Published on: 2026-05-15
Source: Novosibirsk State University –
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Today, at the site of the new campus of Novosibirsk State University, the second Interregional Conference of Educators “Development of Engineering Education: Best Practices and Growth Vectors” took place. This year, the event is being held for the first time with the support of the Potanin Foundation. The conference gathered more than 70 educators from educational institutions of the Novosibirsk region.The organizer of the conference was the Advanced Engineering School (AES) of NSU, among the partners and participants of the event were representatives of high-tech business: SibNIA, Novosibirsk Academpark, LLC “Elron”, the company “Optipline Aerodynamics” and others.
The conference became the final event of the professional development program implemented by the PISH NGU for school teachers, developing children’s engineering education in schools tied to real tasks from industrial partners. Classes were held remotely from mid-February to the end of April 2026. A total of 148 people were enrolled in the program, representing 64 educational organizations. The geography of participants includes 16 subjects of the Russian Federation — Novosibirsk, Tomsk, Omsk, Kemerovo, Irkutsk regions, the Republics of Altai, Khakassia, Tyva, Krasnoyarsk Territory.
Conference participants discussed how to build education, early career guidance, and systematic cooperation between schools, universities, and industrial enterprises to foster children’s interest in modern technologies. Leading specialists in the field of education, representatives of development institutes, and heads of technology companies gave expert reports.
With a welcoming word, she addressed the participantsValentina Dudnikova, Deputy Governor of the Novosibirsk Region:
—Currently, one of the main trends in all-Russian and regional educational policy is improving the quality of education, primarily concerning mathematics and natural science subjects. A comprehensive plan has been adopted for the region until 2030. There are already results from the program implementation after the first year: there is a noticeable increase in schoolchildren’s interest in studying mathematical and natural science disciplines by an average of 3%. A very clear career guidance system has been introduced in the region, with work ongoing from preschool age.
In 2026, the number of budget-funded university places in the region amounted to 15,000, 67% of which are engineering. In the college, out of 13,500 places, more than half are technical, which was never the case before. Training engineers is a key link for technological leadership; and our task is to quickly learn to respond to market changes and close the gap between education and the real sector. For this, we use various tools, for example, participation in all federal projects, one of which is Advanced Engineering Schools.
The advanced engineering school “Cognitive Engineering” of Novosibirsk State University was established in 2022 within the framework of the implementation of a federal program carried out by the Ministry of Education and Science of Russia. Over 4 years of work, the AES has developed its own scientific and technological directions in oil and gas engineering, aerospace instrumentation, optical sensing, closed-cycle technology, and others. The AES, together with the faculties of NSU, implements a wide range of master’s programs and additional professional education.
In 2024, a separate direction started at PISH NGU — specialized work with students from grades 5 to 11, focused on a project engineering trajectory. In 2025, 43 events were held and more than 1500 children from 35 regions of Russia were involved; more than 500 students regularly participated in project and educational activities. In 2026, this activity continues successfully. PISH prepares mentors among teachers and students and acts as organizers, integrators, and methodologists.
An important stage in involving schoolchildren in engineering activities is their participation in a real project, in which the tasks are formulated by business representatives among the partners of the PISH NGU. Thus, PISH not only attracts applicants to Novosibirsk State University in the future, but also solves the task of building a connection between education and industry, which stands before the region.
—We understand that in order to involve children in engineering and technical activities, it is necessary to give them projects, but even better if these projects have some real basis behind them, that is, there will be an enterprise that has formulated an interesting task that needs to be solved and possibly can be solved by the students themselves. PISH acts as a connecting link here: on one hand, we have established interaction with various technological businesses; on the other hand, PISH works with schools, provides them with methodological support, and implements programs for professional development for educators., — commentedSergey Golovin, director of the PIS NGO.
As Sergey Golovin added, one of the results that the Advanced Engineering School aims for will be the number of new sections and programs that will appear in educational institutions, new network projects between schools, the university, and industrial partners.
Achieving these results will be aided by a system of interaction with schools and enterprises, which can be presented as a ladder of partnerships. About such support, she spoke in her speech.Yulia Zelenko, head of the additional education department of the PISH NGU:
—The advanced engineering school is ready to build a new ladder of partnership and interaction with schools, which looks either like a pinpoint interaction on a specific industrial partner task, or as a full-fledged path from the widest funnel of awareness to narrowly specialized profile events, which subsequently will form a complete comprehensive vision of the child of themselves in the larger engineering world.
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