St. Petersburg HSE Campus and VK Form Strategic Partnership

© HSE University in St. Petersburg

 

The HSE Campus in St. Petersburg and VK have announced a partnership to implement academic and other projects. The partners will begin by creating the International Bachelor’s in Business and Economics programme at St. Petersburg School of Business. Sergey Mardanov, VK Director of University Relations, will become the Business Director of the new programme.

International Bachelor’s in Business and Economics is the first Broad Bachelor’s programme at the HSE Campus in St. Petersburg (a Broad Bachelor’s is a form of study that provides students with basic competencies in two fields of study at the same time, after which they receive a degree either in one of the profiles or in both simultaneously). The new programme will be taught in English and include a variety of subjects at the intersection of economics and management. This will help students learn the required basics in their first years, decide on the area in which they have the most interest, and finally focus on their own path of professional development by building an individual educational trajectory and choosing from a wide range of academic disciplines.

The strategic partner of the programme is VK, a company providing an ecosystem of social networks, international games, online educational platforms, and other services. Elena Shakina, Dean of St. Petersburg School of Economics and Management, emphasizes that the company’s significant diversification, sales of different product types, and active participation in developing the educational market have become key factors of mutual interest for VK and the HSE Campus in St. Petersburg.

Elena Shakina, Dean of St. Petersburg School of Economics and Management

We are happy to cooperate with VK. They have given us a lot of ideas and inspiration for our new programme. Moreover, this company is one of the most sought-after employers among our graduates. VK’s participation ensures that the programme will be of high quality and enhances accountability for our graduates’ competencies. This increases career opportunities for young professionals and gives them the opportunity to choose their own career path.

There will be a separate VK module in the programme that will include internships, seminars, business projects, and career events. VK representatives will join the programme's Academic Board.

‘Over the past decade, VK has been implementing large-scale educational initiatives for students, including in cooperation with the country's leading universities. We are delighted to develop our partnership with HSE University by launching a joint bachelor’s programme with HSE Campus in St. Petersburg. We expect our cooperation to expand in the future when we will be launching joint courses, holding career events and accepting VK students as trainees and ambassadors,’ says Sergey Mardanov, VK Director of University Relations.

The launch of the International Bachelor's programme expands the partnership between HSE University and VK. The company previously launched a mobile development course and an internship programme for the HSE Moscow Campus.