Quin Anh Do lived the first 12 years of her life in Yaroslavl. Right away after returning to her historical homeland, the girl began to dream of going back to Russia. What is the reason?

The shortage of engineers is a global problem that has slowed down technological progress all over the world. There is a lack of high-qualified engineers in many countries - Russia, America, Australia, Canada, European countries. Low prestige of the profession and complexity of the educational system are, as cited by experts, the reasons why young people rarely choose an engineering career path.

What comes into our minds when we think about Africa? The hottest continent? The largest living mammals on Earth? The world's largest desert? It is what we think, but it is all a bit different from the African perspective. Rukirande Indrissa Elir, a student from the Congo, remembers a lot of less nice things: cruel wars in which children participate and fighting for the control of mineral resources. Despite the mentioned above, he wants to come back home once his studies in Russia are over. Why? What is he going to do upon return?

What’s it like studying in the ‘Oil Capital of Europe’? And how can one benefit from entering one
of the oldest British universities - the University of Aberdeen?

Ten years ago, there were 13.5 thousand degree students of foreign origins in Saint Petersburg. This number has increased to 31 thousand by now. If other education forms - such as short-term programmes or summer schools - are included, the figure rises to 38 thousand people.

It was a year ago when the launch of a large-scale waste management reform was announced in Russia. This new system that is currently being built is aimed at increasing recycling rates and eliminating the waste dumps gradually. Many points of the reform take their beginning in German waste management principles. Partly because of it, the issue of recycling has become the hottest topic at the XII Russian-German Raw Materials Dialogue - an annual event organised by St. Petersburg Mining University.

Today, when readers from all over the world - Russian ones included - become increasingly interested in the projects revealing numerous cases of plagiarism in scientific research, new questions arise: what can be done to prevent questioning the quality of awarded degrees and what should Russian universities and research institutes do to handle the issue and facilitate introduction of new scientific developments into production?

One of the main topics of this year’s Russian-German Raw Materials Dialogue was cooperation prospects for the two countries, as they have been seeking for the ways to contribute to environmentally sustainable development and fight against the global warming.

The universities of St. Petersburg attract high school graduates from many regions of Russia and different countries all over the world. However, those students who have been admitted are facing a problem of finding a suitable housing. That is hardly a surprise that most of the newcomers tend to living in a dorm room, as this option is is a lot cheaper compared to apartment rental.

The network of foreign partner universities of Russian scientific community is set to increase further. Last week, an agreement on scientific-technical cooperation between the International Competence Centre for Mining-Engineering Education under the auspices of UNESCO and the University of Leoben (Montanuniversität Leoben) was signed in Austria. The document was signed by Vladimir Litvinenko, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Competence Centre, and Wilfried Eichlseder, Rector of the Austrian University. The ceremony was also attended by Kurt Wallner, Mayor of Leoben, and Kirill Molodtsov, Aide to the Chief of Staff at the Presidential Executive Office of the Russian Federation.