UNAIR NEWS – Serving as an Indonesian delegate in the international Summer Institute project in Russia was a proud and memorable experience for Rizal Agung Kurnia SHum MPhil, a lecturer at the Faculty of Humanities (FIB), Universitas Airlangga (UNAIR). Officially opened at the ATOM Pavilion, VDNH, Moscow, the program was held for 14 days, from Sunday (July 19, 2026) to Sunday (August 2, 2026).
Initiated by the Ministry of Science and Higher Education of the Russian Federation and the Federal State Budgetary Institution “Sociocenter,” the Summer Institute project brought together 125 academics to study at five leading universities in Russia. Over the two-week program, Rizal spent his time exchanging ideas in international forums and learning about the cultures represented by delegates from around the world.
“Spending 14 days in Russia certainly gave me many positive experiences. For example, during the opening ceremony, I had the opportunity to directly learn about the history of Russia’s nuclear development through the Rosatom Atomic Museum,” he said.
Academic exploration during his time in Russia
Furthermore, Kurnia gained valuable experiences and new perspectives on Russia. He was able to challenge the perception that the country’s nuclear technology is used solely for warfare after learning about its applications for peaceful and sustainable purposes, including healthcare, transportation, and renewable energy.
“We used to think that Russia’s nuclear technology was only used for warfare. However, it is also widely utilized for peaceful purposes, from healthcare and transportation to renewable energy,” he said.
Learning about language etiquette in academic forums and having the opportunity to observe the learning processes and educational products at Knyaginino University were among the memorable experiences. At the university, he had the opportunity to try driving a tractor commonly used by Russian farmers. He also visited Bolshoye Boldino, a historic site associated with Russian literature.
The agenda continued in the city of Saransk, the capital of the Republic of Mordovia, where he learned about the Mordovian people, one of the ethnic groups living in Russia. Meanwhile, in Kazan, the capital of the Republic of Tatarstan, he and the Summer Institute participants gained insights into the Tatar people, while also learning about Russia’s ethnic diversity.
“Personally, I came to realize that Russia is similar to Indonesia in that both countries have diverse ethnic groups,” he added.
Bringing home global commitment
During a collaborative session to develop an article with researchers from 14 countries, Kurnia established academic synergy in the fields of language and literature. He collaborated with colleagues from India, Uzbekistan, Vietnam, and Russia to develop a project entitled Образовательный международный мост без границ, or “The International Educational Bridge Without Borders.”
Initially, the project focused solely on joint activities involving students. However, he believed that involving lecturers in the project would create a greater impact.
“Therefore, we agreed to add programs involving lecturers to the project, such as guest lectures delivered by lecturers from partner universities, joint research, a shared repository of learning materials and data, and other initiatives,” he said.
Meanwhile, the joint research project is planned to be carried out with computational linguistics experts from the Linguistics University of Nizhny Novgorod (LUNN). The collaboration will also involve UNAIR researchers in Indonesian Language and Literature (Basasindo) who are interested in the fields of Onomastics and Ethnolinguistics.
“Although these activities are currently limited to online programs, we do not rule out the possibility of holding joint offline activities between UNAIR and the universities participating in this project in the future,” he concluded.
Author: Amelia Farah Putri I.
Editor: Yulia Rohmawati
