Konstantin Markelov Sums Up Results of Rossotrudnichestvo Delegation’s Visit to ASU

The rector of Astrakhan State University spoke on how the university can help the region in the development of international partnership and how he evaluates the success of ASU in recruiting foreign students.

— These days, we are working actively on the development of strategic cooperation with our foreign partners. The priority is the countries of the Greater Caspian Region. Of course, the “Greater Caspian Region” is a conventional name, meaning everyone who is interested in working on social and political projects, connected with the Caspian Sea.

As far as I know, now the governor of Astrakhan Region is elaborating a programme for the regional development in connection with the transit of major Russian projects, some of which are based on scientific and educational resources. So, Astrakhan State University is ready to assist in every possible way in everything connected with educational and scientific activities.

For now, ASU cooperates with 81 partner organizations in 25 countries of the world. 2,000 out of 12,500 students of ASU are foreigners, and 90% of them are students from the CIS countries. Most of them pay tuition fees, but there are also state-funded places, as well as special programmes for future applicants.

If we compare the number of foreign students in the early 2000s and now, we can say that we have made good progress. For example, in 2005 there was not a single student from Turkmenistan in Astrakhan HEIs, while now there are about 1,000 of them in Astrakhan State University alone. We are going to intensify our work on creating a recognizable image of ASU abroad, including, of course, with the assistance of Rossotrudnichestvo.