Railroaders with an accent: the specialties foreign students choose to study at Russian industry universities

In recent years, Russian applicants have competed with foreign applicants for the right to study at particular universities. A steady demand for Russian Education has taken shape among foreign graduates who have chosen a railway-related career. The 1520International portal set off to discover which industry-specific universities foreign students go for and what specialties are most in-demand.

The large number of foreign students studying at universities that specialize in railroad education in Russia indicates a clear and abundant demand for railroad education. There are 2,249 foreign students at the St. Petersburg State University of Railway Transport (PGUPS) representing 23 FSU states and non-FSU states, while the student body of the Far Eastern State University of Railway Transport (DVGUPS) includes more than 1,000 international students. Samara State Transport University (SamGUPS) is training over 450 foreign specialists, while Irkutsk State Transport University (IrGUPS) is training 252. 

The geography of students enrolled in Russian railway universities is just as impressive. Citizens from the People's Republic of China, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Belarus, DPRK, Mongolia, Kazakhstan, Armenia, Georgia, Azerbaijan, Mali & Cuba have exhibited a high level of interest in studying in Russia.

“The most popular majors among foreigners are: ‘Railway Rolling Stock’, ‘Transport Processes and Logistics Technology’, ‘Construction’, ‘Management’, and ‘Electrical Engineering & Automation”, head of the international activities department at DVGUPS Svetlana Khan said.
 
SamGUPS noted that the degree programs with the largest number of foreign students enrolled were “Railway Operation” and “Railway, Bridges and Transport Tunnels Construction”.

PSUPS were even able to determine that students from certain nations have “favorite” specialties: for example, the most popular specialty for students from Uzbekistan and Mongolia is "Railway Operation", for students from China it’s “Economics” and “Electricity and Electrical Engineering”, while Cuban students prefer “Rolling Railway Stock”. 

PSUPS believes that internationalization of university activities and continually measuring up better with competitors are priority tasks of every modern university. In this regard, Russian universities have been systematically implementing such measures aimed at the development of international activities as increasing the range of degree programs they offer, expanding international student and faculty exchange, and the introduction of double degrees as a widespread practice. Holding high-status international events (forums, conferences), ramping up efforts to obtain foreign science and education grants, and creating a comfortable international environment are also contributing to accomplishing the goals set.

One striking example was the InterTransCamp international championship organized by DVGUPS in 2022 and 2023. The competition was attended by students and faculty from Urals, Samara, Omsk, Irkutsk, and Rostov State Universities of Railway Transport, as well as a team from Dalian Transport University (PRC). The championship saw 300 students complete 4 stages of railway-related tasks using special online simulators. 

The championship was the first step in sharing experience gained in infrastructural facility construction and maintenance. “It provided an opportunity for railway technical college students to gain experience in international cooperation, advance their professional skills, and rack up experience working with new technical and information tools (most notable of which being a virtual simulator)”, Svetlana Khan noted.

At the same time, she reports that the DVGUPS is actively developing relations with foreign universities and inking cooperation agreements with universities in China, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, and Vietnam.

Another popular form of cooperation with foreign universities is student exchange and education under the double degree program. For example, IrGUPS conducts a 3-month exchange program with East China Transport University (ECJTU). It had been successfully implemented until 2020, at which point for obvious reasons it was frozen, until last year, when it resumed. Conducted in English, the program involves the exchange of students in a variety of majors and with varying levels of education.

In the summer of 2019, Irkutsk University signed a joint educational programs agreement with Ulaanbaatar Railway JSC (UBZD). The agreement entails a 2+3 network program with the UBZD Railway Institute in the specialties of “Train Traffic Support Systems” and “Railway Construction”. Under the agreement, Mongolian students study for the first two years at the UBZD Railway Institute and then the next three years at Irkutsk University. At the conclusion of their five years of study, they are awarded both a diploma from the UBZD Railway Institute and a specialist diploma from Irkutsk University.

St. Petersburg State University of Railway Transport currently implements 8 “double degree” programs in cooperation with four universities of the People's Republic of China and two universities of Uzbekistan. Work is being done to expand the networking geography with foreign universities. International students find the most interesting such majors as industrial and civil engineering, high-speed railway traffic, business informatics, electric power and electrical engineering, railway specialties, as well as international logistics. “Currently, we are seeing the greatest demand for programs leading to double degrees from students from China, India, Ethiopia, Syria, and Algeria”, PSUPS told 1520International.  

DVGUPS informed the portal that back in 2019, the rectors of Dalian Transport University (PRC) and Far Eastern State University of Railway Transport signed an agreement to establish the International Transport Academy. It includes the Far Eastern Transport Institute at Dalian Transport University and the Russian-Chinese Transport Institute (RCTI) at DVGUPS. 

Future railroaders in Khabarovsk and Dalian can even choose their training format. 

The first program is the “2+2” program. This program includes the initial two years of training at RCTI on the premises of DVGUPS, followed by two additional years at Dalian Transport University with the opportunity for industrial practice at enterprises in relevant industries in China.

The alternative format is the "4+0" program, where a student completes their education at RСTI on the DVGUPS premises within 4 years and then prepares their final qualification work at Dalian Transport University based on their training results. Fields of training include: “Land Transportation and Technology Terminals” (“Railcar Engineering” specialty), “Construction” (“Transportation Construction” specialty), and “Mechanical Engineering”.

At the end of the training, a graduate is awarded two higher education diplomas – a Russian one and a Chinese one.
SamGUPS notes that every year academic cooperation programs between domestic teachers and foreign colleagues are expanding. Meanwhile, more and more countries are deepening their active cooperation ever further. 

“This is a testament to the interest of foreign business and government agencies in the developing their own transportation industry. At the same time, Russia is a nation that can provide not only qualified personnel, but also technologies, and implement joint educational programs and business projects for the development of transport routes, especially in the field of railway transport," SamGUPS asserts.

IrGUPS notes that currently Russian universities are allowed to admit free foreign citizens based on quotas set by the government. “We strive to offer foreign students favorable conditions to study at our university and to support them throughout their education”, Irkutsk University summarized.