Testimonials

The summer school was an excellent experience and I am very grateful that Polytech gave me the opportunity to experience Russia firsthand and make my dream of learning Russian possible on a scholarship. I made so many close friends there and got to visit so many different cultural sites that I would not have visited otherwise. The most amazing thing that I witnessed there was the White nights. A great thank you to everyone who made the summer school possible and for providing me with a perspective of Russia that I would not have gotten otherwise.

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!

Now that I have just finished my studies in Russia I can say with no doubts that I have a deeper comprehension about this unique country. What I most liked about my experience in the Summer Program was the opportunity to study and live together with many people from all over the world, Bulgaria, Finland, Italy, Mexico, Switzerland, Romania, the United States, including also other places from Russia! For sure this is not a mere opportunity, but an exercise for peace and fraternity. It is also incredible when you have a group of professionals who are ready to welcome you and offer the foreign students a valuable assistance in so many ways. The trips organized by the coordinators are the highest point of a mature project which learnt that a complete educational experience must go beyond the ordinary classroom. Furthermore, Saint Petersburg is one of the places with greater cultural potential in the world! I strongly recommend this international experience!

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.

Recently I finished the Summer School at Peter the Great St. Petersburg Polytechnic University. Here I had a course “Applied Tools of the Project Development” under the conduction of Professors Olga Kolosova, Gennady Kovalenko and Olga Sosidko. I chose this course because its content is tightly related with my topic of Master’s thesis and I wanted to learn more about project risks and how to manage them. During the course Professors introduced us with risks, gave the main idea of risk management and practical skills on a few computer programs commonly used for project risks. Moreover, we had interesting excursions to the local companies, such as “Elma” and “St. Petersburg Chamber of Commerce and Industry”, where we knew about project realization based on real examples of Heads of organizations. It was very useful knowledge and the best way to study the subjects on course. In addition, every day I had improved my English communication skills and gained a lot of new friends from all over the world. That’s really cool!J

The last but not the least, the cultural program and events that we had within this Summer School was great and full of fun in one of the most beautiful city of the world – St. Petersburg. Despite its unpredictable weather with quite often drizzles, we enjoyed the fascinating city architecture, historical buildings, museums, especially the world’s famous Hermitage, a lot of theatres, and cathedrals and were totally amazed by the bridges’ drawing while our late walks at white nights.

At the end, I would like to say for future students, who are planning to take part at the next Summer School at Peter the Great St. Petersburg Polytechnic University that “it is a unique opportunity to broaden your vision, enrich your culture, grow professionally and obtain all these unforgettable new experiences in a wonderful city called St. Petersburg”.