On 22-23 April 2013, First Vice-Rector Sergey Goncharov, Deputy Director of the School of Conference Interpreting and Translation Angelique Antonova and Professor Liang Cuizhen took part in the Third Conference of the Universities that have signed with the United Nations Memorandums of Understanding on cooperation in preparing candidates for the United Nations Language Competitive Examinations (MoU-Universities). The conference New Technologies and Education in the Multilingual World was hosted by Shanghai International Studies University (SISU), China. The wide range of topics discussed at the conference included quality control in interpreter training, requirements for the UN competitive language examination and related evaluation criteria, the advantages of “blended education” which includes traditional teacher-led classes and innovative virtual classes with the linguistic services of international organizations and partner-universities, as well as opportunities for the UN External Studies Program offered by partner-universities. Good practices of cooperation with the UN was the focus of special attention, and the St. Petersburg School of Conference Interpreting and Translation, Herzen University, stood out as a good example of successful cooperation.

The School Deputy Director Angelique Antonova gave a presentation on quality control in training for the UN, which opened a lively discussion among the Heads of the UN linguistic services, directors and trainers of the translation and interpreting schools.

The MoU Universities Consortium Executive Committee held a meeting attended by Jean-Jacques Graisse, Acting Head of the UN Department for General Assembly and Conference Management (DGACM), Franz Baumann, the UN DGACM Assistant Secretary-General, Igor Shpinev, Special Advisor to the Acting Head the UN DGACM, and the representatives of the six MoU Consortium universities, one for each UN language. The Russian language was represented by HerzenUniversity and its First Vice-rector Sergey Goncharov. The meeting resulted in choosing HerzenUniversity as a venue for the next conference, considering its status as a leading institution for training interpreters with the Russian language, and the first Russian university which signed the Memorandum of Understanding with the UN.

At the conference, the School Deputy Director Angelique Antonova held a number of meetings with the Heads of UN linguistic services, resulting an agreement to broaden the School’s cooperation with the UN structures. Thus, starting next year, the School graduates will have a possibility to have their internship in the UN Office in Nairobi, in addition to the existing internship bases in the UN Headquarters in New York, and the UN Offices at Geneva and Vienna. Similarly, the School trainers now may have temporary contracts at the UN services in New-York, Geneva, Vienna and Nairobi.