Webster to Develop Partnership with Top-10 Russian University, South Ural State
Representatives from one of Russia’s largest universities were on campus to visit Webster University and enter into a Memorandum of Understanding, the goal of which is to work together to explore areas of cooperation between the two institutions.
Possible collaborative projects include exchanges of students and faculty, joint research, and the development of joint international forums, such as conferences and symposia. South Ural State University (SUSU) in Chelyabinsk is a top-10 university in Russia, known for its strength in the sciences.
“We welcome this opportunity to partner with SUSU, an institution distinguished for its academics,” said Webster University President Beth Stroble.”We are honored to collaborate with SUSU for the benefit of both institutions’ faculty and students. From this beginning we can anticipate the flow of people and ideas that will further Webster’s advancing leadership in global academic excellence.”
“This important partnership strengthens our Science, Technology, Engineering, Math and Medicine (STEMM) initiatives while adding another important region to our study abroad opportunities,” said Webster University Provost and Senior Vice President Julian Schuster.
David Carl Wilson, dean of the Webster University College of Arts & Sciences, added there could be important research sharing opportunities between the two faculties – potentially in the areas specific to Psychology and Biology.
Evgeny Bykov, dean of faculty of Physical Training and Sport at SUSU, said that SUSU is looking to increase its number of international students from 1,000 to 3,000. The school’s total enrollment is around 50,000.
“We also want to give our students the opportunity to study abroad,” he said.
The two universities also share a similar passion: Competitive chess.
“Russia has some of the strongest chess players in the world,” Schuster said. “The fact that we are home to the strongest collegiate chess team in the world made us a good fit for SUSU.”
To that end, SUSU chess coach and Russian Women’s National Team coach GM Alexandr Ryazantsev was on campus as part of the SUSU delegation. Ryazantsev was also a special guest at the closing ceremony of last summer’s SPICE Girls’ Invitational Championship at Webster.
SUSU was founded in 1943 and has 13 branches and 13 regional campuses. Among its attributes are a linguistic center, a gifted children center, School of Physics and Mathematics, and the “Applicant” center, a young linguist and young psychologist school and specialized preparation courses. Its postgraduate education includes courses in 70 specializations.
Webster University, founded in 1915 with its home campus based in St. Louis, Missouri, USA, is the only Tier 1, private, nonprofit university with campus locations around the world including metropolitan, military, online and corporate, as well as American-style traditional campuses in North America, Europe and Asia.
That means more world class students coming to Webster?