The VIII General Assembly of the Regional Network for Education and Training Nuclear Technology – STAR-NET was held on December 14, 2022 in the form of an online conference. 30 representatives of member universities from Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Poland, Russia, Uzbekistan, Ukraine and the IAEA took part in the event dedicated to summarizing the work of the network and determining further areas of cooperation in the field of nuclear education.
The participants discussed the experience gained by universities in solving the problems of education and professional training of specialists for the nuclear industry. Many universities have established cooperation with leading enterprises on the basis of which this work is carried out, international exchange of students and teachers is practiced, textbooks related to education in the field of nuclear technologies are being prepared. It was noted that the STAR-NET LMS educational platform plays an important role in organizing cooperation and implementing common educational tasks. The platform is supported and managed by the STARNET network and currently has more than 1,600 users from 16 countries.
Based on the submitted proposals, the participants approved the main directions of work for 2023, which, in particular, include:
− Expansion of cooperation with the IAEA and other international and national organizations involved in nuclear education processes, including cooperation with other nuclear education networks,
− Development of cooperation with the CTBTO on the basis of an agreement signed in June 2021,
− Development of relations between member universities for the organization of joint educational programs and internships of students in various engineering and physical areas,
− Regular educational and methodological seminar STAR-NET “Educational technologies in higher education”,
− Regular webinars on topical issues of nuclear energy for undergraduates, masters, postgraduates, staff and teachers,
− Regular webinar to highlight the scientific, technical and research activities of member universities in the field of nuclear technology,
− Improvement of information exchange and replenishment of the electronic archive/repository of educational and methodological materials,
− Intensification of informing member universities about events (past and planned) through the STAR-NET website,
− Creation of a catalog of online courses that can be recommended for inclusion in the practice of member-universities,
− Creation and implementation of public certification of educational programs at member universities.