On 31 January, SPbGASU held a large-scale event for students of grades 8–11 of St Petersburg Lyceum No. 126. The students celebrated Russian Science Day at our university. They visited departments, museums, laboratories, the exhibition hall of the Faculty of Architecture and the Scientific and Technical Library, listened to lectures, took part in business games and master classes.

On behalf of the university's management and staff, the guests were welcomed by Marina Malyutina, Vice-Rector for Youth Policy: "SPbGASU was founded in 1832 under Emperor Nicholas I as the School of Civil Engineers. Throughout our history, we have had different names, but the meaning has remained the same - our university has always been the center of engineering thought and construction science."

"Pasta Builder", "First-Year Grant" and other reasons to study at SPbGASU

Marina Viktorovna informed that more than 12 thousand students study at the university. Every year the university graduates more than 2 thousand students. All of them are in the vanguard of new technologies and knowledge and are in demand by the industry: more than 70 percent of graduates find employment in their specialty.

The university closely cooperates with industry partners – the largest developers of St Petersburg, Leningrad Region and other regions. More than 500 teachers are involved in the educational process, 70 percent of whom have academic titles and degrees, many of whom are members of various state and public academies, including the Russian Academy of Architecture and Construction Sciences.

You can study at SPbGASU throughout your life - full-time, part-time, by correspondence, improving your qualifications, undergoing retraining. Students have the opportunity to study in additional educational programs, master a second qualification. The university provides scope for research in more than 10 scientific areas. Scientists report the results of their scientific activities at conferences and symposiums.

SPbGASU organizes intra-university and all-Russian TIM championships, participates in the International Engineering Championship CASE-IN, and holds the international competition "Pasta Builder". The university provides an active student life: it has the "Kirpich" Student Creativity Club, the Center for Physical Culture and Sports, and supports various student projects. One of such projects is "Adapters", which provides assistance from senior students to first-year students for six months. The first-year students are also supported by curators - teachers who help them study, communicate, and solve everyday problems.

"Our university is especially proud of the SPbGASU personal scholarship, the so-called "First-Year Grant". We support the guys who have shown themselves in school and in secondary vocational education - in public life, research, studies, and pay them an additional scholarship on a competitive basis. In general, we have 17 different scholarships that our students can receive upon fulfilling certain requirements," said Marina Malyutina.

At the end of her speech, the Vice-Rector presented the lyceum with a book about the architects of St Petersburg. Alevtina Ragimova, the director of Lyceum No. 126, in her response expressed confidence that many of their graduates will become students of SPbGASU.

Students from the Kirpich Student Creativity Club performed a concert program that drew thunderous applause. In addition, the winners of the Olympiads that the university holds for future applicants were awarded. Then the students were treated to a tour of the university and numerous events that immersed them in the world of science.

What the lectures were about

Ekaterina Vozniak, Dean of the Faculty of Architecture, spoke about the architects of St Petersburg and architectural education in her lecture. The Dean said that she does not encourage the audience to become architects, since an architect is a calling that either exists or does not. The students will be able to decide on this issue not now, but at the age of 18-19, however, according to the Dean, it is useful for everyone to know about the architecture and architects of St Petersburg. Ekaterina Ryurikovna emphasized that in the Northern capital they love and know their architects, who, being different people, create an ensemble, build a single city. This is what distinguishes St Petersburg architects.

The lecture by Dmitry Ulrich, Dean of the Faculty of Environmental Engineering and Municipal Services, was called "Excursion into the World of Science." He spoke about the prerequisites for the development of science, the classification of sciences, and scientific discoveries that changed the world. Students learned about the role of chemistry, physics, and mathematics in construction, heat supply, land management, and their importance for engineering education.

Galina Tokunova, Dean of the Faculty of Economics and Management, offered to look into the future of the construction industry. The speaker's focus was on TIM design, 3D printing, the Internet of things and smart sensors, robots and drones. The audience learned why artificial intelligence will not replace specialists in economics and management, what specialists in business informatics and economic security do, what is happening in the Laboratory of Digital Building Information Models at SPbGASU and much more.

What was taught in the master classes

One could feel like an artist at the master class "Cityscape". Before it began, Konstantin Tarasov, Senior lecturer at the Department of Drawing, explained that the gyus would first make an air space "on the wet", and then introduce into it the silhouette of St Petersburg - the Peter and Paul Fortress, the Kazan Cathedral. The lesson helped the lyceum students to reveal their creative abilities.

The model workshop hosted a master class called "Architectural Fantasies". The children were divided into five teams and created a model of a skyscraper. Olga Belousova, Associate Professor at the Department of Architectural Design, said: "As a starting point, the teams received handouts - photos, pictures, discussed the concept and began to assemble a fantasy model. Forty-five minutes later, the captains presented their works. In this case, they were required not only to write a short story about their skyscraper, but also to come up with a motto for it."

Due to the expansion of its activities, the organization calculated its personnel needs. The calculation showed that there were not enough employees in certain areas... This is how the business game "Job interview" began, in which the participants learned to present themselves to the employer.

The students were divided into two groups: the HR department and job seekers. Olga Bochkareva, Deputy Dean for Academic Affairs of the Faculty of Economics and Management, Associate Professor at the Department of Management in Construction, and Marina Egorova, Deputy Dean for Discipline, Senior Lecturer at the same department, suggested choosing professional skills that correspond to the professions: economic security specialist, marketer, construction economist, HR department employee. The HR department developed a list of interview questions. The job seekers prepared their resumes and talked about themselves. As in real life, only the best got the job.

At the master classes of the Faculty of Forensics and Law in Construction and Transport, it was possible to acquire practical skills of legal literacy in relations with unscrupulous employers, take psychological training “How to negotiate with any person”, learn about the criminal liability of minors and receive a lot of other useful information.

An interesting program was prepared by the Faculty of Automobile and Road Building. The students learned about the operation of vehicles and transport infrastructure in Arctic conditions, about digital twins of the roads of the future, and reverse engineering. The Faculty of Automobile and Road Building is confident that today the road industry is developing at an incredible speed, and the task of teachers is to prepare specialists who will not only follow modern trends, but also create them.

"Students of SPbGASU master advanced technologies, participate in research on the introduction of sustainable materials in road construction and the design of safe transport interchanges. SPbGASU is a leader in training personnel for the transport complex, actively cooperates with leading enterprises in the industry and provides students with the opportunity to undergo practical training at the largest construction and transport sites," commented Andrey Zazykin, Dean of the Faculty of Automobile and Road Building.

“Our graduates are in demand – they are invited to work even at the stage of training, because employers know that at SPbGASU they receive not only a theoretical base, but also valuable practical experience,” added Igor Chernyaev, Head of the Department of Transport Maintenance.

"SPbGASU is an interesting option"

We asked ninth-grade students what they remember about Russian Science Day at SPbGASU and where they plan to study further.

"We are still thinking, but this is an interesting option. I will consider it. My father studied here," shared Timur Bukhtiyarov.

"I liked the game about business the most. It was very fun, interesting, and exciting," said Zlata Khudyakova.

Galina Avdeeva, deputy director of Lyceum No. 126 for educational work, said that the Lyceum is very happy with such invitations - not only students, but also teachers learn a lot of new things here.

The Admissions Committee, which organized the event for the lyceum students, thanks the university teachers for their participation, as well as students from the Kirpich Student Creativity Club, the student Media Center, and the SPbGASU Volunteer Club.