What hinders the training of specialists in the construction and operation of road bridges in modern conditions

Abstract

The issue of training bridge engineers in universities in the Russian Federation is being addressed. It has been noted that there has been a decline in the education of bridge building in Russian universities, particularly in the northwestern, southern, and Trans-Baikal regions bordering the Pacific Ocean. Attention is drawn to the fact that the proposed draft concept for road education development until 2035 has not yet been approved by the Ministry of Science and Higher Education of the Russian Federation, which leads to questions about how universities with different affiliations will interact and a lack of supporting legal documents. The draft also lacks information about undergraduate and graduate programs. The quality of the staff in the graduation departments of universities is also low, with the salaries of teaching staff nearly two times lower than the median salary of road workers. Acquiring the titles of associate professor and professor requires a significant amount of time and effort. The number of teaching staff is determined based on the number of students, not the workload, which leads to universities retaining weaker students. Graduate school scholarships are also very low, and most graduate students work, which results in delays in defending dissertations and an unwillingness to stay in the department. The high workload and lack of incentives also discourage writing books and manuals, especially given the current advancements in bridge building. For regional universities to be effectively operated and developed, three conditions must be met: availability of funding, competent leadership, and talented personnel, which are currently lacking. This is why scientific research is not being conducted in universities, especially since Rosavtodor cannot fund fundamental or exploratory research. The article concludes by discussing the experience of training highly qualified specialists at Tyumen Industrial University in collaboration with Mostostroy-11 Joint-Stock Company. The organization of the educational process and the approximate topics of final qualification works are described. All undergraduates conduct patent searches and use patents in developing their master’s theses. The results of their research are published in journals listed by the Higher Attestation Commission.