News in Press-centre

Acting President of Far Eastern Federal University (FEFU) Nikita Anisimov told RIA Novosti correspondent about the development prospects of the country's academic outpost in the Asia-Pacific region.

Nikita Yurievich, you led Far Eastern Federal University recently, less than two months ago. What may the faculty and students expect from the new head?

The main task of the President is to make the University faculty and staff feel like a unified team. FEFU has passed a difficult way of a series of amalgamations and transfers. Back in five years ago, people worked in disparate, often competing organizations. Some collectives even to this day remain geographically removed. For example, the School of Education (there are no faculties in FEFU but only schools: School of Engineering, School of Biomedicine, School of Regional and International Studies, etc.) is located in the town of Ussuriysk, 62 miles away from the main FEFU campus.

You need to "breathe" a feeling of common goals in these people. In this sense, I am far from to act straightforwardly. We all together must create the conditions for scientific creativity, to make the atmosphere of creativity to be at the forefront, for the strong scientific teams to be formed in the University, and students, graduates and postgraduate students to participate in advanced research projects. Purposeful young people from all over the country should be interested not just to come to study at FEFU, but to remain in the Far East, to create their own businesses.

Are you satisfied with the results of the admission campaign this year?

In general, yes. We have again recorded a rise in the Grade Point Average of the Unified National Exam by the students enrolled tuition-free. This year it has amounted to 70 points. Of course, we have where to improve. It's a bad university president, who never dreams about applicants with the GPA of 90. But with the number of budget places we have—and we have enrolled 4,400 tuition-free freshmen—it's quite difficult to show an even higher GPA.

We feel inadequate the quality of admission for engineering areas of study. In this connection, we plan to closely examine the content of the programs in terms of the cutting edge modern engineering practice. If you take an underwater robotics, FEFU is the real leader here. However, the competition in classic engineering areas (for example, the dynamics and durability research) among Russian technical HEIs, which are now experiencing the education renaissance, is quite high, and we are not always able to withstand it.

The second positive result of the admission campaign is associated with an increase in the number of entrants coming from different points of Russia: a third of all enrolled freshmen are the representatives of 65 subjects of the Russian Federation. This suggests that FEFU is increasingly operating as a Federal University.

How about its international status?

This year we have enrolled 3,000 international students from 52 countries around the world. The leaders are China, Uzbekistan, and Vietnam, to which India and Colombia have joined due to the active international recruitment. Australian, United Kingdom, and Bolivian nationals were admitted to FEFU for the first time. Thus, we gradually come close to target numbers that are incorporated in the University Road Maps.

It is encouraging that the international students are very enthusiastic. They are motivated by getting fundamental knowledge. I am sure that when we come to partner countries, we shall see our graduates in managerial positions, and that will be people very loyal to Russia.

The new head of the Ministry of Education Olga Vasilyeva stated that the ministry intends to strengthen cooperation with the ASEAN countries in the sphere of education and science, primarily through the development of FEFU. What exactly will the strengthening of such cooperation be translated into? And what would be the role of the University in this regard?

FEFU has always been and remains the center of Russia's turn to the East. It is extremely important for us that the Minister has supported this trend. This means that we must continue to move forward in this vector direction.

Speaking about the content of the interaction, I should note that the University has a clear policy on the formation of the Center for Asia Pacific Studies in the region. We want to be the leaders in this field and gradually occupy this position. The relevant Expert Council is currently being formed, and all University Schools of the corresponding profile will be consolidated into a powerful structured academic unit, the establishment of which was supported by the International Advisory Council of the 5top100 Program.

That prospect appeals interested students from ASEAN countries. For example, more than 80 students from Vietnam are studying in the FEFU programs of operation of nuclear power stations. Rosatom has a large program of international cooperation in this field, and FEFU in this case performs as the venue of intellectual support for the personnel. This year 40 students from India have joined the English-language program in General Medicine, the first ever launched at the FEFU School of Biomedicine. We have many Chinese students pursuing engineering careers. FEFU has a very strong engineering profile, which is highly appreciated abroad.

What areas of training, in your opinion, will be the most in demand in the coming years?

FEFU is a large university in which 24,000 students are enrolled in higher education programs now, and by highlighting any specific priority areas of training, we automatically overshadow the other ones. This is not entirely correct for the classic university, which has at its disposal a full range of educational programs, ranging from engineering to sports and culture.

But I can highlight the notably leading areas. For example, it’s Marine Biology. The Primorsky Aquarium has been built near the University on Russky Island, which is part of the top 10 in the world and has no analogues in Russia. The FEFU School of Natural Sciences and the FEB RAS Zhirmunsky Institute of Marine Biology, which are both managed by Academician Andrey Adrianov, jointly create a powerful research center of excellence in Marine Biology. Of course, the Academician needs strong team of young researchers, who will pull the FEFU postgraduates, and then we may wait for a major breakthrough in this field of scientific knowledge in Russia.

Great plans are concerned with the development of the scientific school of Climatology. The FEFU Climatic Laboratory (Far Eastern Climate Smart Lab), headed by the Nobel Laureate Riccardo Valentini, has been created this year. We have already installed a unique integrated research station for monitoring greenhouse gases. The research team under the leadership of an outstanding world-famous researcher shall undertake an analysis of the Far East impact on the Earth climatic condition: Far East forests occupy an area of more than 200 million hectares, and are considered as the green lungs of the planet.

I have no doubt that Marine Biology and Climatology enjoy high demand at the University, which stands on the shore of the Pacific Ocean. But what can explain the creation in the University of the entire scientific schools related to such different areas such as Biomedicine, Cultural Studies, and Law?

Let's go step by step. We are seeing huge demand for biomedical education, backed by the juxtaposition of theory and medical practice. An important advantage of our School of Biomedicine is its own University's clinic, corresponding to the highest world standards. The clinic is a pilot project of the Government of the Russian Federation: for the first time a medical institution does not report to the Ministry of Healthcare, but is under the Ministry of Education as a part of our University. In addition, the School has 15 research laboratories; there is even the Laboratory of Pharmacology and Biological Testing, which is extremely important for teaching pharmacologists, supporting sport activities. Let's not forget that the next three Olympics will be held precisely in the Asia-Pacific region.

It is only natural that we would need enhanced training of students in the field of culture. Vladivostok is developing as one of the cultural capitals of Russia. Mariinsky Theater opened its own Primorsky Stage there. The branches of the Hermitage, the Russian Museum and the Vaganova Academy of Russian Ballet will appear soon.

As for the FEFU School of Law, it has been always in the top five in Russia. Training of law students in the Far East is carried out in the context of multicultural law environment and international law.

What do you expect from the integrated development program of Russky Island?

It's wrong to wait for something without doing anything. The concept of universities 3.0 suggests that the leading universities appear as the centers generating and creating innovations, creating such ecosystem around them, which leads to the development of the economy. The concept of Russky Island development needs to reflect the role of the University as the locomotive of not only scientific, but also of innovation and infrastructure development. Then the island will become an intellectual core of the Far East, the island of smart and successful people.

This year FEFU has consolidated its position in the international QS Rankings, having been ranked the 13th among 22 Russian universities included in the rankings. How do you plan to improve its competitiveness in the international market of education?

There are several routes by which any successful university shall move. Promotion in international rankings is one of these routes. It is an important, but not the only one. In my opinion, the high position in the rankings is just the consequence of strengthening the quality of education at the University. This means that everything happens naturally, not artificially.

However, as the accelerated industrialization made it possible to advance development at some time in the past, FEFU should make some steps to get this conditional "accelerated industrialization" in the rankings. They have to get used to us, we must be remembered as leaders. But all this is needed for us not to be in the rankings only, but to be the best.