”The human resources training program intiated by the government and the interuniversity Arctic education coordination council will significantly accelerate development of the Arctic”, said Dr. Vladimir V. Novoselov, the rector of Tyumen State Oil and Gas University.

Russian continental shelf is the zone of strategic interest to the country. Development of the Arctic is one of the geopolitical and economic priority projects. It also raises new challenges and new large-scale tasks for the scientists. First of all, there is a need in high quality fundamental and applied research aimed at monitoring, evaluation and forecasting of the changes in Arctic environment, caused naturally or by human activities. Secondly, there is a need of highly qualified specialists able to make weigted decisions regarding rational natural resources use. Human resources are crucial for the Arctic exploration and development. As Dr. Novoselov said, “The human resources factor may be the key for the success”.

No doubts, Tyumen State Oil and Gas University will do its best to increase the education quality for students studying gas and petroleum; we have already added cryology in the university programs, revised our system of internships,  try to make the topics of students research works closer to the needs of oil and gas production companies, however, there is still a lot to do for quality of our education. Rector is sure that there is a need in development and implementation of the governmental human resources training program for the Arctic zone. It's also important to know and forecast the Arctic specialists' demand in the next five to ten years. Moreover, coordination council is needed for the universities in order to discuss the new study courses and programs for future Arctic specialists.