SCIENTIFIC EDUCATIONAL CENTER science idea

The first year of the pilot project of the Ministry of Education and Science on improving the vocational education system has ended. Have the innovations affected the results of the admission campaign of the MISIS University participating in the project? What scientific areas come to the fore at the university? The rector of NUST MISIS Alevtina Chernikova told RIA Novosti about this.

– Alevtina Anatolyevna, what changes have occurred at the university during the participation in the "pilot" of the Ministry of Education and Science?

– Since 2008, a network of national research universities (NRU) has begun to form in our country, which have been granted the right to approve their own educational standards. MISIS University was one of the first in Russia to receive the status of a research institute. Over the years, we have gained experience in creating and implementing programs, including together with academic and business partners, and implemented best practices. The pilot project in accordance with the Decree of the President of the Russian Federation dated 05/12/2023 No. 343 "On some issues of improving the higher education system" is an important, timely and necessary step to further improve the quality of education. We consider participation in the pilot as the next level in the development of the NUST MISIS educational model. The key changes within the framework of the pilot project are, first of all, strengthening the role of employers in the development, implementation and evaluation of educational programs, increasing the volume of practical training in each educational program, introducing a personalized approach that ensures a constant increase in students' motivation to study, ensuring the necessary level of fundamental training and practical skills of students within a single educational space. We are confident that the training of a competitive specialist requires the integration of educational, scientific, innovative and extracurricular activities.

– How do you assess the results of this year's admission campaign?

– The 2024 admission campaign confirmed the trend of recent years – the growing interest of school graduates in technical and engineering specialties. The admission targets at MISIS University are 100% met. The most popular areas of training, as in previous years, are IT, materials science, metallurgy and mining. The average EXAM score in 2024 was 90.1, which is 3 points higher than in 2023 (87.1). Every fifth applicant is a winner or a prize–winner of the All-Russian Olympiads. The number of enrolled young people who received a medal or a certificate with honors has increased one and a half times compared to last year.

– Is the quality of admission to the programs in the experiment different from the usual bachelor's degree?

– Talented, purposeful, well-trained young people come to MISIS University. This year, we are conducting the second recruitment within the framework of a pilot project to improve the higher education system – for basic and specialized higher education programs. Admission to basic higher education programs is carried out in five areas of training, specialized – in six. The preliminary results of the admission campaign showed that the quality of admission within the framework of the pilot project is high. In 2024, the average EXAM score increased by 4.1 points compared to last year. The number of applicants with a medal or certificate with honors has almost doubled. We record the high interest of applicants in educational programs of both basic and specialized higher education, which were developed, among other things, jointly with the university's business partners and meet the challenges of the time. – What are the results of the work of NUST MISIS under the Priority 2030 program? – MISIS University focuses on five strategic projects formed within the framework of the Priority 2030 program: "Quantum Internet", "Biomedical Materials and Bioengineering", "Materials of the Future", "Sustainable Development Technologies", "Digital Business". Stratprojects are based on our priority areas: materials science, metallurgy, mining, quantum technologies, computer science. Within the framework of each project, in addition to solving large-scale scientific tasks, an educational agenda is being formed for advanced training of personnel for the national economy. At NUST MISIS, when conducting scientific research, we focus on the development of innovative products and introduce a product approach. Highly professional research teams have been formed at the university. It is thanks to the systematic daily work of NUST MISIS scientists that it is possible to achieve significant results for each strategic project.

- Tell us more about it, please.

- For example, "Biomedical materials and bioengineering". This project is headed by Vladimir Chekhonin, Academician of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Deputy President of the Russian Academy of Sciences. The key objective of the stratproject is to significantly improve the quality of people's lives through the creation and rapid introduction of modern medical materials into production. Scientists are involved in the formation of the national biomedical materials and bioengineering industry. Thus, a line of spinal cage prototypes is being developed, the architecture of which is approved by the country's leading neurosurgeons. With the help of a bioprinter created at NUST MISIS, in December 2023 at the Main Military Clinical Hospital named after Academician N. N. Burdenko performed the world's first in situ bioprinting operation directly into a wound defect. Prototypes of neuroimplants and neurointerfaces were developed by undergraduates and graduate students of the university. With this project, they became the winners of the competition of the IV Moscow International Festival of Student Entrepreneurship "Moscow – the starting point". Our scientists have created and patented a tissue gun that stitches wounds with biopolymers, which helps save people's lives. The integrated Master's and postgraduate program "Biomaterial Science" has been implemented at MISIS University since 2019. Students from the first year of the master's degree participate in scientific research, publish articles in highly cited publications, carry out projects on grants from scientific foundations, register patents for inventions. This year, an open defense of the undergraduates of the program took place, all defended themselves with excellent marks, and received referrals to graduate school. Also in June of this year, two and a half years after the start of training, the first defense of the dissertation for the degree of Candidate of Physical and mathematical Sciences graduate of the IHD "Biomaterialology" took place. Breakthrough results are possible in close cooperation with academic partners and the industry. Within the framework of the Biomedical Materials and Bioengineering stratproject, the Health Engineering consortium has been formed and is actively working, which includes the country's leading universities, research centers, and innovative enterprises in the field of biomedicine. The development of the stratproject led to the creation of the Institute of Biomedical Engineering in the structure of the university in 2023. It was headed by a young talented scientist Fedor Senatov. The Institute's tasks are the development of new products for biomedicine, the introduction of import–advanced technologies, as well as the training of specialists for a rapidly developing industry.

– How do you attract young people to science and support scientists?

– Since 2012, NUST MISIS has been implementing a comprehensive professional navigation program, within the framework of which we involve young people in research activities, immerse them in the atmosphere of scientific research. Our first-year students get acquainted with the work of the Student Scientific Society, the Student Design Bureau, and the Student Design Bureau from the first days of their studies, participating in the Immersion project. Much attention is paid at the university to the popularization of science: the projects "Christmas lectures", "Endless Science", "Days of Science", Science Slam MISIS, etc. are being implemented. Every year, fundamental scientific research is conducted at the university, more than 500 contracts are executed in the interests of business partners, in which our students participate, which gives them the opportunity to feel like part of the global academic community, to join the research of leading scientists. Over the years, we have been implementing a set of programs aimed at creating an integrated system for training scientific personnel. Over the past 10 years, the number of young scientists at the university has increased significantly, their share today is more than 68%. The university annually creates research laboratories and scientific and educational centers, which are headed by young scientists, among others. In 2023, NUST MISIS launched a program to support researchers preparing dissertations for the degree of Doctor of Sciences. The main objectives of the program are the development of scientific schools, human resources, and the creation of a reserve of heads of scientific departments. The program provides financial support for candidates and scientific consultants based on competitive procedures. As part of the first stage, 9 doctoral dissertations are planned to be defended: 5 were defended in the spring, four more candidates will be defended in the fall. Researchers are being selected to participate in the second stage of the competition. Currently, NUST MISIS is developing a program "Scientific Leaders", the purpose of which is to support effective scientists who are able to solve problems at the national and global levels, introduce innovations into production, and train highly qualified personnel. - NUST MISIS has changed a lot in recent years.

- What, in your opinion, has the university become today?

– MISIS University is a dynamically developing scientific and educational center of the country. An ecosystem with a human at its center. Today, MISIS is a whole world uniting extraordinary, bright, talented people: students, scientists, teachers, staff, academic and business partners, graduates, friends of the university, who are united by common values, goal-setting, and the desire to make the world a better place. Together we are developing our university, making it more competitive and stronger.

PHOTO https://www.pervo.ru

https://na.ria.ru