News in Press-centre

The first in Russia summer school for undergraduate students of the Association of Pacific Rim Universities (APRU) was opened at Far Eastern Federal University (FEFU) on July 3. The international education program united 50 young leaders from Canada, China, New Zealand, the Republic of Korea, Russia, Singapore, USA, and Japan on the Russky Island campus. For 10 days, the participants will get acquainted with the culture of Russia and other countries of the Asia-Pacific region and will develop joint projects.

The school is themed as "Global Challenges for the New Generation of the Asia-Pacific Region", which continues the theme of the Annual Presidents Meeting of APRU in Australia, which was attended by Nikita Anisimov, the FEFU Interim President.

Delegations tried unusually to present their countries and universities at the opening of the school. For example, students from Beijing and Nanjing universities prepared a presentation about their native places in China, representatives of the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology performed a song, and a group of students from the universities of Tokyo, Tohoku, Osaka and Waseda held a presentation in the national Japanese kimono. First year students Alisa Ryabtseva (School of Economics and Management) and Veronika Tkachenko (Oriental Institute–School of Regional and International Studies) represent Russia and FEFU at the school.

“Far Eastern Federal University is the center of international cooperation, and our school will strengthen this cooperation at the level of young leaders of the Asia-Pacific region,” said Evgeny Vlasov, FEFU Deputy Vice President for International Relations. “Exciting lectures and master classes by the best academics and members of the Model UN of the Russian Far East club await you. We expect that the knowledge gained will allow you to implement projects to address global challenges in the Asia-Pacific region.”

A daily lecture series for participants of the summer school will consist of lectures, laboratory exercises and seminars dedicated to the historical and cultural development of the Asia Pacific region, international relations and security, global climate change, the Arctic, innovation, and health care. At the same time, students will develop projects to inform the population of the Asia-Pacific countries about the global challenges of humanity in order to implement their ideas in APRU universities within the next year.

The Association of Pacific Rim Universities was founded in 1997 and Far Eastern State University (now FEFU) became one of its founders. Today, APRU brings together 45 leading science-based universities from Australia, Indonesia, Canada, China, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, the Republic of Korea, Russia, Singapore, USA, Thailand, Taiwan, the Philippines, Chile, and Japan. For 20 years FEFU has remained the only representative of Russia in this prestigious association.