GSOM Guide for International Students

Welcome to the Graduate School of Management

Dear International Students—

On behalf of all of us at the Saint Petersburg University Graduate School of Management, I would like to welcome you to what we hope will be a period of your life that can only be described as a life-changing experience: one which gives you a new perspective on the world, a valuable new international network of friends and future business contacts and especially – those moments to remember, where you discover wonderful things that you otherwise never would have experienced.

Study abroad will always bring challenges: from discovering how to get the courses you need to figuring out how to get just about everything practical to work in your life in this new setting -from public transportation to relations between the sexes. And on top of all of this, you have chosen to “think out of the box” by choosing to do your student exchange in a country, which is still unknown territory for many and by wrestling with a very different new language. You have made a strong move which, by the way, just might be what catches the eye of a future employer when you are looking for that exciting international job after graduation.

In the meanwhile, all of this will not always come easily and there might well be times when you feel like pulling out your hair and shouting “What am I doing here?” If that happens, we want you to know that you are welcome to come in to the office and have a talk with us – we are here to help.

Our international program is a work in progress and one which we hope, with your help- to make even better as we go along. So please let us know if something is not working well or if you have a good idea that could make life for our international students even better.

Добро пожаловать в Санкт-Петербург! (‘Welcome to Saint Petersburg!’)

Robin JensenDirector of International Programs

This Student Guide is dedicated to the many GSOM students who have either worked on it as interns, served as buddies or buddy coordinators and all of those who just take time out of their normal daily routines to make our international students feel welcome here

About the Host University

Saint Petersburg University (SPbU)St. Petersburg University was established in 1724 by an edict of Peter the Great. After almost 300 years, it is a leading higher education and research institution

30 000 students; 24 faculties; 8 Nobel Prize laureates; Member of 13 international associations; Cooperation with more than 230 foreign higher education institutions.

http://eng.spbu.ru

Graduate School of Management (SPbU GSOM)The School of Management at St. Petersburg University was launched in 1993 in partnership with Haas School of Business at UC Berkeley – with 4 full-time professors and 33 Bachelor students.

Russian Business School with a global vision; #1 Business School in Russia; #2 Business School in Eastern Europe; 48 international academic partners; 1 200 students; 4 research centers; Member of: CEMS, PIM, GBSN, GMAC, EABIS, GRLI;

The GSOM Bachelor of Management Degree progras is accredited by EFMD EPAS, and GSOM Executive Programs by AMBA, the Association of MBAs.

Mission: ‘To educate and advance national managerial elite to be able meet the challenges of increasing Russia’s competitiveness in the knowledge economy of the 21st century.’

http://gsom.spbu.ru/en

SPbU and GSOM locationsHere, there should be something resembling the following image (the less unnecessary details the better):

# Name and address Phone number Transport1

1GSOM Main building & Master programs199004 St. Petersburg 3, Volkhovsky pereulok

+7 (812) 323-84-56

Bus: 1, 6, 24, 47, 128Trolleybus: 1Commercial bus & mini-bus: K10, K30, K120, K175, K183, K273, K249A, K298Trams: 6, 40Closest metro: ‘Vasileostrovskaya’ (0.9 km)

2GSOM Bachelor programs building199155 St. Petersburg16, Dekabristov pereulok

+7 (812) 350-04-06

Bus: 41, 42, 100, 128, 151, 152Commercial bus & mini-bus: K175, K309, K359A, K359БClosest metro: ‘Primorskaya’ (0.9 km)

3SPbU Main building199034 St. Petersburg7, Universitetskaya naberezhnaya

+7 (812) 328-20-00

Bus: 7, 24, 47Trolleybus: 1, 10, 11Commercial bus & mini-bus: K209Closest metro: ‘Admiralteyskaya’ (1 km, across the bridge), ‘Vasileostrovskaya (1.2 km)

4

Student Dormitory #1 (location where You pay the rent owed after picking up the invoice)199226 St. Petersburg20/1, Korablestroiteley ulitsa

+7 (812) 356-06-62

Bus: 7, 41, 42, 128, 151, 152, 158Trolleybus: 9, 11Commercial bus & mini-bus: K30, K32, K62, K124, K162, K183, K248Closest metro: ‘Primorskaya’ (1.3 km)

Student Dormitory #2 (location to pick up invoice for DORM ROOM payment199226 St. Petersburg20/2, Korablestroiteley ulitsa

+7 (812) 355-36-74

Student Dormitory #3199226 St. Petersburg20/3, Korablestroiteley ulitsa

+7 (812) 355-31-26

1

NB. There are a number of locations in St. Petersburg having the same core name (as ‘Dekabristov’ in the GSOM Bachelor programs building address), alongside with the different second word. The ‘pereulok’ word is for a lane in Russian, and the ‘ulitsa’ is for a street — so there is also a Dekabristov Street. There are Dekabristov Passage, Dekabristov Bridge and Dekabristov Island as well.

Make sure you pay enough attention to this Russian location-naming peculiarity before using your navigator, since the slight difference in the name may cost you a good hour of riding the Metro back and forth — as in the ‘Dekabristov’ example.

Studying at GSOM (revised late September after the issuing of the new SPbU “Guidelines for Instruction”)

Registering for Courses

Registration for courses takes place via the http://webct.gsom.pu.ru/platform . The students are notified via e-mail, when the registration process is open; and on the same day, they are sent a guide on how to register in the system.

TERM DATES FOR 2012/2013 ACADEMIC YEAR:

Fall term Arrival dates/Introduction week*

Official term dates (including exam period)*

Bachelor students August 24-26/27.08 – 31.08 2012

1.09.2012-25.01.2013Master students 1.09.2012 – 11.01. 2013

Spring termArrival dates/Introduction week*

Official term dates (including exam period)*

Bachelor students February 1-3/04.02 – 08.02.2013

09.02.2013-28.06.2013

Master students January 23-25 26.01.2013 – 14.06. 2013

NOTE: *All dates may change slightly.

All exams are held in written or on-line form depending on the course

PUBLIC HOLIDAYS:

Fall Semester 2012 Spring Semester 2013

November 4 – National Unity DayJanuary 1-5 – New Year HolidaysJanuary 7 – Orthodox Christmas

February 23 – Defender of Motherland’s DayMarch 8 – International Women’s DayMay 1 – Spring and Labor DayMay 9 – Victory DayJune 12 – Russia National Day

NOTE: Please be aware that sometimes when a public holiday is extended to create a long weekend that an extra working day is assigned on proceeding or following Saturday or Sunday.

Grading SystemGrading system applied at BSc and MSc programs for courses where the number of registered students is higher than 30 students:

ECTS Grade Students ranking Russian grading Grade

A best 10% Top 25 % 5B next 25%

Next 50 % 4C next 30%D next 25%

Next 25 % 3E next 10%

NOTE: Bachelor students fail the course if their total grade for both in class work and the final exam is less than 50, unless they take the opportunity during the term to do supplementary work prescribed by their teacher in order to bring their grade up to a passing level.Master students fail the course if they have less than 50 % for work during the semester or less than 50 % for the exam/test.

Grading system applied at BSc and MSc programs for courses where the number of registered students is lower than 30:

Percentage RF Grades ECTS Grades

90 – 100 Excellent (5) А

85 – 89 Excellent (5) B

83 – 84 Good (4) B

75 – 82 Good (4) C

71 – 74 Good (4) D

65 – 70 Satisfactory (3) D

50 – 64 Satisfactory (3) E

< 50 Failed F

NOTE: Some courses are assessed on a pass/fail basis only. The grade is not included in the grade point average calculation.

Type A: Normal courses, attended by at least 30 studentsBachelors: those students, who have not gained at least 50% of the maximum after adding the scores for the exam to all of the scores for their during-the-course work, get an ‘F’ ECTS grade (‘2’ Russian grade); all the others are ranked and get a grade according to the ranking table.

Masters: those students, who have got less than 50% for either their final exam or during-the-course workload, get an ‘F’ ECTS grade (‘2’ Russian grade); all the others are ranked and get a grade according to the ranking table.

Type B: Normal courses, attended by less than 30 studentsAll the students get a grade according to the following table, regardless of their ranking.

Type ‘B’ Grading Table

Student Performance

ECTS Grading System

Russian Grading System

Student Performance

90 — 100 A 5 85 — 100

83 — 89 B

4 71 — 8475 — 82 C

65 — 74 D

3 50 — 7050 — 64 E

0 — 49 F 2 0 — 49

Type C: ‘Pass or Fail’ courses (‘Zachot’)All the students, who perform at the level of 50/100 and better, get a ‘Passed’; all the others get a ‘Failed’. International students will have an ECTS grade listed as well (the percentage you gained will appear in your transcript alongside with the ‘Passed’ mark).

LIST of COURSES:

As a rule, the course lists are available:

For the Fall term - by the middle of AugustFor the spring term - by the end of December

All international students who are coming to St. Petersburg University GSOM either for the Fall or Spring semesters are informed via an email, as soon as the list of the courses is available on the web site

NOTE: Students could use the current course list to plan their future learning plan BACHELOR COURSES : http://www.gsom.spbu.ru/en/undergraduate/student/info/

MASTER COURSES : http://www.gsom.pu.ru/en/graduate/for_students/exchange_studies/courses/

Please note that attendance is required and that you could risk not being able to take the final if you are repeatedly absent.See the Guidelines for Instruction for SPbU, 2012 for a more detail description of the types of exams and examination processes.

Libraries

The GSOM Library is a branch of The Saint Petersburg University Scientific Library, which was founded in 1783 and which currently holds around 6,9 million books and manuscripts. GSOM students and staff, as members of the SPbU community, may use a core collection of the Scientific Library, as well as the collections and services of each branch of the Scientific Library. The GSOM library has a unique large-scale collection of literature on management and related fields in accordance with the content needs of the programs and courses delivered — and beyond that. The bulk of the collection consists of titles related to such fields as management, marketing, finance, but there are also holdings in philology, philosophy, sociology, political science, etc. The Library also holds all the publications made by GSOM faculty, conference materials and most of our course compendiums. We are proud to note, that our Library is considered to own one of the best management-related data collection in Russia.

The library is able to provide a number of open-space reading rooms with open access to the collection (including periodicals), as well as some group work areas, with the total capacity of 175 places. The facilities provided include:

Computers with a high-speed access to the Internet, connected to the databases; Photocopying & scanning machines; Wireless connection to the Internet; Electronic catalogues; Electronic RFID book registry terminals.

Library Factsheet

Total number of units stored over 90 000

Books in a foreign language over 30%

Periodical subscriptions in English print -14, electronic – over 10 000

Full-text international databases 63

LocationsThe Library consists of two divisions, in both GSOM buildings (16, Dekabristov pereulok and 3, Volkhovskiy pereulok — see more in the SPbU and GSOM locations section, page 3). Both Bachelor and Master students are allowed to use any of them, as well as all the provided facilities, access to which is granted GSOM-wide.

Search for Information On-lineHere is a list of resources available in English, which you may find useful while preparing your works during the semester in GSOM:

GSOM Library web-page:http://www.gsom.spbu.ru/en/library/

GSOM Library OPAC:http://library.gsom.spbu.ru/cgi-bin/irbis64r_91en/cgiirbis_64.exe?C21COM=F&I21DBN=IBIS&P21DBN=IBIS [1][1]

The list of the database resources available for the GSOM students for free:by subject and content type: www.gsom.spbu.ru/en/library/subject_and_content_type/A-Z list of databases http://www.gsom.spbu.ru/en/library/index/

GSOM OpenArchive Project — digital repository of the GSOM research publications:http://dspace.gsom.pu.ru/jspui/

Combined Russian & international periodicals search engine “A-Z Journal Finder”:http://www.gsom.spbu.ru/en/library/az_journal_finder/

These are the essentials, while you are going to be provided with an extensive Library Guide during your Introduction Week ‘Intro to Library & IT’ session. If you have missed the Week, you may want to ask for one in the Library later. Library Service managers are also always ready to answer any of your questions during the Library opening hours in the both buildings.

Opening Hours[2][2]Library in the Dekabristov pereulok GSOM building

M 8:30–20:00

T 8:30–20:00

W 8:30–18:00

T 8:30–20:00

F 8:30–18:00

S 10:00–17:00

S closed

Library in the Volkhovsky pereulok GSOM building

M 9:30–21:00

T 9:30–21:00

W 9:30–21:00

T 9:30–21:00

F 9:30–21:00

S 9:00–20:00

S 10:00–17:00

Contacts Library Department (3, Volkhovsky)

Tel.: +7 (812) 323-84-43E-mail: library@gsom.pu.ru

[1][1] The link is easily obtainable through the GSOM Library web-page, so there is no strong need to re-type it.[2][2] The following is the normal Library working schedule, though you should be aware of the fact that during the vacations period, the Library open hours are usually reduced. The latest schedule is always available at the GSOM Library web-page: http://www.gsom.spbu.ru/en/library/

Library Department (16, Dekabristov)Tel.: +7 (812) 327-49-51E-mail: library@gsom.pu.ru

Library Director: Kosareva Elena AnatolievnaTel.: +7 (812) 323-84-43E-mail: kosareva@gsom.pu.ru

Library Deputy Director (e-resources): Muleva Yulia NikolaevnaTel.: +7 (812) 327-49-51E-mail: muleva@gsom.pu.ru

IT facilitiesIn the core of the GSOM IT system, there is a cluster of 55 servers, guaranteeing system reliability and durable data storage. In the both GSOM buildings, wireless broadband Internet access is granted for all the students, professors and visitors. There is also a print & copy system, available for the registered2 users.

The systems of support of the educational process for students and faculty are based on two systems:

1. Blackboard at: https://bb91.gsom.pu.ru/webapps/login/

2.a System developed by a specialist of the IT department of GSOM, which is based on the 1S platform.

Our users have access to many different IT services, for example, e-mail, technical support, Active Directory, Local and global network, etc. Many of these services, such as e-mail, the file store and many others, have web-based access and are available either locally or worldwide.

There are a number of Internet-based services, intended to support the academic process, such as:

Course registration system, Individual project assignments, and GSOM service quality polls:http://webct.gsom.pu.ru/

Full course informational maintenance and tracking (academic materials sharing, homework handing-in, on-line tests and examinations, etc.):http://bb91.gsom.pu.ru/

On-line video-streaming of significant GSOM events, as well as publication of the records:http://www.gsom.spbu.ru/en/video/

ContactsThe service desk staff is accessible between 8-30 and 21-30 from Monday till Saturday (Volkhovsky pereulok) and from Monday till Friday (Dekabristov pereulok).

Phone (Volkhovsky pereulok): (+7 812) 323 84 54, internal number: 888 Phone (Dekabristov pereulok): (+7 812) 350 81 55, internal number: 272 Mobile phone (Volkhovsky pereulok): +7 931 203 98 92 Mobile phone (Dekabristov pereulok): +7 931 203 98 51

2 All the GSOM international students are pre-registered by the time of arrival.

BookstoresIn the both GSOM buildings, there is a bookstore, where you are able to find course materials, ‘compendiums’, as well as the books published by GSOM.

Contacts: Elena Lebedkina: lebedkina@gsom.pu.ru

Career CenterThe Career Center’s experienced staff provides GSOM students and alumni with a wide range of personalized services, including help with individual career planning, clarifying career directions, resume writing, interview preparation, providing job market information.

They also plan workshops, networking events, company tours and presentations, guest lectures by the top-managers. We also organize Summer Internship Programs, recruiting activities and Career Days. All these events give the students not only the first working experience in leading Russian and international companies, help them orienting in the job market but allow the graduates to find the proper career path.

The Career Center, in cooperation with L’Oreal Company, involves GSOM students in international business games such as L’Oreal s-Strat Challenge and Marketing Award, a dynamic marketing competition and spectacular opportunity for students throughout the world to experience being a Brand Manager on one of L’Oreal’s existing international brands. The Career Center staff provides the GSOM students with valuable resources to conduct successful career searches. We work with a broad range of companies, representing many industries, helping them build and execute successful recruiting strategies.

Contacts Career Center Director – Irina Solovyova

Email: solovyova@gsom.pu.ru Career Center Manager – Elena Novikova

E-mail: novikova@gsom.pu.ru Career Center Manager – Valeria Golovinova

Email: golovinova@gsom.pu.ru

Housing

With the help of the SPbU housing services, all of our arriving international students are offered housing in a university student residence. This is only possible because the university understands the difficulty the international students would meet in finding a room on their own and has given priority to the housing of this group of students. If you for some reason choose not to make use of the room which has been reserved for you, please let us know immediately, as there is a long list of students waiting for rooms at dormitories located in St. Petersburg itself.

Please note that the rooms and facilities are very basic and not well-suited, if you require more of your living space. But they are cheap and give you easy access to social contact with other students and a real taste of student life in Russia.

In staying in a university residence you must accept to abide by the rules of order in effect for all university buildings, as prescribed in the section on the university’s internal regulations section on “Providing order and security on the territory of the University”:

Providing order and security on the territory of the University9.2. The following are prohibited on campus:a) Conduct which could prevent or disrupt normal operation of any unit;b) Smoking outside places specially designated and equipped for this purpose;c) The consumption of alcoholic beverages, including those with a low alcoholic contentd) The storage, use or distribution of toxic substances or drugs or similar substance (the list of which is determined by the competent authorities);e) Gambling.e) Appearing under the influence of drugs, toxic substance or drugs;g) Bringing animals into the building;h) The storage, distribution or use of explosives and pyrotechnics;i) The disturbance of peace and quiet at night - from 23 to 07 am local time.Please read these carefully and be prepared to respect them to the letter. We know that part of student life is to enjoy yourself and the company of other students. We must, however, ask you to party outside of the university residences. Although you might see other students, whether Russian or international , who break these rules, this will not be accepted as an excuse, if a formal complaint is lodged against you. SPbU GSOM has no authority over the dormitories and is greatly dependent on a good relationship with the Housing administration if we are to be able to continue to offer university housing to all of our arriving student. If you break these rules, you might find yourself involved in a very unpleasant formal procedure which could jeopardize your stay at the university and which certainly will involve reporting to your home university. There will be very little that we at GSOM can do to assist you.

BuddiesWe have a ‘Buddy System’ at GSOM, so that each of you can be met by a Russian student (your ‘buddy’), who will help you settling into the new environment without trouble. Your buddy will also meet you at the airport (or wherever else you are arriving) and will accompany you to the dormitory or your place of residence. Buddies are in contact with GSOM International Students during their first days in Russia and provide them with some basic information about the city and the school. Your buddy is probably going to become your first Russian friend, with whom you can spend some fun time together.

‘Buddies’ are the GSOM students who have volunteered to help one or more of our international students. They will make every effort to help you but, please, respect their privacy and remember that they can’t spend all their time with you. The main objective of the Buddy Team work is to make sure you arrive safely, get to the dorm and enjoy the first moments of your stay in ‘St. Pete’ — that is how the younger people call their city here. Remember that after the first period is over, that you also can take the initiative and invite your buddy to join met your for lunch or a cup of tea if you would like to keep contact.

Cafeterias and Cafés around GSOMThe cafeteria at Volkhovsky has signs in English with the names of the different dishes. You can choose from a variety of fresh salads, several soup options and usually a choice of 3-4 hot main dishes (generally always with a chicken and a vegetarian option) and a choice of side dishes. The hot meals are generally filling, fairly well-prepared cafeteria food. You can also get tea or coffee, a nice fresh fruit drink called “compote, made

from various fresh or dried fruits or berries and some pastries or chocolate. You can for example get a salad, main course with side dish and a glass of compote for a little over 100 Rub.

There are many small cafes and restaurants around Volkholvsky where you can get a so-called business lunch in the middle of the day for as little as 150 Rubles for soup, salad and a main dish.

We need a volunteer to write about the cafeteria at Dekabristov – please let us know if you would like to volunteer.

Before you comeGenerally, you only need to bring medications that you are dependent on for the period that you will be staying (remember to have a letter from you doctor confirming that you need these for health reasons just in case customs should be curious that day). If you will be travelling with medications for personal use you might want to read the International Association for Medical Assistance to Travellers’ advice at:

http://www.iamat.org/blog/index.cfm/2012/7/20/What-You-Need-To-Know-About-Travelling-With-Medications

Otherwise, you will be able to find most things that you are used to using (although sometimes finding the right place that has them can be a challenge in the beginning). As far as food for your own cooking is concerned, there are lots of small local stores called ”produkty” with the basics while megasupermarkets open 24/7 with just about everything including a good selection of fresh vegetables, fish and meat such as Lentha can be found around the city. For foreign specialties or more luxury food specialties, there is a supermarket in the mall attached to the Stockmann Department store on Nevsky near the Moskovskaya Metro station or Super Babylon, Malaya Ulitsa, 198.

Stuff to Pack & InstallIt is going to get quite cold, so be prepared and bring appropriate clothing and footware. There are of course lots of shops in SPb where you can find these things, if shopping is one of your favorite pastimes.

…and useful software for your mobile

http://mobile.yandex.ru/maps/ — maps and directions; supports public transport routes, including ‘marshrutkas’; iPhone, Android, Symbian, Win Mobile, Win Phone, Win CE, Java, Maemo, bada

http://mobile.yandex.ru/rasp/ — search engine & schedule aggregator for all the Russian planes, intercity & local trains, intercity buses — iPhone, Android

http://mobile.yandex.ru/metro/ — interactive Metro map; no Russian needed (click, click, result) — iPhone, Android, Symbian, Win Mobile, Java, Maemo, bada

http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/id320949132 — Metro & Public Transport map for all world’s major cities; less reliable than the ones above — iPhone

International Passport, Invitation & VisaAlthough sometimes Russia is quite notorious for its complicated bureaucracy, you can do a lot yourself to avoid problems and to help us help you, so we strongly advise you pay close attention to the following:

ALL International Students (except CIS Nationals), coming to St. Petersburg University Graduate School of Management for study, are required to have a visa. In order to get a visa, you have to apply to the nearest Russian Embassy or Consulate http://www.ln.mid.ru/zu_r.nsf/stra?OpenView . We strongly advise you to contact the Russian Embassy/Consulate where you are going to apply for a Russian visa in order to find out the details of the visa application and documents required. Please be informed that HIV test results (no older than 3 months at time of departure) and health insurance are required by most Embassies/Consulates.

In order to issue a visa, the Russian Embassy or Consulate requires the following invitation letter in Russian issued by the Federal Migration Service of Russian Federation. We at GSOM will arrange for this to be made as soon as possible, please note that this procedure generally takes min. 6 weeks. You must therefore send us your documents, including a passport valid min. 6 months after the end of your proposed period of exchange, as quickly as possible after you have been nominated by your home university. The process of visa issue can then take up to 2 months.

As soon as the invitation letter is ready, its PDF scan will be send to you by e-mail and the original will be sent to the International Office of the student’s home school/university. Once the letter of invitation is received, the student should apply for a single entry 90 day visa (according to Legislation, it is not possible to make an application for a multiple entry visa for the whole term from the very beginning). As soon as the student comes to GSOM, he/she will be registered as a student for the whole term and GSOM will help you complete the application process for a multiple-entry visa.

International Passport & VisaYour International Passport must be valid for at least 6 months beyond your stay. It must contain a valid

Remember! Your International Passport must be valid for at least 6 months beyond your stay. It must contain a valid visa to enter. Here is an example:

Once you receive your visa, please immediately check to make sure that you have got the word “УЧЕБА” (‘Education/Study’) in the Purpose of Entry field. If this is not the case, request that the consulate correct this, as this is the status which the letter of invitation has specified for you.

The Migration Card

On the plane, you are going to be given a special document called the Migration Card. (If you are traveling by another means of public transportation, chances are you will be given a Migration Card before arrival while in the transport.) If you are traveling on your own (e.g., by car), or, for any reason, you have not been given a Card, you should find one and fill it out before Passport Control and Customs. The document consists of two almost identical parts and, on the front side, normally looks like this:3

You need to fill in the document correctly (it is not too complicated and there are different types of Cards printed in many major foreign languages, so you should not have any problems with it). Note, however, that if you make a mistake, you should begin over on a new form rather than just writing over the mistake.

NB. The purpose of the document is to verify your date of arrival, so you need to hand the paper over to the Passport Control officer and to make sure that you have got a stamp made in the ‘Въезд / Arrival’ section with the date of your arrival in the frame. Please, double-check you have gone through all the necessary steps and that you do have a stamped Migration Card by the airport exit, or otherwise you will not be able to register yourself as a student upon arrival and will have to re-enter Russia once again (as strange as this might sound, yes).

3 Image courtesy of http://russianvisa.org/

Please do not get misled by seemingly casual appearance of this document. It is an important legal document and is required not only for registering upon arrival, but also when leaving Russia — otherwise you may not be given a new visa in the future. We recommend that you keeping it in a passport cover pocket or even stapling to the last page of your passport, to be on the safe side.

Upon Your Arrival

GSOM student are very good at volunteering to serve as buddies to help our arriving international students, so if you keep us informed of your arrival place and time, there will be a friendly face and helping hand to meet you.

Governmental RegulationsAccording to the Migration Legislation of Russian Federation you and your visa must be registered within 2 working days upon your arrival. We will organize that this happens on the first day of INTRO week, but if you should arrive at some other time, please contact the International Office immediately after your arrival.

Local Registration upon Arrival

To register, you must submit the following to the GSOM International Office:

Registration forms (will be given to you upon your arrival at GSOM) Passport with a visa and a stamped migration card 6 black and white, mat photos, size 3х4 (can be taken upon your arrival to St.Petersburg) Health insurance policy (a copy)

Multiple-Entry Visa Application

As soon as you come to St. Petersburg University GSOM, you will be registered for the whole period of study (semester/academic year) and will be able to apply for a multiple visa valid till the end of your study at GSOM that replaces your single 90 days visa.

The process of getting a multiple entry visa takes up to 2 months during which you will not be able to leave Russian and St. Petersburg particularly (please plan your stay in Russia accordingly). Please be aware that many documents are required by the Federal Migration Service for a multiple entry visa. And these documents can be issued only after your arrival to Russia. Therefore, the shortest period of getting a multiple visa cannot be less than 3-4 weeks upon your arrival to Russia. The state fee for getting a multiple visa depends upon the urgency: from 1000 to 5000 RUR.

Introduction WeekEvery semester begins with the Introduction Week. The first days in a new country is always a challenge, so in order to speed up the adaptation process at GSOM ,the International Office together with the Buddy Team have plans for your first week in Saint-Petersburg.

The introduction week usually consists of several parts:

Registration process and sessions committed to important information from GSOM academical offices;

Guest lectures or company visits to the leading Russian manufactures and service providers; Russian language crash course, which is giving you more hours this year, to give you the best

possible start;

City tour, different excursions and a lot of fun!

Attendance during the day is expected while social events are always optional, including those cultural and entertaining parts, organized by the Buddy Team, that will cost some money. However, we assure you that attending the Introduction Week is the best way to start exploring the unique Russian culture together with all exchange students and the Buddy Team!

Joining Student Activities & SportsOur Head of Sudent Services at GSOM is a good contact for information on the following activities. You can find Vadim Fedorov at the following address: Dekabristov per., 16, tel.: +7 812 350 81 55, Local extension: 259, fax: +7 812 350 04 06, email: fedorov@gsom.pu.ru:

Football : -Free, -Place & time to be announced Volleyball: Free, Place & time to be announced Basketball: Free, Upon a group request to Vadim (~10 people needed), the team can be mixed — GSOM & InternationalChess & Draughts: Free, Upon request to VadimAerobics: Free, upon request to Vadim, place: Aerobics hall in the student residence on Vasilievskiy island

- The schedule to be announced thereSwimming: Can be done at the University pool, Philological Street 2 (enter through the Main University Building), You can buy a pass for a set number of visits (абонемент) from Monday, 17 September: prices 4 visits of 1 hour for 650 RUR. Pool opening hours are 7-22.00. There is also swimming club pool СКА open to the public, to be found an easy trip out Sredny with a bus or Marshrutka to Sredny number 87. Here you can buy passes for 11 one-hour visits for 5000 RUR, 19 visits for 8000 RUR or 30 visits for 11,500 RUR. Opening hours: 7-21/

All the other sports activities: May be paid or free; consult with Vadim. The student needs to be semi-professional or at least very experienced to join, since the groups are already formed.

- Boating (Boat Racing)- Alpinism / Climbing- Badminton- Boxing- Wrestling- Cycle Racing- Water Polo- Alpine Skiing

- Athletics- Ski Racing- Table Tennis- Swimming- Rugby- Sportive Orienteering- Rock Climbing- Weight Lifting

- Other activities:

The GSOM Case Club: Organized with support from qualified GSOM teachers for students interested in working with the case method. Students who would like to participate should send an application to: gsom.case@gmail.com with the following information. For bachelor students: name, telephone number, email, academic profile, experience in case competition. If none, just write: no experience. For master students: name, telephone number, email, academic profile, any specialization and level (master). Experience in case competitions.

SPbU International Students’ Club: The club meets once a week on Wednesdays at 18:00 at St. Petersburg, University Emb., 7 \ 9, Building 12, Rector’s Wing, room 107 Contacts: University Office for Youth: Lyudmila NefedovaE-mail: lbn@ir.pu.ru , . The Chairman for the Club for International Students: Zhao Tensyao

The SPbU English Club : The Club is to give students the opportunity to meet and discuss topics that they find interesting while getting to practice their English and meet other students. The contact person Tamara Labuzova e-mail: tamara_labuzova_@mail.ru would like to welcome International students from GSOM to join. You are welcome to contact her and make proposals about topics or activities that you would be interested in.

We are looking into other SPbU clubs and will let you know when we have more information about them .

General Information on St. Petersburg

Weatherhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_petersburg#Climate —their license allows to use the information, and the info is quite reliable (based on scientific sources); reference to Wikipedia must be present

Living Costs & Budgetinghttp://www.numbeo.com/cost-of-living/city_result.jsp?country=Russia&city=Saint+Petersburg&displayCurrency=EUR — license allows using the data; data is compiled by those living in the city, so it’s quite accurate and should be up-to-date; reference to Numbeo.com must be present. There’s an option to use different currencies, compare to other cities, forecast one’s distribution of costs, etc. — so you may play around with the data to see what might be interesting.

Great cultural opportunities!

There are many great cultural opportunities to be had in St. Petersburg, both the classic and world famous Mariinsky Theatre– more on them in a minute, as well as concerts with local and international performers. One site where you can check your options which gives a pretty good overview is.: http://www.inyourpocket.com/russia/st-petersburg/concerts-culture-events-entertainment

Cinema-freaks will have to make do with videos or streaming because in almost all of the commercial cinemas, ALL showings are dubbed in Russian (although you might be surprised about how much of an action film you understand even though it is in Russian!). Fortunately there is Dom Cinema, see http://www.domkino.spb.ru/ or http://www.rodinakino.ru/ (both sites are in Russian but you can see the titles in English or French etc of the non-Russian films and both venues generally show films in the original version with Russian subtitles.

The Mariiinsky Theatre gets its own billing:

While studying at GSOM, you have access to one of the world’s great theatres with classic opera and ballet, as well as performances and concerts in the nearby Concert Hall, – note that they are not located directly next to each other so you go to the right place for your performance! Not only do you have access, but as a student with a visa allowing you to study in Russia, you can purchase tickets for personal use at substantial discounts. Go to the Mariinsky’s site at: http://www.mariinsky.ru/en/ . Select “Playbill and Tickets”. You can register to be able to purchase tickets on-line, but must register the first time so that you have a log-in and

password (select registration in the upper right hand corner of the screen). Once you have done this, you can browse through the playbill for the coming months and select the performances in which you are interested. When you click on “buy tickets”, you get a view of either the theater itself or of the concert hall The yellow dots show the seats available for purchase and when you move your cursor over the seat, you can see the price(s). You are eligible to buy at the special price or tariff - (you will need to show your passport and student card at the box-office when picking up your tickets). Click on the ticket(s) that you want and then click on “add to basket” – the rest is like any other on-line purchase and works very well. Note that the language of for example the operas is usually mentioned but if not, it is probably in Russian. For some of the classic Russian operas, you might be lucky to find a note saying that “ (the performance will have synchronised English supertitles)” on the electronic banner above the stage.

Mariinsky Theatre:1 Theatre Square

Concert Hall:37 Dekabristov Street

Draw BridgesIf you are going to be out late at night, you might want to get acquainted with the fact that a number of important St. Petersburg bridges open and remain open for several hours during the night to allow river traffic to pass. See:http://razvodka-mostov.ru/#map — info in Russian, though there’s a map with the bridges marked, so it’s quite obvious; reference to razvodka-mostov.ru needed. Also here: http://wikitravel.org/en/Saint_Petersburg

Public Transportation SystemYou can get around the city easily and very cheaply with public transportation – take advantage of the time with your buddy to learn how to do this.

Buses, Trolleybuses, Trams & Commercial ‘Marshrutkas http://wikitravel.org/en/Saint_Petersburg#Get_around http://maps.yandex.ru/ — the site allows making a route using public transport system (including

‘marshrutkas’); in Russian, though usable with some very basic knowledge; http://vse-marshrutki.spb.ru/ — this one has got a clickable map to find a suitable ‘marshrutka’

route; no Russian needed to use (click, click, result); http://metro.yandex.ru/spb/ — interactive Metro map; no Russian needed (click, click, result).

Planes, Intercity and Local Trains, Intercity Buses and Commercial Vanshttp://wikitravel.org/en/Russia#Get_around http://rasp.yandex.ru/ — search engine & schedule aggregator for all the Russian planes, intercity & local trains, intercity buses; in Russian, though usable if one can find the city/town name in Russian

Ideas for Traveling: Major Touristic Spots in Russia:http://wikitravel.org/en/Russia

Finding News about Life in St. Petersburg and Russiahttp://travel.yahoo.com/p-travelguide-2789620-st_petersburg_things_to_do-i;_ylt=Ag1WzDdWdwc.cU6oU.abldPhFWoL

Invitations to friends and family wanting to visit St. Petersburg

Unfortunately, according to Russian legislation and the internal rules of SPbU, the university and its units may not issue invitation letters for friends, relatives or any other persons who accompany or going to visit international students at GSOM.

If you have family or friends who would like to visit the city while you are here and if they are going to stay in a hotel, then they easily can ask the hotel to help you with this service. In most countries, there are also now tourist agencies which have specialized in procuring visas for visiting Russia.

Survival Russian

Any time spent before your departure for Russia on learning at least the Cyrillic Alphabet would be one of the best investments you have ever made. You can google the Cyrillic Alphabet to find an overview of the letters presented with their sound shown with the help of familiar English words – and probably also with words in your first language.

http://wikitravel.org/en/Russian_phrasebook — a great source; license allows using the data; http://lingvo.yandex.ru/ — Russian to English, German, French, Italian, Spanish, and some other

languages dictionary http://therules.ru/ — all the rules of the Russian language — for those learning

Additional instruction in Russian

You will be offered a Russian Crash Course as part of the INTRO Week and the opportunity to take a Russian course during semester. We have found that many of our international students choose to take additional courses in order to get as much knowledge of the language as possible during their time here. For a modest amount, it is possible for either individual tuition or instruction in small groups of 3-6. For arranging one of the current options for this type of training, you can contact the following for further information:

1. First, the students can take private lessons from the teachers who taught the Crash course. It will be 500 roubles per 1 academic hour/ (45 min) for individual classes, or 250 roubles per student in a group. The group usually consists of 3-6 persons. Contact person: Larisa Volkova, who was the coordinator of the Russian Crash Course during our INTRO week, e-mail: lb

2. Second, they can apply for Russian Language courses at the Center of the Russian Language and Culture. The address is Naberezhnaya L. Schmidta, 11/2, of.307. Here you can find more information: http://russian4foreigners.com/ru/

3. There are also many private companies offering instruction, such as a private company called Extra-class (see their website at: http://www.learnrussian.ru/ ) not only offers lessons for homestay students but can also teach courses with a smaller number of hours per week for either small groups of 4-6 students or give individual tuition. The contact person is Stanislav Chernyshov, tel.: +7 921 913 56 29, email: . He quoted a price for a group of 4-6 students having 4 hours (4 x 45 min.) per week as being 150 Euros per week, no matter whether there are 4 or 6 students. Individual tuition would be 20 Euros per hour. The teacher can come to your place for 5 Euros per visit.