Volga State University of Water Transport (VGUVT; until 2015, the Volga State Academy of Water Transport, VGAVT) is a federal state institution of higher education in Nizhny Novgorod that trains specialists for the river and sea fleets. It is the largest sector-specific educational institution in the Volga-Vyatka region and is part of the system of the Federal Agency for Maritime and River Transport.[1] It was founded in 1930.[1] In 2015 it was reorganized as the Admiral M. P. Lazarev Volga State University of Water Transport (VGUVT).[1] Address: 5a Nesterov Street, Nizhny Novgorod, 603950.[1]

History and Names

The institution was founded in 1930 in Gorky as the Gorky Institute of Water Transport Engineers (GIIVT).[1] Under that name, the institute trained several generations of marine engineers, navigators, mechanics, and water transport operations specialists. The institute's building (now home to VGUVT), located at 55 Piskunov Street / 7 Minin Street, was completed in 1935. It was designed by the Moscow architect Anatoly Zhukov, who is also known for designing the Central Department Store on Revolution Square in Nizhny Novgorod.[2] The institution later changed its status and name, becoming the Volga State Academy of Water Transport (VGAVT).[1] In 2015, VGAVT was reorganized as the Admiral M. P. Lazarev Volga State University of Water Transport (VGUVT).[1] Over its entire history under its various names (GIIVT, VGAVT, VGUVT), the institution has trained more than 46,000 specialists.[1]

Structure and Educational Activities

The academic complex includes four branches, five secondary specialized educational institutions, a center for training, retraining, and professional development of managers and specialists in water transport, a complex of ship simulators, and a research sector.[1] As of early 2010, the academic complex had more than eighteen thousand students and cadets enrolled at any one time.[1] The successor university of VGAVT, VGUVT, includes four branches in the cities of Astrakhan, Kazan, Samara, and Perm, as well as the I. P. Kulibin Nizhny Novgorod River College.[3]

The university has 3 faculties, one institute (IEUiP), and 26 departments.[1] Its staff includes 42 professors and 393 instructors.[1] About 4,047 people are enrolled in higher education programs at VGUVT (bachelor's, specialist, master's, and postgraduate programs), and 1,251 in secondary vocational education programs; the teaching and research staff numbers about 252 people.[3] The university has the right to issue state-recognized education documents, award the academic degree of Candidate of Sciences, and hold doctoral dissertation defenses.[1] The president of the institution is Valery Mineyev, and the rector is Igor Konstantinovich Kuzmichyov.[1]

Infrastructure and Research Activity

For summer recreation of staff and students, the university has a sports and recreation camp, "Vodnik", on the shore of the Gorky Sea.[1] The academy houses the River Fleet Museum, which includes an exhibition devoted to the Nizhny Novgorod mechanic and inventor Ivan Petrovich Kulibin. Professors and doctors of science of the university sit on academic councils for the defense of doctoral dissertations jointly with other Nizhny Novgorod universities and take part in the work of the Volga-Vyatka Scientific Center of the Transport Academy of the Russian Federation.[1] The departments conduct work in applied mechanics, ship machinery and mechanisms, shipbuilding, traffic management, computer science, economics, and other disciplines. On February 29, 2024, Metropolitan George of Nizhny Novgorod and Arzamas and VGUVT Rector Igor Kuzmichev signed a five-year cooperation agreement providing for the implementation of cultural, educational, and enlightenment projects under a special program.

The lecture and enlightenment project, carried out jointly with the Nizhny Novgorod Diocese's department for cooperation with higher education, received the approval of the commission on spiritual, moral, and patriotic education of the Council of Rectors of Universities of Nizhny Novgorod Region; the organizers describe it as the first project of its kind in Russia.[6][6] VGUVT has concluded a cooperation agreement with the Nizhny Novgorod Diocese in the field of spiritual, moral, and patriotic education of students; under this agreement, the university takes part in the work of a commission under the Council of Rectors of Nizhny Novgorod universities, created to coordinate cooperation between higher education and the Russian Orthodox Church.

VGUVT has a youth Orthodox club, within which regular meetings of students with a cleric of the Cathedral of the Archangel Michael in the Nizhny Novgorod Kremlin have been held since 2019; in particular, in September 2019, students of the Faculty of Electromechanics took part in such meetings.[7] The heavenly patron of VGUVT is considered to be the righteous warrior Feodor Ushakov, as a saint whose life was connected with the navy.[5][5][1]

Links

Sources

  1. nne.ru — VGUVT has a youth Orthodox club, within which regular meetings of students with a cleric of the Cathedral of the Archangel Michael of the Nizhny Novgorod Kremlin have been held since 2019 (archive)
  1. nne.ru — On February 29, 2024, Archbishop George of Nizhny Novgorod and Arzamas and VSUWT Rector Igor Kuzmichyov signed a five-year cooperation agreement, pre (archive)
  1. nne.ru — Nizhny Novgorod Metropolia
  1. nne.ru — Nizhny Novgorod Metropolia (archive)
  1. Wikipedia (ru) — Volga State University of Water Transport (archive)
  2. laperuz.com — History of the Gorky Institute of River Transport (archive)
  3. mintrans.gov.ru — Ministry of Transport of the Russian Federation (archive)