Two week summer schools, Sichuan University Summer School in China, and Summer English Language Programme – Activate English in the UK, – as well as one week international youth educational forums and international youth camps – improved UNN participants’ performance and provided rich opportunities for intellectual and professional growth.

UNN is launching new projects to enhance its overall competitiveness and student and academic mobility, but it is worth saying that a tradition to spend a summer vacation learning and exploring new things is rooted in UNN community itself as it is welcoming, open to ideas and suggestions and inclined to foster achievement.

Sichuan University 2014 Summer School is a new experience for UNN students

Students of Lobachevsky State University of Nizhni Novgorod were the third group of Russians to study at Sichuan University after the training of students of Moscow State University and those of Ural University in Chengdu in two previous years.

15 students of the Institute of International Relations and World History of Lobachevsky State University of Nizhni Novgorod, together with representatives of several prestigious universities of the world, took part in International Summer School at Sichuan University from June 25 to July 15. The communication with Chinese students and teachers helped our students to improve their language skills and gain first-hand understanding of Chinese modern culture, politics and economy as well as regional features.

The programme of UNN students’ participation in International Summer School was focused on their fields of study at UNN – foreign regional studies, international relations and tourism. As Nizhny Novgorod region signed an agreement of strategic partnership with the Chinese province of Sichuan, there are good prospects for development of joint projects.

Teachers of the University of Liverpool bring English to life for UNN academic staff

UNN Centre for International Education, together with the English Language Centre of the University of Liverpool, organized a two-week Summer English Language Programme – Activate English for UNN staff from July 13 to 27.

UNN academics perfected their language skills for social and professional purposes. During the two-week programme they had many opportunities to practise using the language through communication with native speakers and immerse themselves in a foreign language. Teachers helped them to remove the language barrier and develop the capacity to communicate effectively.

All participants were placed in appropriate groups to study at their English language level. 6 hour classes at the English Language Centre of the University of Liverpool with the representatives of other countries, such as China, Turkey, Brazil and Kuwait, were an unforgettable experience for UNN academics. In addition to grammar and listening tasks, they were assisted in writing blog posts about their stay in the UK and interviewing the British about their attitudes towards the Royal Family and some personalities.

Classes devoted to the study of the House of Windsor, Shakespeare reading and writing of business letters explored different facets of the English language. Clive Newton, Director of the English Language Centre, gave a lecture on Irish Folk song, Molly Malone, to enhance active learning of English in all types of activities.

UNN academics met with their colleagues from the University of Liverpool throughout the programme. Its organizers had a lot of positive feedback from the participants.

2014 Summer F.R.E.S.H. brings students from the Shanghai Cooperation Organization countries together

3 year students of the Institute of Economics and Entrepreneurship of Lobachevsky State University of Nizhni Novgorod, Iuliia Troshina and Kirill Kasatkin, participated in 2014 Summer F.R.E.S.H., international youth educational forum, which was held in Krasnoyarsk territory from July 11 to 17.

2014 Summer F.R.E.S.H. was an event hosted by 2014 Biryusa – Territory of Initiative Youth (TIM Biryusa) to develop cooperation and joint projects of student organizations from the Shanghai Cooperation Organization countries (China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan).

More than 700 students attended the official opening of the international educational forum. Olga Golodets, Deputy Prime Minister of the Russian Federation, gave the opening speech. “I feel a great responsibility, because our future is in front of me,” Olga Golodets said, referring to future leaders as ‘our future’. Veniamin Kaganov, Deputy Minister of the Ministry of Education and Science of the Russian Federation, together with other Russian politicians, answered the participants’ questions and outlined the main measures to support young leaders and teachers after the opening ceremony.

2014 Summer F.R.E.S.H. provided a platform for motivated students. Moreover, they were lectured by famous political experts such as Avigdor Eskin, Israeli journalist and political activist, and Sam Potolicchio, Professor of Politics at Georgetown University, the U.S. (named one of the best professors in America by the Princeton Review in 2012).

During one week students explored practices and tactics of international cooperation and implementation of joint projects and created new ones.

UNN participants of Baltic Artek put forward a number of suggestions to improve the standard of education  

The Youth of the Future, one week youth forum being held from July 24 to 31 at Baltic Artek camp, attracted about 300 young people from 16 Russian regions, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland, including members of the student board of Nizhny Novgorod region’s employment assistance centre for UNN students, Iaroslav Ratov, Maksim Neshataev and Vadim Martakov, to a village in Kaliningrad region.

The Youth of the Future featured six workshops – Media storm, Vectors of science: Innovative discoveries and technologies, Step into the future, Management of social projects, Art space and Career advancement, the Algorithm of Success.

UNN participants developed the criteria for independent evaluation of education quality in the workshop on career advancement. They were helped by Sergey Bogomolov, Deputy Director of the Institute of Economics and Entrepreneurship of Lobachevsky State University of Nizhni Novgorod. The round-table meeting was chaired by Dr. Sergey Gil, head of the Department of education and innovation of Central Union of the consumer societies of the Russian Federation. A web conference was organized to exchange views with the participants of other major Russian youth forums – 2014 Seliger and 2014 Biryusa – Territory of Initiative Youth (TIM Biryusa). Anatoly Shvindt from Federal Education and Science Supervision Service of the Russian Federation expressed the Government’s view on the issues.

At the conclusion of the meeting the UNN team was offered to apply for the participation in the working group on improvements to the standard of education quality.