ATU officials meet online with Vyatka State University counterparts

Report by the Directorate for International Academic Cooperation–

To develop educational and research partnerships with Russian universities, Vice President for Research and other officials from Allameh Tabataba'i University (ATU) met online with their counterparts at Vyatka State University, Russia, on 3 May 2023.

At this online event, Vice Rectors for Academics and International Affairs, Dean of the Faculty of Humanities, and Head of the Department of Linguistics at Vyatka State University with Dr Davoud Hosseinpour, Vice President for Research; Dr Seyed J. Faraji, Director of International Academic Cooperation; Dr Ehsan Ekradi, Head of the Office for Developing International Academic Collaborations; Dr Narges Sanaei, Officer for Relations with Russian Universities; Dr Majid Reza Momeni, Vice Dean for Research at the Faculty of Law and Political Sciences; Dr Azadeh Mirzaei, Assistant Professor at Centre for Teaching Persian to Speakers of Other Languages (CTPSoL), and Dr Golnaz Modaresi Ghavami, Faculty Member from the Linguistics Department.

At the beginning of the meeting, Dr Hosseinpour said that ATU is a major public university in the Humanities and Social Sciences in West Asia and added: "ATU has 550 full-time faculty members and offers educational and research services at 11 Faculties and 64 Departments. Referring to ATU's research capacities, Vice President for Research added that ATU has eleven research institutes all operating according to defined research projects and national demands. He then referred to the diversity of departments and programmes at various levels and ATU's capacities in terms of distinguished, knowledgable faculty members and said: "With 25 memorandums of understanding signed and exchanged with Russian universities, most of ATU's international academic partnerships have been conducted with the universities in this country."

Dr Hosseinpour then expressed ATU's willingness and readiness to cooperate with Vyatka State University in the mobility of students and teaching of Persian and Russian languages.

In another part of the meeting, Dr Niklin, Vice Rector of Vyatka State University, referred to previous cooperation between Iranian and Russian universities and expressed Vyatska State University's interest in cooperating with ATU. He then pointed to Vyatska State University's capacities in the areas of Russian Language Teaching, Education of Exceptional and Disabled Children and added: "According to the survey we conducted, a high percentage of students at Vyatka State University are interested in learning the Persian language, and this can be a suitable basis for cooperation between the two universities in the teaching of Persian Language and the mobility of staff and students. 

Then, Dr Kastin, Dean of the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences at Vyatka State University, talked about the need to hold specialised sessions between professors at the two institutes for prompt implementation of the agreed terms. He then added, "My colleagues will certainly welcome this partnership. ATU and Vyatka State University are both public universities, and considering the missions and social responsibilities shared by the two, they will have fruitful cooperation. I hope a draft MoU is soon prepared and signed by the parties."

Dr Seyed Jalal Faraji also welcomed the idea of holding specialised sessions as suitable means to arrive at better understanding and interaction and stated: "Sharing the best practices and success stories in the research activities at the two universities will also be useful in the growth and development of research at two universities." Dr Faraji then announced ATU's readiness to cooperate in joint research projects, research visits, and joint publication of scientific materials.

He then added that the Regional Studies Departments at the Faculty of Law and Political Sciences and the ECO College of Insurance are well prepared to conduct joint degree programmes at the Master's level. Dr Faraji also insisted on staff and student mobilities, sending faculty members and postgraduate students to research visits at the two universities, and convening joint scientific conferences.

Dr Azadeh Mirzaei, Deputy Dean and Faculty member at CTPSoL, and Dr Golnaz Modaresi Ghavami, Faculty Member at the Department of Linguistics, then discussed ATU's capacities in teaching Persian to speakers of other languages and conducting research in this area. They emphasized that the educational content produced at ATU is exemplary in Persian language learning.

At the end of the meeting, Dr Majidreza Momeni, Vice Dean for Research at the Faculty of Law and Political Sciences, accounted that the Faculty is prepared to organize specialized sessions, launch joint degree programmes, and exchange professors in the area of Regional Studies.