Testimonials

Hello everyone, I am Yibing Zhao from Tsinghua University, Beijing. I was in the program 'Doing Business in Russia' of International Polytechnic Winter School in 2019. This two-week experience in Saint-Petersburg left me an extraordinary memory and many take-aways. In classes, we learned the Russian history, economic and social development, as well as the Russian business environment and entrepreneurship. The well-arranged schedule enriched this short program by guiding us to Pushkin and Hermitage and the field trips to factories. Saint Petersburg fascinated me with its beautiful scenery and abundant cultural heritages, and left me no reason for not coming and visiting again.

There isn't nuclear engineering in bachelor level in Finland, and as I was aiming to work in nuclear industry, Nuclear Engineering Summer School in Saint Petersburg was easy choice for me. In lectures I got lots of theoretical knowledge about nuclear physics and reactors to support my practical knowledge. Lectures weren’t too formal and they had a great atmosphere, it was easy to ask more from professors and they were willing to answer. Volunteers from university also did great job guiding and helping us, who mostly didn’t know the Russian language. Our group with multiple nationalities had great time sightseeing Saint Petersburg together. I made new friends and almost learned Cyrillic letters too!

I had such a great time at Polytech summer school! The combination of university courses and summer vacation made the experience both meaningful and fun. The safe environment of the tutors, program coordinators and other summer students eliminated a lot of the struggles of travelling alone in an unfamiliar culture. I made a lot of new friends from all around the world, and the schedule had room for a lot of sightseeing around the city. The museums, Palaces and restaurants in the city centre were easy to reach by metro after school and in the weekends. The city of Sankt Petersburg is so colorful, and crammed with beautiful things to see and exciting things to do. Don’t think twice about it, just go!

The integration of cultural and academic activities were very fitting for the "Open your mind to Russia" course. The elements of Russian language, history, and business culture come alive in the contexts that St. Petersburg and it surroundings provide. My views of Russia and its values have changed as much as could be expected from a three-week program, due to the flexibility of the programme both in and outside the classroom. Exceeding the formalities of the programme, the uniquely internation composition of the student population, spanning east and west, offers a remarkable environment reflecting the international position of Russia.

My time at Polytechnic University of Saint Petersburg was an all-out amazing experience. From start to finish I was surrounded by wonderful people. Upon arrival at the airport I had all the help I could ask for by one of the students of the university. This led to an immediate feeling of ease. From the first day of the course up until the last our class was taken good care off. The start in the impressive main building was organized in great fashion, and after the introduction we had a little general information which all proved to be very useful. To end the day there was a little pub quiz which led to a lot of people being able to come together and form friendships. The teacher was an expert in her course and made the lessons very easy to pick up on. The cultural program was interesting as well, the ability to visit the Hermitage with its seemingly endless works of art and the astonishing Winter Palace. The lovely people who organized everything for us even ended up joining my group of friends for a birthday dinner/drink. After that we even went out for dinner multiple times during our stay and this sort of feeling that you’re more a group of friends than students/organizers made my stay and that of my fellow students unforgettable. All in all I can not recommend people enough to take the chance to attend a summer or winter school event and have the opportunity to meet the most amazing people from the school itself and your fellow students who attend the courses.