The Mining and Environmental Management Department – a status report, and plans for the future.

The Academic Board discussed both the results of Department’s development since 2013, when the Competitive Recovery Program was adopted, and the strategy for future growth. Acting Dean Tatyana Polyakova gave a report on the results of the Department to this point and gave details of the projects planned for 2018. These include; increasing student numbers; developing secondary professional education programs for Cartography, The Relationship between Land and Property, Practical Geodesy, Domestic and Municipal Landscaping, as well as programs for additional vocational education in Geoinformation Technology, Spatial Statistics in Ecology and Environmental Management. Ms Polyakova emphasised that,

“The Scientific and innovative activities undertaken by the department in 2018 will take place in close cooperation with Institute of Geography and the Institute of Geosphere Dynamics of the Russian Academy of Sciences. New 'Centres for the Solution of Regional Environmental Problems' are also scheduled for this year.”

The meeting also discussed how our scientists might be of use to leading local businesses and how their research might be promoted in Russia and further afield. The Academic Council noted the achievements of the Department and other indicators of development, including research activity and international cooperation.

The Rector, Professor Oleg Polukhin stated that the clearest indication of the development of the University was reflected in our rise up the national and international rankings. He underlined the need for the creation of virtual reality classrooms, saying,

“We plan to open a virtual reality classroom with the most accurate simulation of disasters as possible. It has to be equipped with the state-of-the-art technology. Such classrooms are also necessary for students from the Institute of Medicine and the Institute of Law. Therefore we should discuss the possibility of creating a shared classroom.”