Lobachevsky University takes part in GAZ Group’s IT Academy project
GAZ Group, Russia’s leading manufacturer of commercial vehicles, is creating an IT Academy. The project will be implemented on the basis of the company's corporate university jointly with higher education institutions and specialized colleges of the Nizhny Novgorod region. The students will be trained by certified teachers from the IT industry, and also by experts from GAZ Group's IT departments and the company's Joint Engineering Centre.
The curriculum will include both theoretical disciplines and participation of students in implementation of GAZ Group’s digital projects in engineering, production technologies, business processes, etc. Academy graduates will receive diplomas and certificates of training (including international ones). On January 28, GAZ Group entered into an agreement with six educational institutions of the Nizhny Novgorod region to organize in-depth training of IT specialists in the framework of the IT Academy project to meet the future challenges of the automotive industry.
The agreement was signed by Vadim Sorokin, President of GAZ Group, and heads of leading Nizhny Novgorod institutions of higher and secondary education: Lobachevsky University, Alekseev Technical University, National Research University Higher School of Economics, University of Engineering and Economics, Automechanical College and Governorate College.
The IT Academy is scheduled to open in March 2022. Participation in the project is open to IT students starting from their second year at the university and to technical college students starting from their fourth year. Training will be free of charge for students of specialized educational institutions; starting from the second semester, students of the Academy will receive a scholarship from GAZ Group. The one and a half year training course will comprise three stages: DeepDive (basic course), Intern (advanced specialization and internship program at GAZ Group enterprises), Junior (participation in implementation of GAZ Group business projects). Students will study subjects in the areas of programming, system administration and network solutions, including their application to current industry needs. Universities and colleges that partner with the programme will credit their students' studies at the IT Academy as part of their curriculum. Academy graduates completing the course with the best results will be offered employment at GAZ Group enterprises with opportunities for further professional development and career growth.
According to Mikhail Shiryaev, UNN Vice Rector for Innovation, the project is important from the point of view of a qualitatively new development of interaction between Lobachevsky University as the largest institution of higher education in the region and GAZ Group, one of the flagships of Russia’s automotive industry.
"Lobachevsky University is regarded as a key partner, as the leading university in the field of IT training, with extensive experience in the development of artificial intelligence, which is of particular importance today for our industrial partners in terms of creating modern intelligent vehicles. The university can take part in GAZ Group's research and development activities. UNN provides IT training not only at its Institute of Information Technologies, Mathematics and Mechanics but also in many other fields of study, from chemistry and materials science to economics. The partners note our graduates’ high level of digital competencies. We will continue the dialogue on expanding our cooperation with GAZ Group in training and implementing other joint projects," said Mikhail Shiryaev.
