7-D trip to the mountains, a fashion boutique, an online application for mothers… The KBSU Student Design School is conducting an examination of startup ideas

Student design school «StartProject» of Kabardino-Balkarian State University named after Kh.M. Berbekov assessed the start-up projects of the first group of students, which included third-year students at the Institute of Management, Tourism and Hospitality Industry of KBSU (IMTiG) in the areas of training “Management” and “Human Resources Management”.

10 startup projects were presented to the expert commission, mainly aimed at solving current needs of certain sectors of the regional economy, specific problems of the population and involving the development of mobile applications. For the practical implementation of projects, it was necessary to form teams, which must include IT students, and therefore the Institute of Artificial Intelligence and Digital Technologies of KBSU (IIIICT) joined the consortium with IMTiG to evaluate and implement the school’s startup projects.

“Our students have many interesting and creative business ideas,” — emphasized Ramazan Ligidov, director of IMTiG. “I am sure that in the implemented video they will be in demand on the market, which was confirmed by marketing research conducted by the authors of the projects. In the presented startups, all relevant calculations were carried out, and a promotion program was developed. However, our students do not have the competencies, knowledge and skills in terms of developing mobile applications, and in this matter the competencies of teachers and students of the Institute of Artificial Intelligence and Digital Technologies turned out to be very useful. Interdisciplinary interaction in terms of collaboration on startups is the future.”

Members of the expert commission of the Student Design School «StartProject» — Director of IIIICT Albert Shapsigov and Candidate of Economic Sciences, Associate Professor of the Department of Computer Technologies and Information Security of IIIICT Rita Gurfova, in turn, agreed with this opinion, noting that such interaction will increase the chances of receiving grants and scaling projects.

The expert commission also included Doctor of Economic Sciences, Professor of the Institute of Management, Tourism and Hospitality Industry, Director of the Kabardino-Balkarian branch of the Russian Society “Znanie” Andzor Dikinov, Associate Professor of the Department of Organic Chemistry and Naval Sciences of the Institute of Chemistry and Biology, Head of the Grants Department of the UNIID KBSU Aneta Kokoeva , Candidate of Economic Sciences, Associate Professor, head of the student project school «StartProject» Zalina Shadova, expert in the field of LegalTech (Innovation Manager, MBA) Violetta Psheunova, Chairman of the SSS of the Institute of Artificial Intelligence and Digital Technologies Khaishat Hamdokhova.

The expert commission as a whole noted the high level of elaboration of the projects and recommended submitting projects for grants and, continuing work, next year defending projects in the WRC format as a startup.

At the beginning of March, it is planned to present 14 more projects of the student design school “StartProject”, of which 8 are projects in the field of tourism.

Director of IMTiIG Ramazan Ligidov also noted that the student design school “StartProject” has been operating at the institute since November of this year and invites to its ranks students from different institutes who have a desire to engage in project activities and gain the appropriate competencies; for this, applicants need to contact the directorate of IMTiG or directly to the head of the student design school “StartProject” Zalina Shadova.

For reference:

The student project school “StartProject” is one of the results of the transformation of educational, scientific and educational work with students, implemented within the framework of the IMTIG development program, and is an integral part of the university’s development strategy as part of the implementation of the “Priority 2030” strategic academic leadership program.

The school was created at IMTiG in accordance with the order of November 15, 2023 and is a youth, voluntary, self-governing association of talented, enterprising and enterprising students based on their common interests to implement and achieve the goals specified in the School Regulations.

School Goals:

– Popularization, propaganda and development of project activities in KBSU and the Kabardino-Balkarian Republic;

– Development of applied skills among students through training activities aimed at studying, mastering and consolidating competencies in the field of project and case thinking, entrepreneurship, analytics, economics and business.

The activities of the School, in accordance with its purpose, are aimed at solving the following tasks:

– formation of knowledge, skills and abilities on the basics of project activities;

– search for project ideas, initiation, planning, implementation and management of student projects;

– dissemination among students of information about project activities in general and projects implemented by the university;

– involvement of students in project activities, creation of leadership for the implementation of student projects, creation and development of project teams;

– development of students’ competencies in the field of project management, marketing, crowdsourcing, fundraising, entrepreneurship;

– participation in projects aimed at the development of KBSU;

– popularization and development of crowdfunding projects;

– formation of an active population of students committed to project activities;

– development of students’ competitive competence advantages in the field of student project management;

– support for initiatives and participation in projects of other university departments that ensure the strategic development of KBSU and its influence on regional development;

– promote the development of the team in the group, create an atmosphere of goodwill, psychological comfort, and satisfy the need for communication.