Ural Federal University Launches Alumni Association for Innovative Programs

Ural project shifts “do not let go” of their graduates: many of them expressed a great desire to continue communication, competence development and experience exchange. This is how the TechBred Alumni Association of Innovative Programs was brought to life at UrFU.

“We have been holding the Ural Project Shifts at Sirius for eight years. Finally, the idea of organizing the Alumni Association of Innovative Programs was brought to life. During this time, a group of graduates who feel the need to gather and communicate with each other has formed. Us, mentors, experts and students, are united by the fact that we are in the process of movement and creativity, striving to change the world around us for the better. We want the process of co-creation to continue even after the Ural Project Shifts are over,” said Nadezhda Terlyga, Deputy First Vice-Rector of UrFU.

During the meeting, Alexander Timofeev, ex-mentor of the Ural Project Shifts, investment manager of the UrFU Startup Studio, and CEO of a startup, shared with the graduates his experience of self-realization as a startup creator and winner of the Student Startup and Start-1 grants. Timofeev also talked about the work of the UrFU Startup Studio, which has financed 15 early-stage startups over the year. The directors of the startups, Timofeev emphasized, are students and employees of UrFU.

“The guys who passed the Ural project shifts are specialists with great potential, competent and ambitious, whom we want to see in our startups. Personnel decide everything,” Alexander Timofeev specified.

In addition, a game “Assessment of Leadership Potential” was conducted by Elena Bespamyatnykh, Director of the Center for Educational Technologies and Human Resources of UrFU, during the meeting. The game aroused great interest of the participants.