On 30 September, the Transport Education Forum — a platform for open professional dialogue among heads of transport education institutions, government officials, the academic community, and leading industry experts — opened at the Russian University of Transport (MIIT). The International Coordinating Council on Trans-Eurasian Transportation (CCTT) took part in the forum, continuing its traditional support for RUT (MIIT) initiatives in training transport industry professionals and in expert and academic cooperation.
The forum was opened by RUT (MIIT) Rector Oleg Pokusaev, who delivered a presentation titled "Transport Development Strategy." He spoke about the interconnection between the Transport Strategy, education, and science, and emphasised that the strategy defines the objectives set for both the transport system and the transport education system.
Oleg Pokusaev highlighted the key challenges facing universities: the adoption of autonomous transport and artificial intelligence, workforce shortages, technological lag, as well as achieving technological sovereignty and import independence.
"Standard lectures and typical assignments may become a thing of the past with the advent of artificial intelligence, so it is important for universities to address the question of teacher-student interaction and the effective organisation of the educational process," Oleg Pokusaev noted. "Today, it is crucial for us to focus on the formative and value-driven function of the university and on the lack of communication in students' daily lives. The most significant task remaining for the university is the careful yet systematic shaping of personality and passing on adult experience to the younger generation."
Kirill Lipa, General Director of JSC Transmashholding, spoke about the company's promising projects in his presentation and emphasised that new realities require shifting the interaction between industry and education towards project-based activities, as well as a greater focus on developing students' soft skills and leadership qualities.
Irina Kotusenko, Director for Government Client Relations at hh.ru, spoke about the new realities of the labour market. According to the company's data, the key trends today are cross-disciplinary thinking, project-based work, the ability to use AI tools, and a skills-centric approach.
As part of the forum, a panel discussion titled "The Fundamental Core of Education: A Return to the Old or New Meanings?" was held, moderated by RUT (MIIT) First Vice-Rector Vladimir Timonin. Participants discussed the challenges associated with the new model of education and the specifics of the new fundamental core: which disciplines should be included, whether a unified core can be achieved across all universities, and whether it should be flexible and adaptable to specific fields of specialization.