Joint Master's programme to be implemented by UNN and the University of Tula

An educational workshop on the development and implementation of joint (network) Master’s programmes was held at the Tula State Pedagogical University. It was attended by staff members of Lobachevsky University. The aim of the workshop was to develop a joint Master's programme "Russian as a Foreign Language" for international students with a unified curriculum.

Lobachevsky University participants included:

• Konstantin Kemaev, Deputy Vice-Rector for International Affairs;
• Ekaterina Smirnova, Head of the Department for International Students, Associate Professor of the Department for Teaching Russian as a Foreign Language;
• Alexander Gorylev, Deputy Head of the International Cooperation Office, Associate Professor of the Department of Constitutional and Municipal Law.

The Tula State Pedagogical University (TSPU) team comprised:

• Svetlana Krayushkina, Vice Rector for Educational Policy;
• Anna Topornina, Director of the Educational Department;
• Nelly Krasovskaya, Dean of the International Faculty;
• Maxim Kudryavtsev, Head of the Curriculum Development Department;
• Larisa Barulina, Head of the Department of Russian as a Foreign Language;
• Vladimir Andreev, Head of the English Language Department;
• Inna Pronicheva, Associate Professor of the Department of Russian as a Foreign Language.

In the course of the workshop, the participants developed a draft curriculum of the innovative joint (network) Master’s programme "Russian as a Foreign Language" based on the best practices of Lobachevsky University and Tula State Pedagogical University, and agreed on the main stages of its implementation. An agreement on the joint form of implementation of this Master's programme between the two universities is to be prepared by September 2022. The programme will provide for consecutive training of UNN students at TSPU and TSPU students at UNN  as well as the awarding of two diplomas to the students.

The new joint (network) Master's programme can be seen as an innovative educational product that ensures the competitiveness of our universities in a constantly changing environment in science and education.