August 7-18, NSSPI students and staff joined students and faculty from Tomsk Polytechnic University, Tomsk State University, and several other Russian and Ukrainian universities at the seventh annual Summer School for Nuclear Non-Proliferation and Peaceful Use of Nuclear Energy in Tomsk, Russia. The summer school gives students from both technical and policy backgrounds the opportunity to meet international peers, experience a different culture, engage in dialogue on security, safeguards, and nonproliferation related concerns, and interact with experts from various international organizations.
This year’s summer school curriculum consisted of lectures, negotiation exercises, and simulations. Topics for lectures included IAEA safeguards, international relations theories, and international organizations governing nonproliferation. The negotiation exercises and simulations covered real-life issues and required students to represent the interests of countries other than their own to gain new perspectives on international negotiations. On the last day of the summer school, students presented group projects on various nonproliferation topics.
While in Russia, the NSSPI delegation also traveled to the Tomsk Polytechnic University (TPU) to discuss continuing research and education collaboration between TPU and Texas A&M University under the formal agreement signed last year between the two institutions.
This year’s summer school was organized and sponsored by Tomsk State University, Battelle Memorial Institute, and the Swedish Radiation Safety Authority.
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