The Third General Assembly of Regional Network for Education and Training in Nuclear Technology (STAR-NET) was held from 30 October to 3 November 2017 in Vienna, Austria in cooperation with and support of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).
Around 30 participants from 8 universities-members (Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Russia), IAEA and Poland discussed the results of the second year activities and agreed on the action plan for 2018.
Mr Oszvald Glockler, Acting Section Head, IAEA/Nuclear Knowledge Management Section welcomed participants and pointed out that in the framework of the Practical Arrangements between the IAEA and the STAR-NET signed in 2016 the practical results were achieved by two organizations in initiatives and efforts in nuclear education and knowledge management.
The STAR-NET Vice-President Ms. Helena Zhivitskaya, Pro-rector of the Belarusian State University of Informatics and Radioelectronics in her speech evaluated the STAR-NET achievements of the second year emphasizing the establishment with support of the IAEA the Learning Management System «STAR-NET LMS» as an important instrument for collaboration with university-members and other educational networks. The “STAR-NET LMS” was successfully deployed and put into operation in April 2017.
The General Assembly has reconstructed the thematic groups as below and requested the coordinator-universities to strengthen cooperation among members through the implementation of specific projects and common activities:
Group 1: Support of the STAR-NET web site
Coordinator: Belarusian State University of Informatics and Radioelectronics (BSUIR)
Group 2: Educational Programmes and Modules, Training and Methodical Materials
Coordinator: National Research Nuclear University «MEPhI»
Group 3: Coordination of activities within Learning Management System “STAR-NET LMS”
Coordinator: STAR-NET coordination group
Group 4: Research, Scientific and Technical Activities
Coordinator: Nizhny Novgorod State Technical University
Group 5: Organization of Cooperation
Coordinator: National Research Nuclear University «MEPhI»
The participants agreed on the common actions in 2018 and suggested to hold the next working meeting of thematic groups in April 2018 accepting with appreciation the invitation of the Belarusian State University and the 2018 General Assembly in November 2018 in Vienna.
For interested participants a training workshop on methods and tools for distance learning was organized by the STAR-NET coordination group to increase awareness and knowledge of the university teachers in the area of applying modern tools, methods, and technologies for developing educational courses on nuclear technologies.
The technical visit to the first and only Austrian nuclear power plant Zwentendorf located near Vienna was met with great interest among participants and gave an opportunity to get acquainted with nuclear power plants with boiling water reactor.