Russian Universities Ready to Start New Academic Year

01 September 2020

Russian universities opened their doors to students on September 1, but the pandemic changed study plans and modes of study for the international students who are unable to come to Russia on time. Universities designed online programmes and individual curricula for them; international students will also enjoy the support of universities’ international centres and student organisations.

International students who can return to Russia amid the lockdown measures have to show their COVID-19 test certificate in Russian or English. Upon arrival in Russia, foreign nationals have to go into a 14-day quarantine. They will be offered to study online during this period and take another COVID-19 test in ten to 12 days.

Foreign nationals who have stayed back in their homeland will study online. After COVID-19 restrictions have been lifted, visa nationals will receive invitations and other required documents. All previous dormitory accommodation arrangements remain in force. A foreign national has to contact their university’s consulting centre over entry into Russia, document preparation, mode of study etc.

Higher School of Economics said it was ready to launch full-scale online classes thanks to modern digital tools and services. Each international student will study online until their arrival in Russia.

Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology will arrange an online campus tour for the first-years.

“MIPT is known for its unique environment and special togetherness in students and graduates. In this difficult time, the MIPT administration and students are doing everything to organise campus life and protect each other from potential COVID-19 contacts. This responsible approach can help cut the disease rate. The epidemic opened new opportunities to perfect education. We’re confident that the new academic year will be as fruitful as previous ones,” MIPT Vice-Rector for international affairs Marina Nevskaya said.

Foreign nationals make up 25 percent of the National University of Science and Technology MISIS student body. If they cannot come to Moscow, classes will be held online on LMS Canvas or other digital platforms such as MS Teams, Skype, Zoom etc.

Far Eastern Federal University has designed individual online courses. Meetings will be arranged for international first-year students in the first weeks of the new academic year.

“FEFU applications are open for foreign nationals; the number of applicants has increased compared with last year. It means that foreign nationals are interested in training at FEFU despite the existing COVID-19 restrictions. Furthermore, we use a flexible approach to foreign nationals who have problems starting the academic year in Russia. The university will arrange online classes for them and transition to individual study plans,” FEFU Vice-Rector for international affairs Victoria Panova said.

National Research Tomsk Polytechnic University (TPU) will open its campus to students in the new academic year and arrange video conferences to train foreigners who are currently unable to come to Russia.

ITMO University’s Buddy System supports foreign nationals. Buddy tutors are students who help foreigners to quickly adapt to new environment. A tutor arranges airport transfer for their charges, helps settle in a dormitory, gets the required documents and gives the lowdown on campus life.

National Research Tomsk State University will use the LMS and MOODLE platforms for online teaching. The first years will have an introductory lesson to be able to take their programmes online. Digital assistants will be assigned to groups of international students to secure feedback.

South Ural State University Vice-Rector for international affairs Olga Yaroshenko commented on SUSU’s readiness for a new academic year: “Classes began on September 1 for SUSU international students, regardless of whether or not the border are opened.”

Distance learning is based on the Electronic SUSU 2.0 programme. The university postponed traditional offline meetings “Information Days for International Students” to a later date, when organisers will be able to gather all international students.

Saint Petersburg Electrotechnical University “LETI” Vice-Rector for international affairs Anastasia Minina said that the university was ready to receive and support international students: “Part of international students live in university dormitories. We organise onsite classes for them. Others study online. As soon as the borders open, we’ll do our best to help students return to Russia for onsite training. We work with each international student individually and are glad to help everyone adapt to the new setup!”

Closed borders are no obstacle to international students who will study at Russian universities.