The delegation was led by Artyom Rykun, TSU Vice-Rector for International Affairs, included Daria Maslova, Director of the Center for Pedagogical Design and Online Learning, and Yulia Mishenina, Deputy Director of the Center.
Currently TSU Institute of Distance Education offers about ten English-taught programs for additional education. These are programs on effective communication in the profession, presentations making technologies, translation quality management, and others. They have been posted on the international educational platform Coursera and have gained popularity among English-speaking users.
It is crucial for Indian students to gain international experience during their studies. However, traveling to another country can be expensive and not all students can afford it. Additionally, there are limited grants available for studying at international universities. According to Rossotrudnichestvo, there are currently only 200 quotas for Indian students to study in Russia at the moment, with the support of the Indian government. Therefore, studying online at TSU and receiving a state certificate can be valuable opportunity for many students to enhance their job prospects.
To introduce Indian students to Siberia, Tomsk, and Tomsk State University in advance, we will be developing a series of informational and entertaining podcasts in English. These podcasts will be broadcasted on a local radio station at Cooch Behar Panchanan Barma University, which reaches audiences in India and African countries.
“This university has a radio station that broadcasts to the whole India and African countries,” explained Daria Maslova. “The staff at the Indian university suggested that we create podcasts that showcase Tomsk and our university, including its history and current level of development. It is important for our Indian partners to know that TSU has a 146-year history and is also a modern, high-tech university having a strong focus on fundamental research and a large community of professors and students.”
Artyom Rykun noted that the initial goal of entering the Indian online education market was not a simple task. Lyudmila Vorobyeva, Director of the Third Department of Asia at the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, has formulated a principle for success in Asia that is highly relevant to India: to succeed, one must be part of a group, and this group can only be formed through physical presence and constant communication. Fortunately, TSU has been actively collaborating with Indian educational organizations for over 10 years. In May 2015, the Russian-Indian Network was established with the support of the Ministry of Science and Higher Education of the Russian Federation and Rossotrudnichestvo and Tomsk State University is the coordinating institution on the Russian side. Currently, there are 17 agreements between TSU and Indian universities, including prestigious institutions such as the University of Delhi and the Indian Institute of Technology Bombay. Our main areas of scientific cooperation with Indian partners include the study of AI and big data, materials science, biodiversity, and climate change processes.