Ural State University of Railway Transport
USURT

Личный кабинет студента
и преподавателя

History of International Department

The International Department was founded in November 1993 under the decree of University Academic Council. The Head of the Department is Boris M. Gotlib, Doctor of Technical Science, Professor.

In 1993 - 1995 the first foreign students (30 people) from China and Vietnam studied in the University. They studied Russian language and dreamed to work or to study in Russia.

In 1996 USURT became the only one university in Ekaterinburg that got into contact with US Peace Corps, organization which was founded in 1961 by US President John Kennedy. In total from 1992 till 2002 ten PC volunteers worked in USURT. They taught English Language, International Law and some economic disciplines at the Economic Faculty.

In 1996 USURT started its cooperation with Service Civil International - SCI. It is one of many volunteer international organizations on our planet. With the help of volunteers it realizes the international movement for peace, justice and environmental protection. USURT involved some Ekaterinburg commercial enterprises and Department of Youth of Sverdlovsk Region to take part in its volunteer projects. Totally from 1997 till 2002 there were 12 volunteer projects organized and coordinated by USURT.

In 1998 USURT became the member of international student organization - Board of European Students of Technology - BEST. The local BEST group - LBG-Ekaterinburg was founded. From 1998 till 2004 LBG-Ekaterinburg was the only one group representing Russia in BEST! Our BEST group has already organized about 20 different international academic and cultural events and conferences. More than 100 USURT students visited numerous international seminars in Europe.

From 1998 till 2001 USURT realized its first international project with the UK. This project was financed by the international fund Know-How. Our partner was The Institute of Chartered Accountants of Scotland. From October 1998 till March 1999 in USURT there were organized courses of international accounting and audit for university professors and lecturers.

In 2000-2001 this cooperation was continued within the international Russian-Scottish project "Retraining courses on international accounting". As a result, there were created new programs and case studies for specialties "Fiscal and Management Accounting", "Audit", "Corporation Finance" and "Taxes and Taxation".

From 2001 USURT takes an active part in different Tempus projects. Tempus is one of a number of European Community programs designed to help the process of social and economic reform and/or development in the Partner Countries, including Russia. The Tempus Program focuses on the development of the higher education systems in these countries.

USURT has already completed three projects, and now we're involving in two more projects.

In 2004 USURT took part in US-Russia Volunteer Initiative (USRVI). USRVI is a bilateral exchange program of volunteers that provides fellowships for Russian and American youth for volunteer work abroad in promoting healthy lifestyles and community development. USRVI is funded by the US Agency for International Development (USAID) and realized by International Research and Exchanges Board - IREX.

There were two main directions: "Information technologies" and "HIV/AIDS prevention". Two USURT students went to the USA as volunteers to work on "Information technologies" project, and three American volunteers visited USURT in order to promote HIV/AIDS prevention.

In 2005 USURT continued its cooperation with IREX in the context of USRVI. Two American volunteers and two USURT representatives worked one week in the municipal secondary school in settlement Bulanash in order to increase computer literacy for school students and teachers.