MOSCOW, July 20 /TASS/. University of Tyumen is launching an English-language master’s program entitled "Plant BIOSecurity."
Students who enroll in this program will study in research teams working to solve key fundamental and applied problems at X-BIO’s world-class laboratories, said the university’s department of strategic communications.
"In 2018, University of Tyumen's Institute of Environmental and Agricultural Biology (X-BIO) is opening enrollment for an English-language master’s program in biology dubbed ‘Plant BIOSecurity’. Its graduates will possess profound knowledge of physical, chemical and biological methods to fight phytopathogens, pests and weeds that will be needed to ensure growth in agricultural productivity under conditions of universal changes in the environment," the department said in a statement.
In 2018, 20 students will be able to enroll in the program, and 15 of them will receive state funding.
The program opened registration on June 18, 2018 and will close on July 25 for those seeking state funding. Others can file their applications until August 30 (onsite students) and October 31 (offsite students).
Graduates of the master’s program can later join major agro-industrial companies, including UGMK-Agro, Shchelkovo-Agrokhim, Cargill, Bayer, BASF, Syngenta, Cheminova, as well as state plant quarantine services.
Foreign students
Potential students from several countries, including Iran and Kazakhstan, have already filed their applications to enroll in the new program.
Omid Joharci of the Islamic Azad University in Tehran expressed confidence in the "Plant BIOSecurity" program’s success with Iranian students and noted the popularity of Russian education in his country, the department said.
According to William Julian, who has a bachelor’s degree in biochemistry from the University of Vermont, this program responds to a major global challenge: the planet’s food security.
Julian visited X-BIO laboratories and "was impressed with the level of the research equipment," the department said.
"X-BIO attracts foreign students through its world-class research on key scientific problems, state-of-the art research equipment, participation in research projects, including joint laboratories with foreign partners from Germany, the US and the Czech Republic. In addition, there exist prospects to join international exchange programs in the world’s leading research centers, the practical use of the latest digital and engineering solutions, the applicability of knowledge, as well as compulsory practical training in St. Petersburg, at a leading institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences, the All-Russia Institute of Plant Protection," the department said.
The Plant BIOSecurity is being implemented together with the St. Peterburg-based All-Russia Institute of Plant Protection, where students can undergo practical training.