A project on a scale never seen before in this country is being unfolded in Tomsk: From seven universities in the region and seven research institutes, a single scientific and academic space has been created called the Big University. In the new academic year, students will be able to access sports and academic facilities and develop joint projects using an all-embracing campus card.
Such integration will increase the competitiveness of Russian education and enable the development of Tomsk as a "univer-city". It is planned that after this testing in Siberia, "big universities" will begin to appear in other regions of Russia.
The idea of creating a large university that will unite several educational organizations arose in Tomsk about five years ago. Under the terms of the project, all its participants will retain legal independence. As noted by the head of the Ministry of Education and Science of Russia, Valery Falkov, the vector set by Tomsk to unite the efforts of scientific institutes and universities is important: in the contemporary world it is necessary to achieve global goals.
"Tomsk has already demonstrated the effect of consolidating the efforts of universities and research institutes: universities are adequately represented in the Priority 2030 project, received state support for the construction of an interuniversity campus, and among the four Siberian universities that are a part of the project Leading Engineer Schools, three are located in Tomsk. Now the state's draft decree on the Big University status is undergoing a stage of public discussions", Valery Falkov stressed.
The project members plan to create not only a united scientific and educational base, but also an accessible infrastructure for all. As the current academic year begins, first-year students at all Tomsk universities will be able to access educational and sports facilities using an all-access campus card with the logo of the Big University. This will help remove the boundaries between universities and strengthen cooperation between scientific and educational teams of different universities.
"Tomsk universities are now open to each other in the truest sense. But, of course, this is only the first step, which should be followed by more steps. We consider openness, accessibility, and integration of higher education, academic science, and the real economy to be key in the development of the scientific and educational complex of the region", commented the Acting Governor of the Tomsk Oblast, Vladimir Mazur.
Several facilities have been selected in each institution that all students of the "univer-city" will have access to. The list includes sports and dissection facilities, libraries and laboratories. From now on, a Siberian Medical University student will not need to get a separate pass to visit the TSU library or the TPU gym.
"Campus cards will be registered in the shared system, which will make universities both open and capable of meeting security requirements. In the future, the influence of campus cards on scientific institutes of the city will be extended", stated the chairman of the Tomsk Consortium of Institutions of Higher Education Council, the Rector of TSU, Eduard Galazhinskiy.
Over time, the pilot model can be scaled to other regions of the country, which will open up additional opportunities for scientific activity and consolidate new standards for student campuses.
Currently, the campus card can be used to access the following locations at the Big University of Tomsk:
TSU: main building (Lenin Ave., 36), building No. 2 (Lenin Ave., 36, bldg. 7), Sports House (Lenin Ave., 36, bldg. 2), building No. 31 (Ulitsa Naberezhnoy Reki Ushaiki, 12), TSU Scientific Library (36 Lenin Ave., bldg. 19).
TPU: Science and Technical Library (Ulitsa Belinskogo, 53a), sports building (Ulitsa Karpova, 4), main building (Lenin Ave, 30), International Culture Center (Ulitsa Usova, 13в), Business Incubator (Lenin Ave., 2, bldg. 33), TPU's Sanatorium-Preventorium (Ulitsa Usova, 13), as well as Sanatorium-Preventorium's sports and recreation complex with a swimming pool (Ploshchad Savinykh, 5).
TUSUR: Student Business Incubator (Ulitsa Krasnoarmeyskaya, 147), academic and laboratory building (Ulitsa Krasnoarmeyskaya, 146), main building (Lenin Ave., 40).
SibSMU: Scientific Medical Library (Lenin Ave., 107), sports and health building (Ulitsa Uchebnaya, 41), academic and laboratory building "A" (Moskovskiy Trakt, 2, str. 7).
TSUAB: academic building No. 1 (Ploshchad Solyanaya, 2, str. 2), academic building No. 2 (Ploshchad Solyanaya, 2, bldg 1).
TSPU: library (Ulitsa Gertsena, 66), sports and recreation building (Ulitsa Kievskaya, 62в, bldg. 1), stadium (Ulitsa Gertsena, 49/2).
First-year students can apply for cards for the Big University of Tomsk when receiving passes to TSU.