Graduate International Summer School aims to introduce high-quality international teachers and teaching ideas, expand the source of outstanding graduate students, and combine the international communication with postgraduate training. Guiding by well-known Chinese and foreign faculty, students can share various skills through brainstorming when learning together. During the summer school study, we promote international communication, expand students' international vision, and meanwhile attract outstanding international students to apply for our degree programs. In 2018, the Graduate School funded 11 Graduate International Summer Schools hosted by 11 departments.
There are four students from Saint Petersburg University of Technology participating in the 3rd "Zhihong" Advanced Materials International Summer School. After summer school, they accepted interviews from St Petersburg University, sharing the life and learning experience of studying abroad.
The following article is their interview summary cited from：http://english.spbstu.ru/media/news/education/polytech-students-about-summer-school-shanghai-jiao-tong-university/
While international students come to Polytechnic University for the courses of the International Polytechnic Summer School, many SPbPU students go abroad for studying at summer schools of other universities. This year, four students of the Institute of Metallurgy, Mechanical Engineering and Transport (IMMET) went to the summer school of the Shanghai Jiao Tong University (SJTU; PRC). The trip was quite unusual: the young people went to the Shanghai University under educational certificates presented to Polytechnic University by vice-president for education, recruitment of students and additional programs of SJTU Ms. Xuemin SUE during the visit of the Chinese delegation to SPbPU. Polytechnic University students had to get through a serious contest, and it is fair to say that the ones to go to Shanghai were the best. Upon return, the students shared their impressions with employees of the SPbPU International Services. You can read about the importance of the balance between educational process and entertainment, interaction between different cultures, the choice of the supervisor of studies, working at a real laboratory and further cooperation in the stories which our students told us.
Evgeny PANCHENKO, third year student of IMMET:
“Trip to the Summer School at SJTU (hereinafter ISS, Ed. note) is a chance which one can get not very often, and I am glad that I had such an opportunity. Upon arrival, they showed our schedule right away. At ISS it is presented in several variants which is very convenient. For example, a student can choose lectures in the morning and a sports game or a tour around the campus in the afternoon. Or you can attend morning classes and after that take part in a project discussion. Besides this, you can choose a full-day tour. The lunch break is two hours, and you can have rest and relax before the next activity. Most of all I enjoyed lectures on the “Friction stir welding,” “Design and production of hardening with aging light alloys,” and “Design and production of energy efficient windows.”.
In addition to class lectures, project took the major bulk of the time. Students were divided into groups which the organizers tried to do utmost international. I was in the same group with students from Brazil, Italy, Kazakhstan, and China. We got the topic of “Automation of processing modern materials.” All students were very nice in communication and punctual. We had planned our meetings right away, and our work was divided and done wisely. Everything worked like a clock!
At the introductory meeting, the organizers told us: you came here not only to study, but also to make friends and share experiences with them. You must not forget about studies, but we also should not forget about making friends and sharing your experiences with them. Everything should be in balance!
The living conditions were superb: we lived in a good hotel, located nearby the university campus. During our free time we went on excursions: we visited the Temple of the City God, the old city of Chibao, climbed up to the very top of the Shanghai World Financial Center, visited the Science and Technology Museum. During my stay in China, I tried to remember and absorb as much information as possible.”
Margarita ALEXEEVA, furth year student of IMMET, laboratory assistant of the Laboratory of Light Materials and Structures (LLMS):
“Opportunity to participate in the Summer School of Shanghai Jiao Tong University was a great piece of luck. Every day we had from one to four lectures; all teaching was conducted only in English. Most of all, I remember the lectures on the latest methods of metalworking and about eco-friendly window panes, which allow keeping the heat inside the house. In addition to lectures, it is important to note the project activities: they were very interesting. Our group got the topic of ‘Additive Production;’ we divided it into points and distributed them between us. The results of the work we presented in a joint presentation.
I liked training at ISS; we had the opportunity to actively communicate with foreigners in the first place. At each lecture, our name tablets were rearranged; for that reason, we did not sit with the same neighbors all the time. I learned a lot about other countries and once again got convinced that different cultures are much closer to each other than it seems at the first glance.
The organization was at the greatest level: we lived in an excellent hotel, two people in a room. My neighbor was a student from the U.S. We visited many attractions, tried dishes of local cuisine. It seems to me that any meal in China is a surprise for a foreigner. We tried crawfish, shrimps, fried fat, peanuts in balsamic vinegar, and even a dish of toad, and also about a dozen of different kinds of noodles. For sure, each time, we tried to order something less exotic. Probably, nowhere before I have not encountered with such a variety of dishes.”.
Dmitry KURUSHKIN, sixth year student of IMMET, LLMS laboratory assistant:
“My major goal was to establish cooperation with the Shanghai Jiao Tong University. The four of us went to ISS together: two Bachelor’s degree students and two Master’s degree students. In addition to studying at the Summer School, the Master’s degree students had the task to find the head of a research group that would be engaged in research related to ours. We visited laboratories of the School of Materials Science and Machine Building at SJTU, which have a lot of areas of study related with our institute’s themes. Employees of the laboratory introduced us to scientific groups and research areas, which helped us to establish contacts with specific scientists from the Shanghai University. This way I met Professor Pulin NIE. He is engaged in modeling in the field of laser welding and additive technologies. Our fields of research nearly completely coincide, and we managed to agree on cooperation and the possibility of joint publications.”.
Sergey LOPAEV, sixth year student of IMMET:
“After the end of the Summer School of Shanghai Jiao Tong University, I stayed at the Shanghai University for another two weeks for an internship. Professor Ke Chen had kindly agreed to help me with my research. SJTU has the newest equipment, which allows you to perform big-volume complex studies in a short time. Together with Professor CHEN, we made a work plan, after which I was assigned to a workplace at the laboratory. All students of Professor Chen are fluent in English, so from the first day of our acquaintance, we had absolutely no problems with communication and no language barrier.
I managed not only to see how the laboratory functions, but to get acquainted with the equipment, methods and regime of the work; I also worked on the scanning electronic microscopes, studied the technique of welding metals with polymers, and became part of the research group of Professor Ke Chen. I attended weekly meetings of the laboratory staff and at the end of the training, presented my report on the results of the internship.
On behalf of all participants of the trip, I want to thank SPbPU International Office team, especially vice-rector for international relations D.G. ARSENIEV, and the management LLMS, particularly O.V. PANCHENKO and A.A. NAUMOV, for the unique opportunity of scientific development, exchange of experience with foreign colleagues, and gaining new knowledge and skills.”.
