Russian Universities After the Pandemic: Ways of Transformation

The article is devoted to the analysis of the key challenges faced by Russian higher education during the pandemic and the prospects for its further development. The article highlights the key problems of higher education that have arisen in connection with the pandemic situation (reduced academic mobility, weakened partnerships, inability to complete research on time, reduced number of applicants, suspension of educational activities), examines the actions of governments and measures taken by universities to adapt to work in the context of the pandemic (development of appropriate legislation, provision of consulting and financial assistance, measures to support foreign students who found themselves in the country during the pandemic, etc.). Hypotheses are put forward regarding the ways of transformation of university education in the "post-covid" period, possible trends are proposed, including digitalization, changes in the content of the educational process, scientific activity, increasing the social role and the "third mission" of universities. The problems of online education, the development of digital technologies and new forms of education by teachers and students, and the creation of a new system of social and educational work corresponding to new educational formats are considered. Conclusions are drawn that the Russian higher education system as a whole has managed to overcome the difficulties that have arisen. The situation of the pandemic, on the one hand, has accelerated a number of transformational processes that began in the higher education system before it, and on the other – has revealed new challenges, the solution of which is necessary for the effective functioning of universities in force majeure situations. We should not expect a complete return of universities to the "pre-covid" situation, since certain mechanisms have been launched to accelerate the modernization of domestic higher education.