3rd year students of the Faculty of Modern Foreign Languages and Literatures, PSU, have successfully defended and tested a group project in partnership with the Museum of PSU History. The team of Arina Azanova, Evgenia Demchenkova, Anastasia Efimovskikh, Elizaveta Mayorova and Elizaveta Tyurina designed and delivered the “Back to the Past: the Origin of PSU” tour for university students from China, Colombia, and Peru – followed by tour guides printed in Russian, English and Spanish.
Luckily, the ‘language tours’ by PSU students met a request for volunteer initiatives by the Museum. “We love such coincidences. They prove the museum is not just a repository of artifacts, but a living part of the University, incorporated into the educational process,” admits Maria Mingaleva, head of the Museum of PSU History. “In the students’ move, we saw a strive to make a good and sought-after product. We will be glad if they become our volunteers and help guide tours for foreign students.”
“The Chinese group appeared much more uneasy to interact with, as it was difficult for them to rely on voice only, without text. Most of all, they were intrigued by an old Chinese book,” shares Arina Azanova, a project participant. “The guys from Peru were easier to communicate with, we felt more spontaneous and confident, and maintained to run a dialogue. Sometimes it seemed that it was them who made the tour. Despite the groups were quiet different, we managed to get an extraordinary cultural experience.”
“It was truly exciting to create the original product of ours. No one gave us a ready-made text for translation. Surely, we did rely on materials available, including tours by the Museum staff, books and articles on PSU history. Our task was not just to collect data, but also transform it and adapt for another ‘mindset’. It’s been important for us to find balance within the text without overloading it with unnecessary information, and at the same time, make it interesting,” notes Evgenia Demchenkova.
“Not only did we try to immerse international students in the university history, but also create a kind of new tradition – the one that reflects our hospitality towards foreign guests, and eagerness to interculturally communicate,” says Elizaveta Mayorova. “As far as we discovered, tours around Museum of PSU History have not been conducted in other languages, before. So, we feel like a part of new trend or University tradition, which we do hope to develop!”
59 students from the Faculty of Modern Foreign Languages and Literatures prepared 12 reports aimed at both the University community and Perm Territory residents, as well as wider Internet audience. A distinctive feature of the group projects is their target audience focus, offer and demand character, ability to run dialogue with an employer, and customer-oriented result. Students practice creating multi task teams, using individual talents and knowledge, and challenge themselves with new objectives – like creating websites, shooting videos, recording podcasts, designing posters and writing press releases.
The project activities for the Faculty students in 2023 included the support of the LAMPA International Film Festival, supervision of PSU international students, support of environmental initiatives and comfortable campus space, running city tours and helping University museums, child training in robotics, interaction with PSU partners, promotion of language centers and PSU Academic Library, popularization of local urban folklore and Komi-Permyak culture.
“It was great to realize that our students’ initiatives have something in common regardless their association with different faculties. Taking that cross-field path is extremely promising and important for the University, especially when such initiatives aim at implementing socially significant tasks, contributing to the overall University progress,” notes Olga Meshcheryakova, Vice-Rector for Youth Policy and Extracurricular Activities, PSU.
Keen on East Slavic mythology? Want to try promoting your national product on the Russian market? Learn places about Perm to chill out, taste national cuisine or make sports? Help international students adapt to the University? Dive into an online tour around PSU campus, museums and Botanical Garden? These topics and more served the starting points for joint research projects by students in Linguistics and Translation at the Faculty of Modern Foreign Languages and Literatures, PSU. The projects’ presentation in the form of the assessment took place on 1 July, 2022.
Addressing the project participants, Dr. Boris Proskurnin, Dean of the Faculty, referred to two major trends in Russian education – an accent on the fundamental knowledge, a reliable theoretical support, in the first place; and, its practical orientation, the applicability to situations in real life, in the second place. In Dean’s vision, PSU students in linguistics and translation act as a link for other university students in their appeal to a bigger multinational world of education and science, which is both a joy, and responsibility.
The students’ presentations showed both dedication to our home University and interest in international cooperation, with a fair strive to help foreign students adapt to the local environment. Along with quite able performance of translation tasks, the project participants demonstrated skills of creating illustrations, videos, websites and media – acting as copywriters, bloggers, SMM managers, PR specialists and journalists.
Ms Elena Malkova, Vice-Rector for Youth Policy, PSU, paid attention to three particular characteristics while assisting the students’ research activity. Firstly, the student is no more an object, but rather a subject, an obvious key to action and transformation of reality. Secondly, in the process of work, the students come to understand the ways the university works. Thirdly, while reporting, the teams should think of involving undergraduates into their projects, providing the latter a continuous, cyclical character.
“I am sincerely grateful to the Department of Linguistics and Translation staff and personally to Natalia Khorosheva for a truly and productively organized group project activity,” Ms Elena Malkova, Vice-Rector for Youth Policy, PSU, has admitted. “This has a potential of growing into a system of events, as well as information and methodological support at working with international students, which complies with the overall youth and social policy at the University.”
The Group Project Activity is a new applied discipline at Perm State University (PSU) included into the overall study plan of all 3rd year students, complies with the federal academic leadership program Priority 2030. The goal of the Program is to form a large group of universities that will become the leaders in creating new scientific knowledge, technology, and developments for introduction into the economy and social sphere in Russia. Within the Group Project Activity, students are invited to implement scientific, cultural, educational or social projects, allowing them to apply their competencies and practice team work.
10 projects have been presented at the assessment event:
The Faculty Promo: presentational video in English with subtitles in Russian and Spanish, introducing the Faculty of Modern Foreign Languages and Literatures, PSU, for potential foreign applicants
“Media on Perm: People, Events, Places”: a website in Russian and English, with five sections each: “About us”, “Places”, “People”, “Brands”, “Phenomena”, providing original look at most interesting and relevant info about the city for tourists and foreigners living here, with dive in the local culture and “the opportunity to become part of the local community”
“PSU Assistance Centre”: a multilingual website for PSU Situation Center – with versions for computers and mobile gadgets. Eight sections – ” Declaration of Values” , “Student Life”, “Hostels”, “Social Services”, “Psychological Assistance”, “Safety”, “Library Services” and “Feedback” are divided into subsections with most recent information, existing services and official documentation in Russian, English, Chinese, Turkmen languages
HOME: “Helping international students with adaptation at the university”, a Telegram channel as a source of information on PSU, with frequently asked questions. The goal of the project was to provide students from abroad with information on the basic structure of the university – using most fast, comprehensive and friendly ways to deal with questions from studies to everyday life, as well as problem situations
“UNI-Quest”: Meet the First in the Urals”: a quest tour around PSU campus for international students (promo video)
“PSU Botanical Garden”: a promo video of PSU Botanical Garden in English and Spanish (full-time tours)
“Heritage”: a site on East Slavic mythology, introducing foreign and Russian-speaking students into Russian culture
As part of group project activity, students of the Faculty of Modern Foreign Languages and Literature, PSU, have presented the HOME multimedia platform – standing for a comfortable adaptation of international students in a new environment – in the city and the university.
Following a formal translators’ task, the project participants intend to pass basic yet important information on Perm State University to the newcomers – using most fast, comprehensive and friendly ways to deal with questions from studies to everyday life, as well as problem situations. As the HOME team states, “it’s impossible to do science when you don’t know where to buy food”.
The unique feature of the project is that it unites the University and the surrounding area of campus and the city. Addressing specifically the youth audience, the project team uses most appealing formats like infographics, subtitles- and voice- supported video, short posts, memos, etc.
“Having started the project, we discovered that beyond formal procedures and documentation, the University needs a new channel of information – enough comprehensible and useful for international students. This made us choose such a convenient and multifunctional format as a Telegram channel,”
shares Vera Pachgina, 3rd year student in Linguistics and Translation.
The Telegram is known as a cross-platform app accessible from any device, like mobile, laptop or computer. At the moment, 36 people have subscribed to the HOME channel. The Project team is actively engaged in its advertising, and expects positive dynamics:
“Not only does a small step into the Telegram territory enable the improvement in educational activity, it also allows international students to be informally accepted by the University and the city – enabling connections, acting as network elements of a larger mechanism of academic and social activity, rather than a separate, self-contained group. We regard it as key to contribution to the whole student life in Russia,”
the HOME team states.
The launch of the Project provides its makers an opportunity to continue during their 4th year of study, as well as share their duties with the freshers. According to Diana Maslova, head of the team, the HOME is likely to overgrow the initial educational task: “We are keen to support our channel with useful content, following the latest events and relevant information, and expand the language component.”
At PSU, the Group Project Activity is a new applied discipline included in to the 3rd year schedule, as a part of the overall educational process in Russia, under the Priority 2030 Program. Within its framework, students implement scientific, cultural, educational or social projects – allowing students to apply their newly acquired competencies and personal inclinations and into team work.
PSU students in linguistics studying Spanish language will take part in a business game and project with the students in marketing from Universidad Anáhuac México (Mexico).
The project titled “Marketing Insights and Tropicalization: International Case Challenge” aims at generating, testing and promotion of product tropicalization on international markets. According to the Project Team, the study of English and Spanish languages appears through productive cultural and learning exchange experience – uniting international students’ teams.
Tropicalization is the process of adapting product to a local context, a system, strategy or business solution to maximize income and profit.
For 2 months, students from Mexico, Columbia, Malaysia and Russia will act as ‘international experts’ to promote Mexican products on their national markets – researching about consumer interests and related info, proposing values and counting costs. As a result, partner teams will make a 5 mins video-pitch to propose a product to a new market, and post it in a Facebook Group.
According to Maria Khrustaleva, Associate Professor, Department of Linguistics and Translation, PSU, “participation in a project with a Mexican university opens up the world of Spanish in Latin America for our students. Keeping in mind that Spanish is quite a diverse language, PSU students will be privileged to get acquainted with its original Mexican version.”
The students have already prepared video business cards of their cities and universities, and introduced themselves. Anastasia Valeeva, 3rd year student believes “communication with Mexican students will help benefit both linguistically and culturally, and all parties are looking forward to proceed.” This is surely a new experience for PSU students studying linguistics and translation.
On their way, both parties will be using English and Spanish languages. Following 3 days after the deadline, participants will enter the battle by debating and asking questions each other about those ideas stated in the video, and vote for the best idea. All participants will receive the certificates of participation and the winners will get an extra point.
Anna Sit’kova, a teacher of Linguistics and Translation, PSU, regards the Project as a unique opportunity to understand marketing and gain extra skills: “Not only does cross-cultural interaction allow to develop a large number of creative ideas and practical solutions into study methods, but also create favorable conditions for the exchange of culture and experience between students from Mexico and Russia.”
The Universidad Anáhuac México is a private educational institution of higher learning in Mexico, located on two campuses: North Campus, in Huixquilucan de Degollado, and South Campus, in Mexico City.
The Anahuac University is currently ranked among the top 2% best universities around the world. The Anahuac University Network includes institutions in Mexico, United States, Chile, Spain, Italy and France.
Bearing its name from “near the water” in Nahuatl, the ancient Aztec language, Anáhuac used to be the biggest and most crowded place in Central America, what is now Mexico City, the home of the university. The university belongs to the Catholic religious congregation of the Legionaries of Christ.
Dr. Sergey Pyankov, Vice-Rector for Research and Innovation, has overviewed the results of 2021 at the Academic Council of Perm State University (PSU). Along with PSU Press Office, we have paid close attention to the international component of his report:
In 2021, and for the first time, a group of PSU researchers from a wide spectrum of disciplines performed as authors for the “Science and Global Challenges of the 21st Century – Science and Technology” by Springer. In total, out of 99 publications 59 belonged to PSU scholars.
The Scientific Publishing Office at PSU helped organize the publication of papers, initiated at the Science and Global Challenges of the 21st Century Forum (autumn 2021); the Office continues providing assistance in writing scientific articles for the University scholars.
For the past year, 237 PSU scholars published their papers in internationally recognized journals; among them, 111 people had their publications quoted by the Web of Science. On the average, the number of articles published at Scopus is 2.6, and 2.8 at the Web of Science.
In 2021, a new Department of Scientific and Innovative Activity had been launched at PSU. For the first months of its activity, the Department concluded 12 contracts worth about RUB 70 million. Among the Department’s divisions, the International Academic Cooperation Office assists grant applications, promotes science diplomacy and contributes to the “Rational Subsoil Use” Perm Scientific and Educational Center.
“This year, we will keep on building a unified and transparent network – providing informational, instructional and executive support of the scientific activity at PSU. We are doing our best to encourage our faculties and research units to write grant applications, as well as run commercial and contractual activities. The related search algorithms, regulatory support and tangible results should be clear and convenient for those researchers. We see our task at providing most full and complete support on that,”
said Dr. Sergey Pyankov, Vice-Rector for Research and Innovations, PSU.
Summing up the annual financial records, Dr. Pyankov noted that in 2021, PSU received the maximum amount of RUB 720 mln for research activities, which was 60% higher than in 2020. The Photonics NTI Competence Center, the Natural Sciences Institute, and the Faculty of Physics, PSU made the greatest contribution in this progress.
Looking for new friends? Want to learn Russian, or may be discuss something in English? Eager to practice your presentation skills, or just find more about countries around the globe?
17 students from the Faculty of Modern Foreign Languages and Literature, PSU, took part in the International Online Forum “Student’s Vision of the World”. The purpose of the Forum was to create a digital space for intercultural exchange, expand the scope of student activities and develop joint international and inter-institutional projects.
The projects by PSU students have been fairly recognized and certified by the Forum committee from Omsk State Agrarian University.
The Forum received over 200 applications from students from Russia, Kazakhstan, Belarus, Kyrgyzstan, Armenia, Latvia, Sierra Leone, Tajikistan, Nigeria, Estonia, Morocco and more. The projects covered a variety of broad subjects, including culture, science and sports – in the shape of essays, videos and podcasts, discussing digitalization and values of the 21st century.
Interested in the projects? Fee; inspired, see how the participants’ projects at the Forum Facebook page.
And, some more to …
…Remind, that soon prior to the Forum, the students from the Faculty of Modern Foreign Languages and Literature won the 1st prize in the International thematic discussion “Culture is the Fifth Skill”, dedicated to cross-cultural communication and nationalities across the globe.
11 teams of students in Linguistics from Russia and Belarus took part in an online discussion. The PSU team prepared a presentation on the UK, using creative approach and theatrical performance, demonstrating the British mentality, values, etiquette, traditions, verbal and non-verbal behavior.
The “Culture is the Fifth Skill” was initiated by the Francisk Skorina Gomel State University (Republic of Belarus), discussing the cultures of Japan, South Korea, Russia, Norway, Great Britain, Israel, Thailand, Australia and China.
The team of the International Academic Cooperation Office at Perm State University visited the International Office of the Immanuel Kant Baltic Federal University (KBFU, Kalinigrad, Russia).
The partners paid special attention to the ARTEST international project, implemented within the Erasmus+ mission, co-initiated and supported by Perm State University. The meeting raised questions of quality standards in the project management, implementation of current tasks and technical solutions, both on- and off-line.
The International Erasmus+ project “ARTEST: Enhancing education programmes in Arts and Humanities via European STEM methods and tools” aims to rethink education in humanities in line with EU standards, research and practices – to catch up with the latest trends of the labour market and reinforce education by adopting digital methods of research and education. The geography of the project connects Europe and Asia, covering countries from Germany to Mongolia. The project also connects historical cultural heritage and the latest digital technologies.
More information about the ARTEST project might be found here.
On behalf PSU, Natalya Dobrynina, Kristina Vetrova and Anna Peisakhovich regarded the opportunities of grant opportunities for international audience – contributing to major academic and research events, and interaction with invited scholars as a part or science diplomacy, within joint international projects.
Anna Belova, KBFU spoke about the specifics of academic communication with the countries of the Baltic region. Tatiana Tsvigun, Head of the Institute for the Humanities, emphasized the relevance of joint initiatives in digital humanities and interdisciplinary research. Olga Kim, Vice-Rector for International Affairs and Youth Policy, KBFU and the PSU team discussed the ways of further cooperation between the universities.
“We are always glad to host partners from Perm State University. Regardless of the difficult times in international cooperation, live communication and professional exchange remain important – ensuring the development of effective communication within the project consortia. The experience of our Perm colleagues in the implementation of Erasmus+ projects has been especially valuable for us, ”
said Daria Gerber, Head of the International Office, KBFU.
The Erasmus Programme (EuRopean Community Action Scheme for the Mobility of University Students”) is a European Union (EU) student exchange program, established in 1987. The new Erasmus+ program combines all the EU’s current schemes for education, training, youth and sport. The Erasmus Student Network consists of 534 local associations (“sections”) in 42 countries and has more than 15,000 volunteers across Europe. As of 2014, the Erasmus program has promoted the mobility of more than 3.3 million students within the European community. More than 4,000 university institutions from 31 countries are participating in the project.
Seven students from Perm State University have been announced laureates of “Your Move” All-Russian Student Competition, winning RUB 2.5 million ($34,000) for the university projects.
In the competition finals, the participants developed projects with teams of previously selected spheres. Among the prize-winners are PSU international students and, particularly, Meylis Tuvakov (Turkmenistan), Faculty of Economics, who initiated the Center of Foreign Culture at Perm State University.
Alisa Okulova, a 4th year student at the Faculty of Philology, and her team have developed a “Restart” Project solution – helping graduate students cope with burnout:
“My team and I worked on a mega-challenge of Stress-Free Space at universities. Our “Restart” project involves the creation of a platform – providing access to useful info, videos and dialogue with a chatbot, and also advice from university psychologists and students who have coped with emotional burnout,”
shares Alisa Okulova.
Meylis Tuvakov, known as a curator of PSU Center of Foreign Culture, unites a team of task-oriented, fast and able volunteers, aimed at collaborations on and off-campus, including sports and creative projects.
“To improve yourself and show progress, one has step into a team. Together, we try to implement cool ideas into projects of all kind. Not does it only help us to promote ourselves or faculties we belong to, but also develop successful communication, team work, brainstorming, leadership and more – turning them to action,”
Meylis states.
The Grant will be given to several PSU projects and will be regarded as an investment into student activity, on the whole.
Where can I find financial support for my research project? What is the best way to plan my actions, and resources? What if my project goes beyond the university and aims at a wider society? Which partners should I look for to make it successful?
On Tuesday 20 April, the Information Workshop “Grant Opportunities for the Erasmus + Program in 2021” will take at Perm State University (PSU). The workshop will concentrate on existing grant opportunities and practical advice, shared by International Academic Cooperation Department team, PSU.
The seminar will take place on PSU campus, off-line, from 1pm till 3pm (local Perm time) in the meeting room of the PSU Academic Council (building 1, left wing, floor 4, room 424). Faculty staff, researchers and teaching fellows are invited to participate. To take part, please register using the following link.
“The seminar will feature relevant opportunities and grant competitions, open for Russian universities, researchers and teaching fellows. The speakers will present samples of successful projects at Perm State University under the Erasmus+ program,”
says Natalya Dobrynina, Head of the International Academic Cooperation Department, PSU.
Erasmus+ is the European Commission’s Programme for education, training, youth and sport. It offers opportunities for mobility of learners and staff and cooperation across the education, training and youth sectors and is easier to access than its predecessors, with simplified funding rules and a structure which aims to streamline the administration of the program.
Got artistic skills, full of ideas, fancy design? Want to be a part of an international educational project? Interested in both European and Asian partners?
Perm State University announces a Contest on the logo development for the international project Erasmus+ ARTEST!
International Erasmus+ project “ARTEST: Enhancing education programmes in Arts and Humanities via European STEM methods and tools” invites students, teaching staff and employees of the Consortium* to participate in the contest on the project’s logo development.
The goal of the Contest is to develop a logo for the international project ARTEST.
Terms and conditions of participation:
Logos are accepted in .png format with a size of no more than 300 pixels (8 cm) on a side. In addition, authors can send a logo in vector format, keeping all used fonts in curves.
A logo should reflect the following project idea:
The ARTEST project aims to rethink education in humanities in Russia and Mongolia in line with EU standards, research and practices to catch up with the latest trends of the labour market and reinforce education in humanities by adopting digital methods of research and education. The geography of the project connects Europe and Asia, covering countries from Germany to Mongolia. Also, the project connects historical cultural heritage and the latest digital technologies. More information could be found here.
A completed application and a statement of consent to the processing of personal data (Appendices No. 1 and No. 3) with the attachment of the logo in electronic form should be sent to the e-mail address fwlperm@gmail.com. In the subject line, “ARTEST Contest” should be indicated.
Logos are accepted from April, 1 to April 25, 2021.
More detailed information on the terms and conditions of participation could be found in the Regulations (Please, see PDF document attached).
For additional information and questions, feel free to contact the Contest organizers: Dobrynina Natalia, Vetrova Kristina, Peisakhovich Anna – fwlperm@gmail.com. In the message subject line, please indicate the “ARTEST question”.
