Representatives of the Global Academic Community Discuss New Formats of Student Mobility at IPW-2026
IPW-2026 outlined a new vector in the development of academic mobility: the universities place their stake on interdisciplinary projects. In the framework of the official programme, university representatives from India, Brazil, Indonesia and the Middle East discussed new cooperation directions in this sphere.
The experts agreed that classic formats had to be transformed. Familiar internship programmes give way to interdisciplinary projects. Thanks to them, students cannot just spend a semester abroad and enhance their expertise in the chosen areas, but also integrate into the culture of the host country and exchange experiences with colleagues.
According to Anna Tyshetskaya, First Vice Rector of HSE University, the main goal of international cooperation is students' development, and universities strive to provide as many opportunities for it as possible. One of them is academic mobility.
'The research of our young designers, carried out in India together with LPU University, is a vivid example of how together with international partners, we can quite easily and cost-effectively organise various formats of international cooperation. Our main goal is to involve as many students as possible in the international activities. LPU is the first partner university to support HSE in such an unusual project. And we made sure that small initiatives are very efficient for academic mobility', highlighted Anna Tyshetskaya.
In February 2026, Mitya Kharshak, dean of the St Petersburg School of Art and Design, together with the students of the programme 'Design', went to India to study the visual culture of the country, in particular, the unique phenomenon of painted trucks.
For a week, students and professors of HSE University-St Petersburg and LPU held workshops on animation, illustration, module fonts and monograms. The joint work resulted in a hand-painted train which now decorates the LPU campus.
‘Over this short time, nine students and three professors created a real miracle. They worked almost around the clock! I don't think this project is small: its effectiveness exceeded our expectations. Now, already 25 HSE students have come to LPU, and 20 of our students have come to HSE. So I recommend developing unusual formats of academic mobility—they give students valuable experience', emphasised Aman Mittal, Vice President of LPU.
To puzzle out the truck art, HSE University-St Petersburg students observed the work of local artists at the truck parking lots in Phagwara, interviewed drivers, and studied visual traditions and Indian mythology. The team made all the results of their fieldwork into a book and the video observations into a documentary.
'The key skill of a designer is curiosity, an ability to notice even momentary visual signals in the surrounding reality. I am sure that discovering other cultures helps to develop visual erudition. When travelling, we gain exceptional experience that serves as a basis for future ideas and design solutions', commented Mitya Kharshak.
'During the expedition, we looked at the world from a new perspective and reconsidered our relations with design. We got a unique chance to get to know the Indian culture and meet new friends for which I am grateful both to HSE University and LPU University', confessed Aleksandra Sitro, the trip participant and 3rd-year student of the Bachelor's programme 'Communication Design'.
During the forum, HSE University signed the cooperation agreements with six international universities. In the short term, HSE University will launch new academic mobility programmes with the Sepuluh Nopember Institute of Technology (Indonesia), Krirk University (Thailand), the University of La Sabana (Colombia), the Institute of Design Ecole Intuit Lab (India), the University of Piura (Peru) and the University of San Agustin (the Philippines).
