From March 10 to 14, 2025, the PSU delegation paid a working visit to the Republic of Uzbekistan. The delegation included Sergey Ivanchin, Head of the International Education Office of the Institute of International Cooperation, and Natalia Barysheva, Head of the Pre-University Training Office of the Institute of International Cooperation.

"Our task is to improve the level of knowledge of the Russian language among foreign applicants and ensure their more successful adaptation to the new educational environment. To do this, we are changing the strategy for recruiting applicants in Central Asian countries and plan to increase the number of foreign citizens studying at the pre-university training department of the Institute of International Cooperation," commented Gleb Sintsov, Vice-Rector for International Affairs.

During the visit, PSU representatives visited the public organization Russian Cultural Center of Uzbekistan, where they met with the head of the center, Sergey Mironov. More than 100 people study at the RCC every year, preparing to enter Russian universities within the quota of the Ministry of Science and Higher Education of the Russian Federation. Sergey Ivanchin spoke to potential applicants. He presented Penza State University and spoke about the features of studying for foreign citizens in Russia.

It should be noted that the main objective of the trip was to conduct trilateral Russian-Turkmen-Uzbek negotiations with the recruiting companies EUROLINK RS (Uzbekistan) and Osush Nokady (Turkmenistan) in order to attract Uzbek and Turkmen applicants to Penza State University. 

The PSU representatives informed the partners that the university's priority is foreign applicants with high basic training and good knowledge of the Russian language. In this regard, the heads of the recruiting companies Ainura Bazarova (Turkmenistan) and Ganisher Rustamov (Uzbekistan) proposed to hold an online interview with potential applicants in May-June this year to assess their level of the Russian language proficiency. 

The parties agreed that this measure will allow organizing the admission of foreign citizens more effectively. Following the interview, the applicants will be informed about the possibility of taking entrance examinations or the need to first complete training at the pre-university training department of the Institute of International Cooperation and improve their level of Russian language proficiency. 

In addition, the parties discussed potential admission figures for the new academic year and the list of educational programmes that are in demand among applicants in Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan.

Also, in preparation for the 2025 admission campaign, the PSU representatives, together with the EUROLINK RS company, recorded a series of commercials about PSU to attract Uzbek youth on social networks.

As a result of the working visit, two cooperation agreements were signed on the recruitment of Uzbek and Turkmen applicants to PSU starting from the 2025-2026 academic year.