Statement of the
Council for Science at the Ministry of Education and Science of the Russian Federation
about the situation around the European University at Saint Petersburg
April 12, 2017
| Statement original in Russian (pdf) |
The Council for Science at the Ministry of Education and Science of the Russian Federation (hereinafter - the Council) expresses its deep concern about the situation around the European University at St. Petersburg (EUSP) in connection with the ongoing attempts to deprive the EUSP of its rights and opportunity to conduct educational activities through the revocation of its license and termination of the lease agreement of the building.
EUSP is one of the leading Russian educational and research institutions in the field of social sciences and humanities. It was particularly indicated in the results of monitoring the effectiveness of educational institutions conducted by the Ministry of Education and Science of the Russian Federation. Moreover, according to Times Higher Education, the normalized citation rates of the EUSP publications in three subject areas (political science, regional studies, economics) have significantly exceeded the average world rankings in 2006- 2015. This puts the EUSP in a unique and leading position among Russian educational and research institutions in those areas of science, which correspond to its academic profile.
Works of the EUSP faculty are widely used in research and teaching practice both in Russia and abroad. The significant positive impact of the EUSP on the development of social sciences and humanities in Russia is attested by the demand in highly valued EUSP alumni at leading universities and research institutions.
The Council considers that the possible termination of the EUSP activity motivated by claims of formal and technical nature would be a serious mistake by its content. Closing the EUSP would result in a significant decline in the contribution of Russian social sciences and humanities to knowledge and performance across the world, deterioration in the quality of training of the teaching staff, as well as significant reputational damage to the Russian science and higher education management system. The Council calls upon the Ministry of Education and Science of the Russian Federation to make all necessary efforts to ensure that the EUSP activity is not terminated.