Gleb Sintsov, Vice-Rector for International Affairs, visited the Republic of India from April 3 to April 9 at the invitation of Dr. Yuvraaj Solanki, director of the Chevalier Group, partner of PSU in the export of educational services. Meetings within the business trip were held in the cities of New Delhi, Ahmedabad, Vadodara and Surat.

A number of meetings were held at universities of India, where the PSU Vice-Rector was introduced to the leadership of higher educational institutions, got acquainted with the material and technical base of universities, as well as areas of training and promising scientific research.

Thus, the Vice-Rector visited the AIIMS, All India Institute of Medical Science, in New Delhi and Parul University in Vadodara, the latter being one of the ten best private universities in India. Parul University is currently training 35,000 students, of which 6,000 are international students from 42 countries, mainly from South Asia and Africa. Gleb Sintsov visited the university's multidisciplinary stimulation center, accompanied by the director, Dr. Mrujesh Patel, as well as one of the largest hospitals in Vadodara - Sevashram, which is a partner organization of the university as part of the university's medical specialist training programmes. Gleb Sintsov met with Dr. Geetika Patel, who is Vice President of the University and Director of Sevashram Hospital. The prospects for academic exchange programmes for students and teachers, as well as cooperation in the field of science and research between the two universities were discussed.

Another significant point on the trip included meetings of the Vice-Rector with representatives of the parent committees. The parents of students from India are very actively involved in discussing the training and living of their children in Penza. This is also evidenced by the fact that the parents themselves try to visit our city, get acquainted with the university and its leadership, and become participants in student life for several days. More than 40 parents from 11 cities and 3 states gathered at the Surat Convention Center. Gleb Sintsov provided detailed information about the university, its infrastructure and all the opportunities that the university provides for the education and cultural life of young people. The Vice-Rector assured the parents that the university is making every effort to provide students with comfortable and safe conditions for studying and living, and emphasized that the University is willing to solve all emerging issues together with the parents. At the end of the meeting, each parent could personally communicate with the Vice-Rector and thank the leadership of the university in his person for visiting India and supporting their children in Penza.

The visit programme also included a meeting with graduates of the PSU Medical Institute, who have already returned to their homeland with a medical diploma in their hands and are undergoing a screening test for the right to conduct medical practice. A lot of things were discussed: career plans of graduates, mechanisms to support the continuous communication of graduates with the university; students’ daily routine was also recalled.

During the visit, the Vice-Rector was also invited for an interview by Sandesh News, one of the top three news channels in Gujarat. During the interview, Gleb Sintsov spoke about the city of Penza, Penza State University and the organization of training and social and cultural adaptation of Indian students.

“This is the first visit of PSU representatives to India over the past few years, which were marked by the pandemic and post-pandemic regimes, as well as the political events taking place today. I consider the goals of the trip to be achieved, - we had a substantive dialogue with Dr. Yuvraaj Solanki about the admission campaign in 2023, meetings with parents turned out to be very effective, - fears and concerns about their children staying in Penza were dispelled, and the graduates are ready to further popularize education at PSU among the youth of their country. Good contacts have also been established with universities, in the near future there are plans to develop a system of internships for medical students from India at Sevashram Hospital. For a rich and productive programme of the visit, I would like to express my gratitude to the partner of the university, Dr. Yuvraaj Solanki,” Vice-Rector Gleb Sintsov summarized the results of the trip.