#ARCTIC. #SIBERIA. THIS IS TAIMYR. Every year more and more students from other cities enter the Polar State University named after Fedorovsky (formerly the Norilsk State Industrial Institute). The teaching staff is also changing: in recent years, it has been updated with the staff from the mainland.
As the PSU rector Dmitry Dubrov said, there was no such influx of nonresident students in the educational institution for a very long time. The situation can only be compared with the distant Soviet years, when the Norilsk Institute was still a technical school.
Now all levels of educational programs are open at the university, while the number of students, today there are about 2400 of them, has been growing for the last four years.
“Last year, the Agency under the Ministry of the Far East and the Arctic conducted a study on universities located in the Arctic zone of Russia, and it turned out that for 20 years no university, except for ours, has grown by students. We are ready to grow further – to accept students, to discover new directions and specialties, as well as to revive the directions that were once closed for some reason. And I really hope that not only local guys, but also newcomers will be our students”, said Dmitry Dubrov.
The rector also noted that 40 nonresident students are currently studying at the university. Ten of them have entered this academic year, which is about twice as many as in the previous year. The guys are provided with free housing, material assistance and a scholarship, which is seriously different from the mainland’s one.
In addition, they also receive bonus cash rewards for participating in various social events.
Speaking about scholarships, Dmitry Dubrov assured that in theory they can reach 90 thousand rubles – 30 thousand for each exam on the Unified State Examination, passed for one hundred points. However, in practice, there are no such students at the university yet, but there are guys whose scholarships reach 60 thousand.
Dmitry Dubrov recalled that the Nornickel company is actively involved in the development of the university, which is the northernmost in the country.
According to the program, PSU is to become one of the leading universities of the international network of Arctic universities in solving strategic problems of the Arctic development. The educational institution has already created a center for research and monitoring of permafrost soils. The plans include the development of projects in the direction of mining. In addition, PSU opened six master’s programs.
Norilsk attracts not only nonresident students, but also teachers. So, over the past three years, 20 people from the teaching staff have got a job at the university, two more teachers will come before the end of this year. Thus, in three years, the teaching staff has been updated by about a third – they even came from France and Vietnam. The average salary of teachers is more than 100 thousand rubles.
“In Norilsk, the company immediately invites to practice, and it is paid. Therefore, a young man who has received a diploma from our university will definitely not be left without work. If a guy or a girl wants a quality education, they don’t have to chase institutes that graduate a huge number of students, because very often everything is done there according to a template. Here we have an opportunity to work with each student individually”, noted Dmitry Dubrov.
Ilya Poltavsky from Rostov region also shared that he lives alone in a one-room apartment, which is rented by the university:
“The apartment is in good repair, with completely new appliances: when I checked in, even the refrigerator was in the package. The university pays rent and even gives pocket money. Therefore, I am sure that during my studies I will be socially protected here. In general, Norilsk, if compared with many regions, is a very attractive city in terms of prospects and salaries. You don’t need to work two or three jobs here to support your family. You can work in the same enterprise, and at the same time have a good life and confidence in the future. And the frosts don’t scare me at all”.
Earlier we talked about the fact that the Polar State University began with the Norilsk Mining and Metallurgical College.
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Text: Mikhail Tuaev, Photo: Nornickel Polar Division press service
