From Summer Schools to a Supercomputer: HSE Delegation Visits Uzbekistan

Mirzo Ulugbek National University of Uzbekistan

Photo by eduopinions.com

An official HSE University delegation representing all four campuses visited Uzbekistan from October 3–6. HSE managers, teachers and researchers met with their peers from partner universities and government agencies to outline new areas of cooperation, discuss joint projects, programmes, and activities for students, and hold lectures and master classes. The participants shared their impressions of the trip with HSE News Service.

Academic cooperation is of fundamental importance to Russian-Uzbek relations and the strengthening of the Eurasian space of friendship and trust. HSE University attaches great importance to the formation of a common educational and scientific space with Eurasian countries, with the partnership between Russia and Uzbekistan recognised as one of the pillars of this new architecture.

Areas of primary interest to HSE University in the region include computing and applied mathematics and engineering, electronics and information security, Asian and African studies, global economics and politics, international relations, regional studies, and law. 

Discussions about the potential for cooperation are actively shifting towards real projects and joint initiatives. Agreements have been reached to sign road maps on developing cooperation with Tashkent State University of Oriental Studies and Tashkent State University of Economics. In addition, new agreements with educational institutions in Uzbekistan are to be signed. These agreements will signify a new level of interaction between the two countries.

Sergey Aksenov, Deputy Director for Academic Affairs, HSE MIEM

‘Our visit was very useful in terms of learning about the sites of the universities. This is the first time that MIEM has considered such forms of partnership, both in the educational field and in research. During the visit, we saw the high technological level of the universities: digital technologies, laboratories, and training facilities equipped with everything necessary for the possible and potential development of cooperation and joint research. During the discussion, mutual interest was expressed in joint projects, academic mobility, and publication activity. For example, we are interested in cooperating on electronic engineering with Tashkent State Technical University, and researching water resource problems and implementing a supercomputer project with the Tashkent Institute of Irrigation and Agricultural Mechanization Engineers.’

Anastasia Vyrenkova, Academic Director of the Doctoral School of Philology, Faculty of Humanities, HSE University

‘Our Uzbek colleagues have shown interest in the projects implemented at the HSE Faculty of Humanities—from expeditions to the development of shared resources in teaching Russian as a foreign language. We discussed opportunities for cooperation in corpus linguistics, the corpus of oriental languages, and digital methods in the humanities; the development of shared manuals and digital applications for teaching Russian as a foreign language, including special manuals for heritage language speakers.

We hope to see students from Uzbekistan at summer schools and seminars of the HSE University Russian Language Centre and the School of Linguistics

We are also considering the possibility of organising linguistic and folklore expeditions to Uzbekistan together with our colleagues from Samarkand State University.’

Maria Kiseleva, Head of the International Office at HSE University-St Petersburg

‘The visit was extremely fruitful. During the meetings, the HSE University-St Petersburg International Office managed to strengthen existing partnerships and build a dialogue regarding possible cooperation with leading Uzbek universities such as the University of World Economy and Diplomacy, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Uzbekistan, and Samarkand State University. Both sides agreed to organise joint activities—from seasonal schools to co-directing students' thesis work.

We had a meeting with Tashkent State University of Oriental Studies to discuss a joint student project to create a guidebook for Uzbekistan as part of the Arts and Culture Management programme

Our visit to Tashkent State University of Law resulted in agreements to invite students to a team game called ‘Russia and Asia in Dialogue: Historical and Theoretical Perspective’, which will be held at the HSE University-St Petersburg School of Law.’

Anna Shilovskaya, Head of the International Relations Office at HSE University-Nizhny Novgorod

‘The visit has given rise to cooperation between the Nizhny Novgorod Campus and universities in Uzbekistan. It is worth noting that researchers in some fields not represented in our campus also expressed their interest in HSE University in Nizhny Novgorod. For instance, historians from Samarkand State University would like to visit the Nizhny Novgorod Fair—an important focal point for eastern merchants.

The Tashkent Institute of Irrigation and Agricultural Mechanisation Engineers wanted to know more about IT hackathons commissioned by agricultural companies; we were happy to invite teams from the institute to participate

We hope to start cooperation on interdisciplinary projects with these leading Uzbek universities.

We would also like to note that our campus is interested in cooperating with Tashkent State University of Oriental Studies in the Foreign Languages and Intercultural Business Communication Bachelor’s programme. This year, many students on campus have chosen to study Chinese, and we see a trend towards increasing demand for Oriental languages in the future.’

Galina Volodina, Director of HSE University-Perm

‘The visit was very successful, in part because the four HSE campuses acted as a unified team. The Perm campus has been promoting cooperation with Central Asian countries over the last six years, so the campus already had partners in Uzbekistan. During a meeting with Tashkent State University of Economics, both sides confirmed their intentions to cooperate in the field of economics and business management. We have also agreed to cooperate with Tashkent State University of Oriental Studies on the ‘History and Culture of the East’ and separately on China.

As soon as this academic year, we are expecting guest professors from Tashkent State University of Oriental Studies to come to Perm and give Oriental Studies classes to our history students

Our longest-standing partner in Uzbekistan is the Training Centre of the Uzbek Ministry of Finance. For the past three years, we have organised a number of seminars and round tables together and we have been working in consulting. During this visit, we launched an HSE University-Perm partner stand in the Training Centre, donated books on economics to the their library, and conducted a training session for the Training Centre's teachers.’

HSE partner universities in Uzbekistan:

 Mirzo Ulugbek National University of Uzbekistan

 Tashkent State University of Oriental Studies

 Tashkent State University of Economics

 Tashkent State University of Law

 Tashkent Institute of Irrigation and Agricultural Mechanization Engineers