Published on: 2026-09-28
Source: Peter the Great St. Petersburg Polytechnic University –
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The IV annual Summit of Slavic Universities “Slavic Horizon 2026” has concluded at the Peter the Great St. Petersburg Polytechnic University. On the first day, there was ceremonial opening of the summit and the signing of three bilateral agreements on network educational programs. The second part of the program was dedicated to the main content of the summit — discussing development programs for Slavic universities for 2026−2030, identifying specific points of cooperation, and new tools for university governance in the era of artificial intelligence.
The key event of the summit was the plenary session, at which delegations from the Kyrgyz-Russian Slavic University named after B. N. Yeltsin, the Russian-Armenian University, the Belarusian-Russian University, and the Russian-Tajik (Slavic) University presented development programs for their institutions. The project office of SPbPU suggested that participants not limit themselves to classic strategy presentations but shape the discussion around practical aspects: the university’s mission, target model, key challenges, long-term goals, priority activities, and expected results.
At the session, Vera Skorobogatova, head of the Center for the New Model of Higher Education and a member of the Ministry of Education and Science of Russia’s commission on the development of Russian-national (Slavic) universities, spoke. She presented the marketing strategy of Slavic universities as a tool for promotion, reputation management, and work with applicants. She paid special attention to the digital presence of universities, activity in social networks, website quality, and the necessity to form a clear image of the Slavic university as a “bridge between cultures and countries.” Vera Skorobogatova also gave practical recommendations on strengthening the brand, developing a content strategy, and adapting university communications to new conditions, including the impact of AI tools on applicants’ choice.
This format immediately shifted the discussion from the realm of general intentions to a conversation about what could be done together. Universities spoke not only about their own ambitions but also about specific constraints: personnel capacity, the quality of educational programs, digital transformation, infrastructure, international competitiveness, scientific productivity, and the demand for graduates in the labor market.
Development programs have shown that each Slavic university has its own trajectory, but the challenges are largely common. KRSU presented the target model of the interstate scientific and educational center of Central Asia with a new educational formula “4 = 3 + 2 + 1”: four years of study, three education documents, two specialties, and one year of practice. Among KRSU’s priorities are industry-verified programs, a digital university, a new campus in Kashka-Suu, network programs, joint laboratories, student design bureaus, and startups.
Representatives of RAU emphasized the updating of educational programs, digital and AI modules, competition for talent, development of the research center, and the university’s humanitarian role as a platform for Russian-Armenian cooperation. BRU presented a program focused on training engineering personnel for the technological sovereignty of Belarus and Russia, developing network programs, applied research, digital transformation of management, and a modern laboratory base. RTSU outlined the tasks of creating an integrated continuous education system, strengthening the Russian language, training competitive specialists, developing a scientific and innovative system, personnel potential, and the digital environment of the university.
The Vice-Rector for International Affairs of SPbPU Dmitry Arsenyev noted that it is precisely this format that helps universities see each other not only as partners in individual events but also as participants in a common development system.
It is important to us that universities not only talk about their development programs but also see opportunities for collaboration. That is why at the summit we encouraged colleagues to discuss not only their own tasks but also how universities can integrate into joint projects, which practices they are ready to share with each other, and which areas can be developed together. This format allows moving from information exchange to closer interaction between universities — through joint educational and scientific initiatives, exchange of experience, and utilization of each other’s expertise,” emphasized Dmitry Arsenyev.
The Vice-Rector for Academic Affairs of RAU, Marina Khachatryan, emphasized that the summit provides an opportunity not just to hear colleagues’ experiences, but to take working tools home: We draw a lot of useful information from every summit and then try to apply it ourselves: every mechanism, every tool discussed here, we try to implement, adapt, and develop considering our tasks. Over the past three to four years, thanks to this interaction, we have introduced and are developing new initiatives — in particular, project activity, the “Boiling Point”, and the entrepreneurial hub. It is important for us that the summit not only allows us to exchange experiences but also to return home with specific ideas that can be turned into functioning university projects.
Natalia Vologina, Vice-Rector for Academic Affairs at BRU, drew attention to the level of partnership with Polytechnic: Since 2014, we have been developing a strategic partnership with Saint Petersburg Polytechnic University, and for our university it is truly important and systematic. Therefore, the summit is not just an annual meeting of colleagues for us, but the next stage of joint work: here we sum up the development of the university, discuss the accumulated experience, and set goals and objectives for the next year. The partnership goes far beyond individual events and continues in the daily work of our universities.
Vice-Rector for Science and Innovation of RTSU, Umidjon Ulugov, emphasized that the summit helps build horizontal connections within the community of Slavic universities itself: We hope to discuss other aspects of interaction on this platform, particularly in the fields of science and education. It is important for us not only to develop cooperation with Polytech but also to engage more actively within the entire community of Slavic universities. Each university has its own competencies and experience to share, so such meetings allow us to find new directions for joint work, discuss potential projects, and establish horizontal links between universities.
A special place in the program was given to academic mobility. In the fall semester of the 2026/27 academic year, 38 students from KRSU and 7 students from BRU began their studies at SPbPU.
During the summit, the rector of KRSU Sergey Volkov met with students of his university who are currently studying at the Polytechnic. The conversation was lively and substantive: the students told the rector about how the educational environment at SPbPU is arranged, how the organization of the educational process differs, how classes, project work, communication with teachers, and adaptation to the large engineering university take place. They shared their first impressions and asked questions about the further development of cooperation between KRSU and the Polytechnic.
A separate meeting was held by Natalia Vologina with the BRU students studying at SPbPU this fall. For BRU, this semester was the first experience participating in the semester mobility program, so the conversation was especially detailed: they discussed adaptation at Polytechnic, academic workload, educational practices, daily life, impressions of the campus, and which elements of the program are important to develop in the future. Such feedback helps universities see academic mobility not only as an administrative mechanism but also as a real student experience.
An important topic of the summit was also artificial intelligence. The practical part of the first day continued with a master class “AI as an assistant in organizing activities at the university,” which was organized by experts from Polytech — Svetlana Kalmykova, director of the Center for Open Education, and Sergey Salkutsan, director of the Center for Continuing Professional Education at PISH “Digital Engineering.” Participants discussed how to use modern AI tools in developing educational programs, preparing educational materials, working with data, monitoring the educational process, and forming personalized educational trajectories.
On the second day of the summit, representatives of the “Slavic” universities took part in a large-scale international event organized by the Polytech — the All-Russian discussion platform “Best Educational Practices: Training Professionals in the AI Era.” Presentations during the plenary session “Higher Education in the AI Era: Synchronizing Watches,” separate tracks, round tables, and discussions allowed all participants to discuss how to respond to the new technological paradigm, how to integrate artificial intelligence into real processes: education management, the work of teachers, updating educational programs, and developing pedagogical practices.
The “Slavic Horizon 2026” summit showed that the “Slavic Universities” project is moving to a new level of practicality. The summit became a lively discussion about the content of development: what goals universities set for themselves, which challenges they consider key, what solutions are already ready to be put into work, and what competencies they can offer each other. It is precisely in this that the Polytechnic sees its role as coordinator — to help partners turn development programs into clear, measurable, and jointly implemented projects.
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