ALU Projects

Recently ALU`s activities were mainly focused on providing high-quality expertise to different initiatives including state projects. Among them are two major state-driven ones:

First project was drafting of new federal law “On education” – basic legislative act that governs overall issues of education in Russia. ALU was among very few other Russian non-governmental organizations invited by the Government to take part in performing this vital task. ALU experts presented their proposals on the draft law during the hearings at the State Duma (Federal Parliament), at the Civic Chamber of the Russian Federation as well as at the Ministry of Higher Education and Science. Most amendments proposed by ALU to the draft law were accepted and appeared in the final version of the federal law adopted on December 29th 2012.

As the follow-up of this project, ALU experts were invited to governmental working groups to establish the necessary regulations for the basic law implementation.

Second one was a throughout monitoring and evaluation of education and research quality as well as financial health and general efficiency of Russian HEIs for the purpose of further system revitalization. This project has been launched in 2012 by the Russian Ministry of Higher education and science and ALU experts were deeply involved in the criteria elaboration and monitoring approbation. In 2012 the Association played a key role of a public supervisor of this government-driven sanation process, as ALU experts were asked to evaluate the final reports.  Now ALU experts are taking part in monitoring process and evaluation of education and research quality of Russian.

Beyond these two major projects, during 2012-2016 years more than two dozens of expert working groups were created within the Association to review and respond to various initiatives and projects in the field of higher education steering and development that cover legislative, infrastructural, educational, scientific and other issues.

Now ALU can be considered as a recognized expert pool and a core source of top-quality public expertise of both state-driven and private initiatives in the area of Russian higher education and science.

During 2012-2016 years ALU has carried out about 30 projects aimed to improve internal networking and cooperation between its members. Those projects included co-organized and co-hosted events, think-tank seminars and students` contests.

Please find more information here (available in Russian only).

International cooperation and promotion of members is another focus of the Association, yet less developed than expertise and internal networking but bearing a great potential.

ALU’s international cooperation pursues two goals:

  • Promoting ALU members to the tops of international university rankings through creation of new mechanisms and platforms for internationalization and introducing best world’s practices
  • Evolving ALU to a source of “soft power” to promote Russian Higher education and Science worldwide

Together with the Embassy of Russia in Paris and Campus-France ALU co-organized a presentation of Russian Higher education to the international officers of French universities that took place on June 7, 2012 in Paris.

In September 2012 ALU Council member Viktor Koksharov co-chaired the Assembly of rectors of leading German and Russian universities that was held within the III International Students Forum organized by the Russian Federal Agency for international cooperation (“Rossotrudnichestvo”).

In December 12, 2013 ALU hosted the delegation of German Rectors` Conference (HRK), German Centre for Research and Innovation, Moscow (DWIH) and German Academic» Exchange Service (DAAD). The meeting of Russian and German universities` leaders became a tradition. Rectors and vice-rectors meet annually to discuss the current changes in Russian and German systems of education, share best practices in university management and implementation of educational and scientific projects.

In autumn 2014 the Russian and Korean Rectors` Forum under the authority of ALU was held at Far Eastern Federal University in Vladivostok. The Forum helped to strengthen the existing relations and expanding further international cooperation in the field of education and science in Russia and South Korea. Not only rectors of leading Russian and Korean universities took part in Forum, but also students interested in establishing the international contacts and developing the educational and research activities. The Forum has also become a tradition and the representatives of ALU member universities keep on taking part in annual Russian and Korean Rectors` Forum held in the frames of Forum «Dialogue Russia-Republic of Korea».

Meetings between ALU Chairman and German Academic Exchange Service leaders resulted in signing (March, 2013) the Framework agreement on cooperation between ALU and DAAD which creates a new mechanism for enhancing cooperation between our members. In March 23, 2015 the Agreement of intent on Joint German-Russian Programme for PHd students and young researches «Abram Joffe» was signed in Moscow by DAAD President, Prof. Dr. Margret Wintermantel and the ALU Chairman Prof. Dr. Nikolay Kropachev. The agreement was signed in the presence for Ministers Foreign Affairs of both countries Dr. Sergey Lavrov and Dr. Frank-Walter Steinmeier.