Elite students from Russia visit the HSZG

Since June 2016, ITMO University (State University of Information Technologies, Mechanics, and Optics, Saint Petersburg) and HSZG have had a cooperation agreement in place, and since then there has been a lively exchange of faculty and students. With 11,600 students (including 1,400 students from 70 countries), ITMO University is one of the top three universities in Russia and ranks 56th in international rankings. The “Industrial Ecology” faculty at ITMO offers a Bachelor and Master's degree programme with a profile comparable to our Bachelor degree programme in “Ecology and Environmental Protection” and our Master's degree programmes in “integrated management systems” / “Integrated Management.”

After students in the Master's degree programmes “Integrated Management Systems”/“Integrated Management” went on a study trip to St. Petersburg last year, 12 female students made a return visit this year. Together with approximately 70 students from Europe and students from the Master's degree programmes “Integrated Management” / “Integrated Management Systems,” they participated in the Baltic University Program (BUP) “Students Conference” on the topic “Innovation for Sustainable Development: Resource and Energy Efficiency in Production and Transportation.”

In addition to academic discussions, information about study conditions and the process of spending a semester at HSZG were key topics of conversation between the German and Russian students and faculty. This is because the intensive student exchange program to date is intended to continue in the future. Currently, a German student from the “integrated management systems” degree programme is writing his Master's thesis at Coca-Cola in St. Petersburg on the topic “Optimization of the internal integrated audit system,” and Polina, a Russian student, has been studying at our university since the summer semester of 2018 as part of the dual-degree agreement.

“The semester abroad in Germany has been a great experience for me—both from a personal and an academic perspective. The semester at HSZG was challenging. It’s different from my home university. The coursework is more practice-oriented, and I had to work through a lot of the material on my own. I really enjoyed both aspects. The classes / courses were exciting and insightful. The instructors actively involve us in the lessons.
I also had a lot of fun with my fellow students this semester. We did a lot together—for example, we had barbecues or went to a wine tasting. Whenever I had questions, my fellow students, the HSZG faculty, and the staff at the International Office were always there to support me.
My time in Zittau has been wonderful, and I’ve made new friends. I’ll always look back fondly on the great time I had here. I can highly recommend a semester abroad in Zittau to everyone.” Polina Nikitenko

We would like to thank the DAAD for funding the study trip of the Russian students to our university through the “Study Internship” program and for funding Polina Nikitenko’s study abroad program as well as the trip of her program director, Prof. Dr. Olga Sergienko, through the ERASMUS+ program. We would also like to extend our heartfelt thanks to Stephanie Ludwig and Simone Kunze from the International Office for their support in organizing these exchange programs.