On May 15th, an online meeting was held between representatives of the Department of Food Technology and Biotechnology of the SUSU School of Medical Biology and representatives and students of Shenyang University of Technology (SUT), China. SUT first-year students, who are taking training under a joint-with-SUSU academic programme in Bioengineering in Food Productions, presented their reports in Russian on the topics of geographic and natural specifics of Chinese provinces, as well as on national and cultural traditions of their country.
Before the audience of our colleagues from China, Director of the SUSU School of Medical Biology, Professor Irina Potoroko presented the results of the research studies achieved thanks to the functioning of the International China-Russia Joint Laboratory for Bioresources Processing. The experimental work is conducted with the active participation of Chinese students and touches upon important aspects of the resource-saving biotechnology: advanced processing of phytogenic waste and secondary raw materials; methods of extracting biologically active compounds from secondary resources from processing berries and fruits; and obtaining of potassium-humate-based organic bioresources for farming.
In the course of this online dialogue, the Professor stressed that for effective processing of organic waste from the agroindustrial complex, safe technologies are needed, which would allow to obtain value-added products and reduce the environmental impact.
In their turn, second-year Master's degree students Yang Fan and Li Jiajia, taking training under an English-taught academic programme in Biotechnology at SUSU, shared on the details of studying in the Chelyabinsk university and spoke on the specifics of living in Russia, as well as introduced the Chinese representatives to tourist attractions and cultural values of the city of Chelyabinsk.
In addition, representatives of both universities discussed the prospects of the academic mobility of students as part of the fulfilment of joint educational programmes, along with the possibilities for graduates of Shenyang University of Technology to go into further study in Master's degree programmes at SUSU.
It was decided to hold such online meetings on a regular basis in order to exchange experience and professional competences. This will help to effectively develop the international collaboration between the universities both in science and education.