Students will have more opportunities to be enrolled in programs free of tuition fees due to the increase in the number of free tuition fee openings and during their studies they will be able to work on industry projects and conduct their research both at TPU and in the largest oil and gas companies. Moreover, the graduates of the updated programs will be able to obtain an additional diploma in professional retraining (microdegree) in addition to the TPU master’s degree diploma.
Cooperation between Tomsk Polytechnic University and Heriot-Watt University was suspended as part of the implementation of British petroleum master’s degree programs in Russia. At the moment, this decision does not imply a complete severance of relations between the two universities and can also be reviewed in accordance with existing agreements in six months or if the situation changes.
“Despite the recent changes, the work of the Center continues. For more than 20 years of work, our professionals, experts and professors have formed a wide range of competencies.
The results of our work are in demand both among gas and oil partner companies and among university graduates and young professionals who want to continue their education in petroleum engineering programs,” says Valery Rukavishnikov, director of the TPU Heriot-Watt Center.It allows us to independently develop our own educational products with consistently high quality and work on research projects for a long time.
Training of highly qualified professionals for the gas and oil industry is one of the flagship tasks of Tomsk Polytechnic University. The high level of petroleum engineering education at TPU is confirmed not only by authoritative rankings but also by employers. Now there is not a single Russian oil company, large or small, where TPU graduates would not work. In order for students would also have opportunities to obtain professions in demand by the industry, the university made a decision to restart the training of experts in the petroleum field. Thus, the changes will affect Master’s Degree programs in Field Development, Reservoir Evaluation and Management, and Drilling Engineering.
“The core of the programs and teaching methods will meet the high standards of petroleum engineering education. At the same time, the programs will become available to a much larger number of students: the number of state-funded openings for these programs will reach 75. Furthermore, we offer students practice-oriented training, which implies a close connection with the industry. During the first year of the intensive training, graduates of universities in the petroleum and physicotechnical majors, who join us, among other things, will carry out a team project that will allow them to go through the entire field development process: from field data analysis to substantiation of the economic efficiency of the project. This work is as close as possible to the tasks that are performed in petroleum companies as a part of the exploration and extraction of petroleum. This approach will help our students to adapt to a rapidly changing industry, as well as gain skills to work in an interdisciplinary team,” explains the director of the TPU Heriot-Watt Center.
It is planned that students who choose to study the updated master’s degree programs will also obtain an additional diploma of professional retraining in the chosen area (microdegree). Within the second year of study, the acquired skills can be applied in practical work by joining research or service projects, which are built in the industry value engineering and implemented by the TPU Heriot-Watt Center. Due to the close interaction with the production and HR departments of large oil and gas companies, a part of the students will be able to start working directly in the industry.
“The transformation will make it possible to make the system of training professionals more adapted to modern requirements. The students will be able to not only complete a master's degree but also to take part in project work, get feedback from employers and understand what competencies they lack for further successful career growth. At the same time, companies receive much-needed staff. We plan to involve our long-term partners from the industry as experts and lecturers in the educational process. They will introduce students how production tasks are solved in reality and they will take part in the defense of educational projects. Other modes of learning are also being discussed. For instance, within the second year of study, the students will be involved in working in engineering centers for production and well construction management,” adds Valery Rukavishnikov.