British Council-sponsored project “Knowledge Economy”

Russia-UK academic partnership: energy and environment

Dr Andrei V. Belyi, HSE, Moscow, Russia

Dr Sergei V. Vinogradov, CEPMLP, Dundee, UK

Background Energy and

environment as areas of global

concern

Need for shared best practice in

postgrad teaching & research

Need for sustainable links with industry

knowledge

economy

Choosing a partner of interest

Energy and Environment are

key areas of interest for RF and

UK

Past history of successful relations

& contacts

International reputation and presence in the

respective countries’ HE

About partners: Centre for Energy, Petroleum & Mineral

Law & Policy (CEPMLP, University of Dundee)

Leading international postgraduate programme:

300 students annually from 50 different countries

LLM: energy law, policy, economics, management

MSc: energy economics MBA: energy business

Strong links with energy industry and international

organizations

About partners: Higher School of Economics (HSE, Moscow)

ERM dept at HSE: innovative master

degree specialization in energy economics

Research centre on Resource Asset Assessment jointly

founded with NGKonsult

Regional links: HSE branch in Perm

About partners: NefteGasKonsult

Russian company with the participation of one of the leading international US-based petroleum auditors – Miller and Lents, Ltd. Operating

Combines vast international experience with an intimate knowledge of the Russian petroleum industry.

Consults Oil and gas companies, Governmental institutions, Professional organizations and Law firms

Core points in BC-sponsored project

Trans-national aspect:

UK-Russia academic links

• Establishing bilateral interuniversity partnership in postgraduate education

• Envisaging exchange of students and researchers

• Developing proposals for dual or joint degree awards

Cross-sectoral aspect

links with industry (NGK, BP, Winstor

Energy Group)

• Postgraduate programmes enhancement through:

• Professional teaching input

• Internship opportunities

• Professional training

• Support of academic-industry events

Widening contacts with other academic

institutions:

• University of Aberdeen

• MGIMO

Managing the project

• Building the project team existing academic contacts – Important factor – good personal relations & trust!

• Shaping the project proposal: developing a “common vision” (idea, objectives, phases, deliverables, risks)

• Designing and managing visits planned 2 but in fact 4 (limiting team numbers & careful use of limited resources)

• Interaction with BC visits to Moscow office and email updates regarding project implementation

Sources of Funding

• Main source: British Council

• Subsidiary sources:

– University of Dundee: costs of delivery of one post-graduate module by HSE lecturer in Dundee

– Erasmus Mundus “Int’l Masters in Economy, State & Society (IMESS)”: costs of teaching at HSE by a CEPMLP academic

– British Petroleum: sponsorship of the Perm conference (costs of participation of UK experts)

Outcomes of the BC-sponsored cooperation: Short term

Exchange of academic visits including teaching arrangements

Organization of a conference on Sustainable energy development in Perm in April 2012

– involvement of international organizations, industry and academic institutions

– Sponsorship by BP and regional government of Perm

– Doctoral seminar for young researchers from both Russia and the UK

Envisaged outcomes of the long term university & industry cooperation

Regular exchange of academic staff: teaching and research

Exchange of students within existing master programmes on a regular basis

Established programmes of student internships and professional training in the UK and Russia

Developing a joint (dual) degree MSc in energy economics (1 year in Dundee and 1 year in Moscow)

But: a number of challenges

Language: Limited number of UK students able to study or do internships in Russia

Difficulties in developing working relations with energy industry

Financial constraints – need to achieve sustainability of long-term cooperation

New proposals and initiatives

Creating a trans-national British-Russian Energy Network - a wider University partnership with industry

Main goals:

Elevating the already established academic partnership to a different level –from bilateral to multilateral

Involvement of the energy industry in the long-term cooperation with academia in post-graduate education, research and other joint activities

Short and long term objectives

Short term: regular doctoral seminars,

conferences, exchange of experts and sharing

of expertise

Long term: joint provision of post-graduate education;

development of academic-business mutually beneficial

practices – internships, professional training, joint

research

Widening academic cooperation

Creating Russia-UK University

network

Exchange of teaching expertise

Joint Research and PhD

supervision

Student exchange

CEPMLP becomes the

leader based in the UK

Heriot Watt Edinburgh

University of Aberdeen

HSE becomes the leader

based in Russia

Gubkin University

Tomsk State University

MGIMO

Cooperation with Industry

Further involvement of industry

NGK (related to US based Miller & Lentz) becomes the key partner for long

term projects

BP, Winstor Energy Group and Lukoil become

partners for short term objectives

• Training of students (i.e. UK students in Russia and Russian students in the UK)

• Sponsoring events

Expected outcome

Establishment of a sustainable university network for post-graduate education and research with strong links with industry will help boosting expertise in the field of energy and environment in the context of bilateral relations between Russia and Britain