The Russian Economic Forum started at the Radisson Hotel in Chelyabinsk on November 9th. It opened with a panel discussion on the Inter-university Campus: Opportunities for Synergy.
The ambitious project is at the stage of active construction. Research and teaching laboratories and dormitories for students and academic staff members are soon to open on campus. More than half of accommodation places are reserved for SUSU.
The campus is designed to become a magnet for intellectuals throughout our region, as well as a meeting point for science and industry. This is the point of view of representatives of major companies that took part in the discussion, such as General Director of ОАО Chelyabinsk Zinc Plant Pavel Izbrekht; Director for Strategic Development of AO PG Metran Dmitriy Iosifov; General Director of АО Automobile Plant URAL Pavel Yakovlev, and others. The interuniversity campus will prevent future staffing shortages caused by demographic decline. Ideally, this will be a place where 12-16-year-old school pupils will come for career guidance, to study as students, and to meet with future employers.
“The campus is a large infrastructure, where university laboratories and divisions of Chelyabinsk companies will be functioning together,” said the SUSU Rector Alexander Wagner. “We are planning to build a Multifunctional Exhibition Centre, where the work with school pupils will be organised. For example, once or twice a week they will be able to attend University Days. There should also be a meaningful agenda that would spark interest among children aged 9-12. It is still too early for them to study in the ninth form or decide on a future profession but they can already be involved in engineering creativity.”
On the campus, SUSU is organizing 49 laboratories together with industrial companies of our region and, in more than half of the cases, agreements have already been concluded with business representatives. Preference is given to engineering divisions where new types of products are developed. Employees of enterprises will share their knowledge and skills with students, and young people will directly participate in the implementation of future projects. This will allow to achieve the necessary synergy between business and education, as well as minimize the process of adaptation of young specialists at enterprises.
The project of Inter-university Campus is organized within the framework of the Science and Universities national project, being implemented by the Russian Ministry of Education and Science. #ChelCampus