On May 20th, 2016, NUST MISIS hosted the opening ceremony of the African Student Union. The idea of the Union is to unite all the students from African countries into a united student fraternity.
The NUST MISIS African Student Union has been created to increase the comfort and enhance the experience of African students at the university. The union’s objectives include social and academic support, communication support and connections with other communities and organizations, and informational support for students from African countries interested in studying in Russia. The representative from each African country will be able to provide the necessary information to interested students. The Union also plans to create a special Academic Support Center focused on helping students overcome the language barrier and monitoring students’ general academic performance.
The union’s first project is building support for the Olympiad “It`s time to study in Russia!”, which is aimed at selecting the most talented international graduates interested in studying technical specializations at Russian universities. The Olympiad hopes to fill the quotas allocated by the Russian Government for international students and countrymen living abroad. Today, the Olympiad is carried out in five African countries: Angola, Zambia, Kenya, Namibia, and Ethiopia.
The Olympiad has been in operation since 2013 and has so far had success among young Africans. Agreements for cooperation with many of the leading universities in African countries have been finalized following Olympiads and other events. The realization of inter-university relations has already started through Master`s programs in English which allow partnered universities to guide recommended candidates to study at NUST MISIS.
The Russian Federation’s embassies in African countries note that educational relationships and the promotion of study abroad opportunities lead to the creation of favorable images of Russia among young people in African countries.
The Initiator of the Union — Kah M., Associate Professor at NUST MISIS Department of Foreign Languages and Communication Technologies, College of Basic Professional Studies; head of English language master`s program Science and Materials of Solar Energy.
