There is an especially high demand for these specialists in Indonesia, the fourth most populous country in the world with a dynamic economy. Tomsk State University and Institut Teknologi Sepuluh Nopember (ITS) have jointly launched a double-degree collaboration program; upon completing it, students will receive a diploma combining the TSU Software Engineering and the ITS Information Technology qualifications.
"The program was developed jointly with the Department of Information Technology of the Faculty of Intelligent Electrical and Informatics Technology of ITS (Sepuluh Nopember Institute of Technology, Surabaya) with reliance on the existing programs of both institutions", says the International Student Engagement Manager at the Research and Educational Center Higher IT School (HITs), Agniya Shlykova. "The program aims to give ITS students an opportunity to go to Russia, to Tomsk and broaden their education, grow professionally, and enrich their practical and linguistic experiences. This year we had the first batch of 12 students to enroll in the program. In the curriculum, the students study in Indonesia for the first two years, and come to TSU for the next two."
The double-degree program is a direct continuation of TSU's collaboration with Indonesian universities. In 2016, the current HITs staff helped organize a winter school in computer science, held with the participation of ITS students. Later, HITs representatives visited the Surabaya Institute of Technology as part of the annual academic mobility program for employees, Inbound Staff Mobility Program. Currently Tomsk State University hosts over 60 Indonesian students; if we take into account 32 more study seats taken by students from Indonesia, we have 20 percent of all Indonesians studying in Russia's educational institutions.
"Indonesia is a country of 280 million people that will become one of the five leading world economies by 2035. It is clearly visible how rapidly it is developing," says TSU Vice-Rector for International Affairs, Artyom Rykun. "Surely, we understand that if we are to attract partners for academic collaboration who can meet the requirements of our university, we have to look precisely there; science and education are being actively expanded, and we can potentially find areas of common interest with one of the major regions in Southeast Asia.
Specifically, the parties are establishing ties in such areas as geological exploration and production of oil, gas, and other natural resources. In this area, TSU is a partner of University of Pattimura, located in Maluku province. Indonesian school and university students are quite well aware of Tomsk, thanks to a graduate of TSU, Turah Parthayana, and his YouTube blog about life in Tomsk and studying at TSU. At the same time, Tomsk has a fairly large community of students from Indonesia, so Indonesians who come here are not afraid that they may find themselves in linguistic and cultural isolation.
Another reason for choosing Tomsk is that applicants and their parents consider the city safe and comfortable to live in. Awareness is spread thanks to the blog created by a TSU Indonesian student, Jessica Laurentia, and regular online meetings with Indonesian students' parents arranged by TSU International Division, as well as TSU being in close contact with the Embassy of the Republic of Indonesia in Moscow, particularly, with the education attaché, Dr. Adi Nuryanto.
The Republic of Indonesia is one of the few countries that have chosen to establish such a position, which indicates both increased attention to higher education and plans for large-scale cooperation with universities in the Russian Federation.
Campus tour for parents of Indonesian students: