On January 22, the Consul General of the Federal Republic of Germany Stefano Weinberger visited Herzen University and had a meeting with Rector Sergei Bogdanov and Vice-Rector for International Cooperation Yulia Komarova.

The Rector briefed the guests on the University’s history and our latest achievements in education and research, with particular emphasis on inclusive education, the training of students for creative professions, and recent projects of the Institute of Psychology and the Institute of Childhood. Mr Bogdanov also mentioned Herzen University’s long tradition of teaching foreign languages, including German; he then highlighted the academic programmes and projects of the School of Conference Interpreting & Translation (SCIT), which is a member of leading international consortia for the training of conference interpreters and translators.

Vice-Rector Yulia Komarova informed Mr. Weinberger and his colleagues about the University’s overseas activities: “Fostering international cooperation is a priority for us. More than three thousand students at Herzen University are foreign citizens, which makes up more than 16 percent of the whole student body. Unfortunately, there are not many German students, but we have a long-standing relationship with various German partners.”

Stefano Weinberger thanked his hosts for the warm welcome and especially noted the University’s role in training German language teachers. He shared certain ideas about his mission in St. Petersburg, its important role being to facilitate cooperation between Russian and German educational institutions, and also between Germany and Russia as a whole and their peoples.