Metinvest Polytechnic is a completely new educational history

Despite the challenges of time, studies at the university continue with 440 students in the first set

The mining and metals complex is one of the key branches of the economy. A full-scale war caused devastating losses, but even in such difficult times, steel industry has the potential for recovery and development. Metinvest Group – the largest mining and metals company in Ukraine, is the initiator and founder of a new unique University that trains competitive specialists in engineering and technical specialties.

The strategic decision to open a higher technical educational institution was made by the Metinvest Group with the aim of bringing education in Ukraine to a qualitatively new level. Construction began in 2021.

The scale of the project was impressive. A modern 12-story educational building, a dormitory and a sports complex were built practically in the center of Mariupol. In March 2021, the university accepted the first students. These were not yet undergraduate students whose studies were scheduled to begin in September 2022, but specialists who were improving their knowledge in the specialties «Metallurgy», «Occupational Safety and Industrial Safety» and «Mining». That is, the university had already started working at that time.

On February 23, a story about how the construction of a new higher education campus in Mariupol is progressing appeared on one of the Ukrainian TV channels. It was about the fact that a whole student town was being built – in the main 12-story building of the technical university Metinvest Polytechnic it was planned to place classrooms, a library and state-of-the-art laboratories, and a terrace was to be built on the roof. In parallel with the construction of the educational building, a dormitory for future students was built, which was to be equipped with a gym, showers, a laundry room and a medical unit. A sports complex was to be built nearby, and football, volleyball and basketball fields were to be opened.

But the next day the war started. And at the beginning of March, as a result of the Mariupol bombing, Metinvest Polytechnic University suffered significant damage.

But its story did not end there. On March 30, 2022, in an interview with the YouTube channel «Ukraine 24», the CEO of the company Metinevest Yuriy Ryzhenkov spoke about the fate of the newly established university.

«As of today (March 30, 2022, ed.) the project is not closed. We are trying to save the staff: most of them were evacuated and continue to work on the development of training programs. Here it is important to understand that the Polytechnic is not a beautiful building and not scientific laboratories that we have already ordered. These are, first of all, people, the teaching staff, which we gathered piece by piece. And it is very difficult because many teachers left the country because there was no demand for these specialties. We were able to save this skeleton,» he emphasized.

So, even though a full-scale war began in the country, even though the city of Mariupol was practically wiped off the face of the earth, MP continued to work – already in online mode.

Despite the war and the occupation of Mariupol, the first non-state mining and metals university in Ukraine, Metinvest Polytechnic, in September 2022 carried out the first recruitment of students in its history for all educational programs at the bachelor’s and master’s level. On September 19, 2022, more than 350 students began studying modern engineering and technical educational programs.

Despite all the obstacles, the management decided to preserve the university, preserve the dream of the «Polytechnic of the Future», and provide students with the opportunity to obtain a European-level education in Ukraine.

The company launched the work of Metinvest Polytechnic in the mode of combined online and offline education, observing all safety measures for students and teachers. The university managed to preserve almost completely its teaching staff. In the first months of the full-scale invasion, the university not only continued to prepare for studies in licensed educational programs for bachelors and masters, but also resumed training and advanced training courses in seven areas for Metinvest employees.

In addition, Metinvest Polytechnic developed new ones educational programs, which will combine several specialties and make it possible to train multi-competent leading engineers for the implementation of projects for the restoration and reconstruction of Ukrainian industry and urban infrastructure in general.

Already in September 2022, more than 150 students have enrolled in first- and second-year bachelor’s degree programs, and more than 200 people are obtaining a master’s degree. Metallurgy, computer science, automation and computer-integrated technologies, as well as labor protection were the most attractive for first-year students. The most popular master’s degree programs are computer science and digital intelligence, labor safety audit and consulting, steel metallurgy, and intelligent management systems at iron and steel industry.

Among the entrants to Metinvest Polytechnic are graduates of colleges and lyceums, employees of Metinvest enterprises from Zaporizhzhia, Pokrovsk, Kamianske, and Kryvyi Rih, as well as residents of Mariupol and Avdiivka who left their homes because of the war.

So the university is alive. While the war is going on in our country, the Ministry of Education works in online mode, but after it ends, it is planned to resume the construction of the most modern educational buildings and the student campus.

Currently, the Ministry of Education is actively training high-class specialists who are fully proficient in the profession and can work at a high level from the first day at any enterprise in the world. It cannot be otherwise, because after the victory of Ukraine in this war, it will very much need competent and educated engineers.

Metallurgy students of Metinvest Polytechnic understand well the prospects of this profession, so they are happy to share their impressions of the educational process, as well as their own vision of the future of Ukrainian steel industry. Dmytro Bohdan, student of the educational and professional program «Steel metallurgy», says about studying at MP:

«After the Victory at the stage of restoration of our country, modern steel specialists will be in great demand, it is predicted. Therefore, I really believe that the program I chose is prestigious, interesting and relevant. I hope that the study will help in the development of my career, and this is a priority for me. In my opinion, the main thing is the desire to study and work. I have hope and faith that the management of any steel enterprise will support and contribute to the further development of young specialists. With this approach to business, there will always be prospects.»

Among the students of the first non-state mining and metals university are employees of Zaporizhzhia enterprises of Metinvest. For them, this is a good opportunity to raise their own professional level and learn a new, additional specialty.

«When I learned that our Company was founding the Metinvest Polytechnic University, I immediately knew that I would study there. I sent the documents for admission to the «Materials science» educational program without hesitation, because I was sure that I would get the high-quality knowledge I needed. Lectures are held  six times a week, in the evening, thanks to which I am not distracted from work. Learning is not easy, but I clearly understand in which areas of my profession I will be able to apply them. It is especially interesting to learn technical English. All this knowledge expands my professional capabilities, thanks to them I can now, for example, create my own project for production. And this is just the beginning!» says one of the students, the head of the laboratory of Zaporizhstal TsVAPK Oleksandra Liolko.

In general, about 70 employees of the Metinvest Group in Zaporizhzhia joined studying at Metinvest Polytechnic. Such educational areas as metallurgy, computer science, civil safety, labor protection, cost management of business, material science, automation and computer-integrated technologies, environmental protection technologies, management and business analytics were the most in demand among Zaporizhzhia steelmakers. Currently, due to the security situation, students acquire knowledge remotely on modern digital educational platforms. Training is organized according to a flexible schedule, which allows students to get an education without breaking away from the main job.

Diana Fomenko – a master’s student who chose the direction of management for her own educational and professional growth. She spoke about the motivation for choosing a higher education institution, her first impressions of studying at Metinvest Polytechnic, and she also shared her dreams and further plans for the future.

«The main motivation for the choice was that the university offers its students all the opportunities for self-development, interesting classes with modern cases, in-depth study of the English language, which is up-to-date. Educational materials are taught by really highly qualified teachers – specialists in their field. Also, one of the reasons for joining for me was the opportunity to realize my personal qualities in practice. I really like distance learning. I have been studying online since I was a bachelor (***graduated from Zaporizhzhia National University, Political Science, diploma with honors, in parallel, I am studying there now). This format is a cool opportunity. In real time, we can not only listen to the teacher, but also immediately see the presentation. Thanks to the digital platform, the visual component helps to better perceive and remember the material. Considering the difficult security situation in our country, this form of education allows you to get an education from any corner of the world, without stopping on the way to your own dream. I would like to note that the lectures are really interesting, there are enough practical tasks in pairs. I would really like to get an opportunity to get a job and prove my expertise in practice at one of the enterprises of the Metinvest Group in Zaporizhzhia. I think that Metinvest Polytechnic is cool and modern. I am glad to be a part of the new educational history.»

Svitlana Vysotska – the leading quality engineer of the Central Mining, and from now on she is also a student of the technical university Metinvest Polytechnic under the educational program «Open development of deposits». She talked about the motivation for entering and choosing an educational program.

«My first educational field is metallurgy. But in life, it turned out that in the future I connected my career with mining. Currently, I work at the Central Mining of the Metinvest Group as a product quality specialist. I consider my work not only interesting, but also responsible: we verify data, control quality indicators, train employees in the latest technologies implemented at the enterprise. I really love my job, I am passionate about the world of mining and I always enjoy what I do! I never miss an opportunity to learn, to become more professional, to enrich myself with knowledge. When I heard about the first recruitment to the new technical university, I chose Metinvest Polytechnic because, working at an enterprise of our Group, I really want to study at a university, get a higher education. I like creativity, the teachers are professional, modern, tell interesting stories and motivate. In my opinion, this is how strong, reliable and professional specialists are trained. I am confident that we will overcome difficulties and step by step reach our goal, we will receive knowledge from industry leaders who will share their experience with us. We will definitely rebuild our flourishing Ukraine, and additional knowledge will help us in this!»

Olga Kasyan, an employee of the Central Mining and Processing Plant, a student of Metinvest Polytechnic majoring in «Occupational safety», successfully completed the first session at the university. She talked about her own motivation for choosing an educational program and shared her impressions of the educational process in a distance format:

«After joining the youth organization Young of Metinvest, I was pleasantly surprised by how much the company does for young people, and not only that. After learning about the admission campaign to the technical university Metinvest Polytechnic, I realized that I should definitely take advantage of this opportunity. Moreover, very interesting conditions were offered for employees. The choice of the educational direction «Occupational safety» is not accidental, I well understand the importance and prospects of this profession. For me personally, one of the biggest advantages is the opportunity to combine work and study, a flexible schedule is offered for students. I am a working student, and I cannot always join a lecture or class. Recording each lecture, each practical session allows me to work on everything in my spare time.»

Philip Kharchuk – a Zaporizhstal employee, apprentice steelworker in the Marteniv workshop. Philip understands well that in order to conquer new professional horizons in the future, it is necessary to constantly develop, pump and nourish knowledge. Such a powerful generator of knowledge for a specialist was the educational program «Steel metallurgy» at the new Metinvest Polytechnic University.

The future master steelmakers spoke about his own vision of the future prospects in the steel industry of Ukraine and his dream of the successful reconstruction of steel enterprises, in particular, Azovstal:

«I learned about the new technical university Metinvest Polytechnic a long time ago, but I learned about the possibilities of distance learning later from acquaintances. For myself, I decided to check whether it is true that the Metinvest Group helps financially with the training of employees. It turned out that this is completely true, the company supports its employees, provides all opportunities for professional development, in particular in the aspect of education. According to the rules of the admission campaign for the chosen educational program, it was enough to prepare a motivation letter. So, I wrote it, since my motivation was already clearly outlined, collected the necessary documents and submitted an application to the admissions committee. I see very wide prospects, because this is already the second education. According to the first, I am a binder technology engineer, but since I work at a steel enterprise, I believe that for further growth at Metinvest enterprises, additional education will come in handy.»

Occupational safety and health at industrial enterprises is an integral component aimed at protecting people’s lives. In Ukraine, the standards are becoming stricter every year, and specialists must master modern world practices. At the Metinvest Polytechnic Technical University, students of the «Civil Security» and «Safety of labor and production processes» study legislative regulations and methodologies, adopt the experience of practitioners and strive to develop such mechanisms that will be comfortable for people during work and at the same time will maximally protect the lives of employees at work. So, now is the time to learn!

Anna Stroganova – an employee of the Northern Mining and Processing Plant of the Metinvest Group, and from now on also a student of Metinvest Polytechnics, told what exactly motivated her to enter and choose the direction «Safety of labor and production processes», and also gave advice to future entrants:

«I work as a storekeeper of the central warehouse of basic materials at SEVGOK During the work, I perform the duties of the site foreman. Information about the first recruitment to the new technical university Metinvest Polytechnic was received by corporate mail, the opening of the new university was also discussed at work with colleagues. Why did I decide to enroll and receive higher education at a mining and metals university? The main motivation is personal professional development. In the future, I plan to transfer to another position, since at work I am in the personnel reserve. So, taking advantage of this wonderful opportunity, I decided to study in order to strengthen my own potential and later apply the acquired knowledge in practice. For myself, I chose an educational program «Safety of labor and production processes», because I fully support the statement that the most important value in this world is human life, a large part of which we spend at work. This knowledge of civil safety is basic and absolutely necessary in the engineering and technical field. Having deepened them, I will be able to apply all my skills in practice for professional development in other fields as well.»

Based on the results of the first session, Metinvest Polytechnic developed a methodology for rating students. It is the basis for awarding scholarships, taking into account three components: academic success (not only the results of the end of the session are taken into account, but also the overall success of the student during the entire semester), scientific and innovative activity, social and community initiatives. By the way, according to the results of the first session, more than 110 future masters and more than 40 bachelors received «excellent» and «good».

There are also Mariupol students among the students of MP – those whose native long-suffering city was practically wiped off the face of the earth by the occupiers. And now these young people dream about how they will rebuild and revive their Mariupol – this was shared by Marko Vinkovskyi, a student from Mariupol of the first batch of Metinvest Polytechnic.

«Because I lived and worked in Mariupol, I learned about the new technical university Metinvest Polytechnic as soon as the intention to build it was announced. The first thought is that it would be cool to study in such a modern institution with top architecture. But I didn’t have any special plans for studying at that time, because I had already used the right to free education from the state, and at that time there was no financial possibility to afford a second higher education. Later, for the second time, I was reminded of this university during the «Young Leaders» program. The award to the finalists of the wonderful project was certificates for free education at Metinvest Polytechnic At that moment, I set myself up to prove myself and win this prize, but the war made its adjustments. With the beginning of a full-scale invasion of the enemy, on February 24 I was forced to leave Mariupol for Zaporizhzhia. And when I found out that there was an opportunity to enter Metinvest Polytechnic, I took it as a real sign of fate and a great chance to start a new life. Since before that I thought more than once about studying at this university, completely not understanding how exactly to get there, and here such an opportunity appeared, I submitted my documents to the admissions committee without any hesitation.»

Despite the challenges of time, higher education continues. The first set includes 440 students studying engineering and technical sciences. Among them are school graduates and people with vocational or higher technical education. But there are also those who decided to change the humanitarian profession for the sake of obtaining a quality education at the new mining and metals university. A student of the group «Mining. Technologies of open development of deposits» Olena Krasulya told how she decided to change philology to mining technology.

The correspondent of the internal communications department of Ingulets Mining Olena Krasulya – the youngest student in the group, who is getting a master’s degree in «Mining. Technologies of open development of deposits». In addition, she is the only girl among the male classmates. A philologist by education, Olena decided to radically change her professional direction:

«In my life, I have already made sure that coincidences are not random at all. I was choosing the school in which I was supposed to work when I was invited to become a correspondent for InGOK. It was unexpected, because no one in my family was connected with industrial enterprises. On the contrary, my closest relatives are teachers. But I decided to take a risk and did not regret it. At that time, I was doing an internship in the internal communications department. I already learned that in addition to the quarry where ore is mined, there is also a crushing and iron ore beneficiation factory, little by little I memorized the names of the main technological equipment, understood the processes. And so, for the first time in her life, she got to the Ingulets quarry for an editorial assignment. I was impressed by its scale, horizons, gigantic equipment. Then for the first time I thought about the fact that I had not even considered mining as a future profession. I considered this profession purely male. But what was uninteresting at first glance turned out to be extremely fascinating. After that, I began to look more closely at the work of miners and thought about studying. I knew well about the creation of the future university in Mariupol, because we wrote about it in the newspaper. I understood that miners would also be taught there. And when recruitment to the master’s degree was announced, I didn’t hesitate at all. And although it would seem that it was more logical for me to get the education of an administration manager, I deliberately went to study the technologies of open field development. From the first lecture, it became clear that studying at Metinvest Polytechnic will differ from the classical university system. Here is a more modern form of presentation of the theory that you want to study.»

Among the main advantages of studying at Metinvest Polytechnic is a flexible schedule that will allow you to combine work and study without any obstacles, modern educational programs, practicing teachers and experts involved in the educational process, the best digital platforms with access to educational materials and licensed software from flagship companies in the engineering and technical field.

Follow the link for detailed information on the entrance exams at Metinvest Polytechnic ADMISSION CONDITIONS — Polytechnic (metinvest.university).

A request for information on admission can be sent to the email address of the admissions committee [email protected].