has become important, which is taken into account by the media rating of the Ministry of Education and Science. Saratov University holds a good position in the "M-rate".
In the Year of the Teacher and Mentor, which was announced by the president, the rector proposed to start implementing a mentoring system at the university.
Alexey Nikolaevich reminded that the coming year is the year of the election of the rector of the university. "We must change for the better not only the university and not only ourselves. We must influence the socio-economic development of the region and make this impact tangible. With all the difficulties that our country is experiencing today, with the difficulties that the university is facing, we are moving forward," concluded A.N. Chumachenko.
Concluding his report, the rector recalled the achievements and victories of scientists and teachers of the university and thanked everyone for their dedicated work and for their love for their native university.
The debate on the report was attended by Dean of the Faculty of Geology Maxim Pimenov, Dean of the Faculty of Computer Science and Information Technologies Sergei Mironov, Chair of the Department of Dynamic Modelling and Biomedical Engineering Anatolii Karavayev, Professor of the Department of Analytical Chemistry and Chemical Ecology Sergei Shtykov, Chair of the Corporate Department of Russian Philology and Media Education Olga Dmitriyeva, Associate Professor of the Department of National History and Historiography Anton Luchnikov, and Chair of the Council of Undergraduates and Postgraduates Vladislav Bykov.
Anatolii Karavayev noted in his speech that an appropriate infrastructure is needed to train universal specialists who possess a complex of knowledge in related fields of science and technology. Therefore, within the framework of the Priority 2030 program, the SSU has created a "Fablab" – a complex of 4 interdisciplinary technological educational and scientific laboratories. Anatoly Sergeyevich stressed that such a powerful project could not be implemented without the support of the rector and his team.
Professor Sergei Shtykov expressed the opinion on the need to make the university a center of attraction for young people and experienced teachers, suggested creating places for teachers to communicate outside of classes, strengthen interdisciplinary cooperation for scientists.
Olga Dmitriyeva reminded about the joint meeting of the Board of the Ministry of Education of the Saratov Region and the Council of Rectors of Saratov Universities held at the SSU site within the framework of the Saratov Salon of Education in her speech. Olga Ivanovna noted that the start of the Year of Teachers and Mentors was quite naturally given within the walls of the university. She listed the teaching projects of the SSU, work with applicants within the framework of the Constellation school and the teaching class. The year of the teacher and mentor will be dedicated to the X Week of teacher Education. According to Olga Ivanovna, the number of participants in the Olympiad "Step into the profession" is expected to include students of Lugansk Pedagogical University.
Sergei Mironov in his speech touched upon the work of the "Digital Department". The project is aimed at providing priority sectors of the economy with highly qualified personnel with digital competencies. Four programs designed for two-semester studies have been developed at the Faculty of KNiIT. The first graduation of the students of the "Digital Department" should take place this spring.
Anton Luchnikov shared his impressions after the trip of employees and scientists to Sirius University in December last year, spoke about the effectiveness of interdisciplinary work. He thanked the university for the opportunity to complete an internship at Sirius, spoke about a serious rethinking of the vectors of the admission campaign and the reformatting of its media component that has already begun.
Vladislav Bykov presented the work of the university's youth activists, listing the most striking student events. The largest of them last year was the All-Russian Student Forum "PRO100". Vladislav thanked all the students, teachers, university staff and those who did not stand aside and joined the work of the "We are Together" headquarters.
Maxim Pimenov paid attention to practice-oriented educational programs and the participation of potential employers in the student learning process. The faculty uses the software and methodological complex "OPTIMUS" from LLC "SKIL", the software package "MOBiUS" from the company "Laboratory of Geology". This allows students to gain experience working with modern software, which means they can be competitive in the labor market.
Maxim Viktorovich thanked Alexey Nikolaevich for supporting initiatives in the field of practice guidance, and suggested that the work of the rector and the rector's office be considered satisfactory.
The proposal was adopted unanimously.
In his reply, Rector A.N. Chumachenko thanked his colleagues for their support, wished everyone good health and further success.
