Rector of KBSU Yuri Altudov took part in the VIII International Forum of Leading Universities «Global Competitiveness»

On September 30, 2020, the VIII annual international forum of universities «Global Competitiveness», organized by the RAEX rating agency, took place. As a speaker at the site «Russian universities through the prism of ratings: reality and expectations», the event was attended by the rector of KBSU, professor Yuri Altudov.

The forum, which has established itself as the # 1 platform for discussing the development of higher education, brought together rectors of the country’s leading universities. The main topic of the forum was the future of education after the pandemic. The experts also discussed the formats of scientific work at universities, interaction with partners and corporations, modernization of the education system in the regions and new global and national benchmarks, which included the scientific and academic achievements of the university, its role in society.

The program of the forum: plenary discussion «New global challenges for universities: post-crisis development», section «Influence of information technologies on the competitiveness of universities» and section «Russian universities through the prism of ratings: reality and expectations.»

Topics for discussion in the second section:

Strengths and weaknesses of Russian universities in global rankings;
Renaissance of national ratings as a reaction to public demand;
Practical application of university rankings;
New trends in education assessment: what ratings will be in demand by society.
On the topic What kind of «reformatting» of the university can ensure the growth of competitiveness? Rector of KBSU Yuri Altudov spoke to the academic community. In particular, he noted that the success of a university is determined by its position in global rankings, and the university’s capabilities in these rankings correlate with the level of socio-economic development of the region. The socio-cultural life, ecology and natural and climatic conditions of the region are also important. Over the past 5 years, the university has managed to significantly rise in the rankings and attract the most prepared applicants, however, there is an understanding that the university is close to the limit of opportunities for ranking growth. Therefore, there is an acute issue of transformation in line with the «restart» of the regional economy.

“The new conditions require the university to be flexible and open in the formation of competencies, so we decided to integrate with world-class REC, leading scientific consortia and strategic partners in order to gain new opportunities, stronger competencies, diversify research areas, form new interdisciplinary research groups and launch a technology transfer, — Altudov noted. — In order to integrate with regional development programs and provide itself with points for long-term growth, the university plans to enter the PSAL with its program of «reformatting» the university, which will be able to provide it with the status of a driver of socio-economic development of the region.
First, we want to help the region solve the issue of employment of young specialists. Secondly, we intend to obtain international accreditation in order to establish international exchange and attract more foreign applicants, and with them investments in the region. Finally, within the framework of the third mission of the university, we intend to make a significant contribution to the development of innovative entrepreneurship, solving environmental problems, ensuring the safety of the regional environment and nutrition. We managed to form a successful communication platform «Boiling Point» in the interests of developing small innovative businesses and the digital economy of the region. More than 5,000 trainees have been trained under the programs of additional professional education, implemented jointly with TechnoSpark Rusnano. The “reformatting” of the university does not stop even during a pandemic, ”said the rector of KBSU, revealing the topic of his speech.

As part of the forum, the IX annual rating of the leading Russian universities, compiled by the RAEX agency, was presented. According to the results of the rating, an award ceremony was held for higher educational institutions and persons who made a significant contribution to the development of education in Russia. Let us recall that the Kabardino-Balkarian State University named after Kh.M. Berbekova confidently ranks among the hundred best universities in the country and occupies 88th position in the RAEX-100 rating.