The visit of Eltje Aderhold started with a visit to the IT-Park of PetrSU. There she was introduced to the innovations of the small innovative enterprises of the university and told about the cooperation with German companies, including collaborations in the areas of micro- and nanoelectronics, and Automatic Control Systems. The tour was guided by Olga Derbeneva, the Head of the Department of Innovation and Production, and the employees of the SMEs.

The introduction to the Flagship University of Karelia continued with a meeting with its Rector Anatoly Voronin. Among the participants of the meeting were Marina Gvozdeva, the Vice-Rector for International Affairs, Inna Kreneva, the Director of the Institute of Foreign Languages, Corinna Giese (Coordinator of the Policy Division) and Evgenia Gavrilova (Head of Translation Department). The Rector told about the cooperation between Petrozavodsk University and Germany. Currently, over 200 students study the German language. The university has agreements with the Offenburg University of Applied Sciences, the University of Bremen, the University of Applied Sciences in Berlin. The cooperation is carried out within academic mobility (in the last five years around 20 PetrSU students have studied at the universities of Germany), twin-city relations between Petrozavodsk and Tubingen (students of the Institute of Foreign Languages of PetrSU visited the twin-city of Tubingen under a social project), international schools (for instance, the International Summer School in Karelia “Preservation of Environment: capacities of society and law”, International Summer School “Study of Russia and the Russia-EU Relations”, research and innovations (employees of the Center for Design of Multicrystal Modules visited the IEEE  and ESTC conferences in 2018 in Dresden, the employees of the Department for Innovations and Production took part in technological seminar of the Disco Hi-Tec Europe GmbH and visited the clean rooms of the Disco Company, employees of the CDMM visited the Cadence Design Systems GmbH for development of tools for measuring systems and software environment).

“It is important for the youth of the two countries to meet and communicate. With this in mind, we are ready to host schools in various areas and topics, within all range of programs offered at our university, from humanities to technology. I am sure that we should increase the number of these educational events. The cooperation that starts with students turns into the interaction of research teams of educational institutions and companies. For PetrSU it is essential not only to engage in education but introduce innovations created in cooperation with partners. The University is open for cooperation in all areas and we are ready to endorse any initiatives,” noted Anatoly Voronin.

The Rector’s report was supplemented by Inna Kreneva who said that the Institute of Foreign Languages has the Resource Center of the Goethe-Institut. The Center engages in cultural events, contests for schoolchildren and students, educational seminars for German language teachers, as well as for the 4th and the 5th year student of the IFL of PetrSU studying on the Bachelor Degree program “Teaching Education”.

“I have been to Karelia two or three times, but this the first time I visit Petrozavodsk State University. It matters to me to learn more about the university and I am greatly impressed by the IT-Park and its work. One of our priorities is the regional interaction and forms of cooperation within a partnership between cities. I have heard many positive feedbacks of the university from the employees of DAAD and the Goethe-Institut, how successful the cooperation is and how it is valued here. Professors and teachers of the university do a great work here,” remarked the Consul General.