Institute description
Institute of Environmental Engineering was founded in 1992 based on the Department of Environmental Protection and Labor Protection. Having become one of the first in Russia, the Institute of Environmental Engineering of RUDN University has been conducting educational and scientific-research activities for more than 25 years in the fields of study: rational nature management, living systems, energy and energy saving, applied ecology and human ecology, environmental and radiation safety.
The main idea of the Institute, laid down in the creation, is the fundamental education in the field of ecology and on the whole range of disciplines that an ecologist needs in his/her scientific and practical activities.
The educational activity of the Institute is conducted in 2 fields of study of the bachelor’s programme: “Ecology and Nature Management” and “Energy and Resource-Saving Processes in Chemical Technology, Petrochemistry and Biotechnology”, and in the field of study of the master’s programme “Ecology of Nature Management”. Master’s programme includes 7 specializations:
three — in Russian:
- Environmental safety expertise
- Rational nature management
- Recycling of production and consumption wastes
two — in English:
- Economics of natural resources management
- Applied Ecology
two joint specializations with foreign universities:
- Environmental management (in cooperation with the SCO Network University)
- Sustainable development (in cooperation with Università degli Studi di Palermo, Italy)
A special priority in the educational activities of the Institute of Environmental Engineering is to make the training at the Institute interactive, interesting, practice-oriented. Not only research scientists, but also expert practitioners and potential employers are involved in the development of educational programmes. As a result, educational programmes are practice-oriented and simultaneously contain a significant scientific-research component.
The Institute holds regular meetings with leading domestic and foreign experts in the field of ecology and environmental protection in the format of public lectures, master classes, seminars.
Future ecologists not only attend lectures, but also implement research and creative projects: they join clubs to master the profession together. Separate waste collection, disposal of used batteries, green construction, environmental monitoring — these are just a small part of the projects that students are passionate about.
Studying the country’s natural resources, exploring marvelous natural places is another area of practical work at the Institute. For example, in 2017 announced in the Russian Federation as the Year of Ecology, students-ecologists organized fascinating research expeditions:
- to the Kerch Peninsula to study mud volcanoes and salt lakes of the Crimea;
- to the Vladimir region for rafting along the Polya River in order to study the characteristics of the river;
- to the Voronezh region to study chalk outcrops and caves of the unique wildlife reserve “Divnogorye”;
- to the Moscow region to visit a bison nursery and study the ecological situation in the Prioksko-Terrasniy Reserve.
Simultaneously with mastering the main profession, students can learn foreign languages (English, Spanish, German, French, etc.).
During the training, students-ecologists have the opportunity to participate in educational exchanges, mastering a part of the disciplines in partner universities in Italy, China, Kazakhstan. Foreign internships, including the Erasmus program of the European Union, provide the opportunity to learn from the experience of foreign colleagues in practice and join the international professional community as a student.
International activity. The partners of the Institute are universities of Italy, Jordan, Belarus, Lithuania, China, Kazakhstan, India, Brazil, Republic of South Africa. Thanks to the efforts of ecologists, RUDN University currently coordinates the field of study “Ecology” in the SCO Network University (Shanghai Cooperation Organization). A master’s programme “Waste-to-Energy” on the use of solid waste as a source of energy has been developed within the framework of BRICS Network University.
The scientific work of the Institute of Environmental Engineering covers priority areas: “Rational Nature Management”, “Living Systems”, “Energetics and Energy Saving”.
At the Institute there is a Research and Educational Center for Human Ecology, the Radeco Scientific Training Center for Radiation and Ecological Safety, scientific training laboratories of ecological safety, ecological medicine, ecological psychology.
Seminars are held on a regular basis: “Modern problems of geoecology”, “Impact of transfer factors on immunological resistance of the organism in case of environmentally determined pathology”, “Environmental projects management”, “Topical issues of human ecology”, “Applied ecology”. A conference “Topical issues of ecology and nature management” is a significant event, which has been held annually since 1998 and attracts experts and researchers from Russia and foreign countries.
Students-ecologists are actively involved in research activities of the Institute. Young scientists united in the Students’ Scientific Society participate in conferences, schools, seminars, environmental education work, meetings of students’ science clubs “Biospheric Sustainability of Countries of the World”, “Problems of Modern Energy and Ways to Solve them”, “Planet without Waste”, “Ecology of Plants and Animals”, “Radioecology”, “Human Ecology”, “Ecological Epidemiology”, “Ecological Psychophysology ”, “Sustainability of Natural Systems”, “Geoecology of Russia”.
At the Institute there is a thesis council on specialty 03.02.08 “Ecology” (biological, medical sciences).
RUDN University is a “green university” largely due to the efforts of ecologists. Ecologization of the university is another interesting area of the Institute’s work. All year round the students conduct ecological monitoring of the territory of the university: they collect water, soil, snow and vegetation samples; measure air quality, noise intensity, levels of electromagnetic fields and radiation; process the information from webcams located in the surrounding streets and estimate the actual volumes of vehicle emissions, depending on the traffic rate. Analyzing the obtained data, ecologists divide the campus into zones of “ecological comfort” and zones of increased load. After that they elaborate recommendations for keeping the territory in good condition. At the initiative of students-ecologists, at RUDN university separate waste collection is practiced and resource conservation is promoted.
The active work of students and teachers of the Institute of Environmental Engineering, with the support of the entire university, contributes to the fact that RUDN University ranks high in the global rating of “green universities” UI GreenMetric (UI GreenMetric World University Rankings) and coordinates the national movement of “green universities”.
Partner employers
Scientific centers of the Russian Academy of Sciences (RAS):
- Karadag Scientific Station of the RAS,
- Institute of Theoretical and Experimental Biophysics of the RAS,
- Institute of Neurology of the RAS, etc.
Reserves and museums:
- Crimean Nature Reserve,
- Timiryazev State Museum of Biology.
Industrial enterprises and consulting companies:
- Voskresensk Plant of Mineral Fertilizers,
- Tolyatti Waste Processing Plant “Povolzhsky Secondary Resources”
- Moscow Refinery “Gazpromneft MNPZ”
- “Huber-Technology”, a German company, a major producer of water treatment equipment,
- Environmental consulting company “FRECOM”, etc.
Government departments:
- Information and Analytical Support Center for Reserve Management and Studies of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Ecology of the Russian Federation,
- Department of Nature Management of Moscow, etc.
Teachers
The Institute employs 70 teachers, including:
- 15 professors and doctors of science
- 40 associate professors and senior teachers — PhD in science
- 11 full members and corresponding members of various academies of sciences.
Particular attention is paid to practical acquaintance with the profession. Practitioners, Russian and foreign experts in the field of environmental protection regularly hold public lectures, master classes, seminars, deliver reports.