Astrakhan State University expresses interest in developing partnerships with ATU

Report by Directorate for International Academic Cooperation—

(Translation into English by Rasoul Firouzi)

Dr Igor Alekseev, Acting Rector of Astrakhan State University; Galina Stankevich, Vice-Rector for Education and Digitalization; Ekaterina Pakhomova, Vice-Rector for Research and International Affairs, and Daniel Kushaev, a teaching assistant for Oriental Languages at Astrakhan State University met with Dr Shoja Ahmadvand, President of Allameh Tabataba'i University (ATU), to discuss the grounds for developing academic and research cooperation.

In the outset of the meeting, Dr Ahmadvand expressed his pleasure at the opportunity for cooperation between ATU and Astrakhan State University. While appreciating the other party's interest in developing collaborations, Dr Ahmadvand emphasized: "The relations between Iran and Russia are historic and have seen many ups and downs. In recent years, they have grown significantly in the academic fields, and the goal of this meeting is to expand academic relations between our institutes."

He then briefly introduced ATU, and added: "This university holds top national ranks in various humanities fields, including law, economics, management, literature, foreign languages, and communications."

Referring to the university's changing policies over different periods, Ahmadvand said: "Currently, ATU is focused on holding several expert meetings and presents the results to the government and various sectors to solve Iran's issues. According to experts, cooperation with universities in friendly countries can also be effective in advancing these policies."

He emphasized: "Faculty and student exchanges, implementation of joint research projects in the fields of economics and international relations, launching joint degree programs, and providing joint academic opportunities for students are among the proposed areas of cooperation that we can plan to implement. Furthermore, with over 50 research journals, ATU can collaborate with Astrakhan State University on the publication of joint articles."

Dr Ahmadvand then concluded his speech, saying: "Given Astrakhan State University's geographical location in a region close to the Caspian Sea and adjacent to the Caspian basin, ATU is keen to join the consortium of higher education institutions in this area and establish close ties with the region's universities."

The Rector of Astrakhan State University, in turn, pointed to his years of experience in cooperating with Iranian companies and scientific institutes, saying: "This university has so far signed 12 MoUs with Iranian universities and institutes." Stating that Astrakhan University is a member of the Caspian Consortium, he announced: "This university is interested in expanding its cooperation with ATU and utilizing its capacities in training Iranology experts and Persian-Russian translators."

Alekseev also emphasized the exchange of professors and students in the humanities, holding scientific and research conferences, and cooperation in the field of the Russian language and scientific publications. He added: "I propose that we also undertake joint cooperation in the sectors of logistics, law, and commercial and international relations."

The Rector of Astrakhan University announced his university's interest in cooperating with ATU through the expansion of collaborations in areas such as the exchange of faculty and students in humanities, holding scientific and research conferences, cooperation in the Russian language, scientific publications, and scientific collaboration in logistics, law, and trade and international relations, as well as holding joint short-term courses.

Astrakhan State University was founded in 1918. It is a public university located in the large city of Astrakhan and is officially recognized by the Ministry of Science and Higher Education of the Russian Federation. The university initially began its activities to train teachers but has developed over the decades and today covers a wide range of educational and research disciplines and international collaborations.