The South Ural Association of International Students and Alumni has become the winner in a grants contest organized by the Governor of the Chelyabinsk Region.
Under this project, the Association representatives go on trips to Mongolia, Tajikistan, and Kyrgyzstan in order to attract foreign citizens to come study in Chelyabinsk universities, and facilitate the process of their further adaptation.
Every day international students face difficulties during the time of their stay in a country which is new for them: from the language and sociocultural differences to the dissimilarities in the systems of teaching. Despite these challenges, students still come to obtain their education in our region and stay here. Chelyabinsk has become a second home to more than 5000 international students and alumni. However, the majority of foreigners note that not many people among their fellow countrymen are aware of the opportunity of studying in Chelyabinsk, or know anything about the South Ural region in general for that matter.
Striving to help develop our region and make it more visible abroad, the Association intends to facilitate the attraction of new foreign citizens to the academic programmes, as well as their adaptation to the new language, sociocultural and educational environment.
The Association is located at SUSU since more than half of the international students of the whole Chelyabinsk Region are studying here. Our university can be called a centre of attraction for foreigners for good reason. It is important for the Association team to do their best that despite the challenges of adaptation young people would wish to stay in Russia, would feel a part of the Russian society and would truly fall in love with the South Urals.