On April 7 and 8, 2025, the Eighth MoU Conference took place in UNOV, Vienna. The conference was organized by the Department for General Assembly and Conference Management of the UN Secretariat, the UN Office in Vienna and the St. Joseph University of Beirut. The participants came together to discuss the results of cooperation between the United Nations and partner universities, as well as issues related to the tectonic changes taking place in the translation industry, and the need to adapt university curricula to these changes. The plenary session opened with a greeting from Movses Abelian, Under-Secretary-General for General Assembly and Conference Management. The participants were also greeted byAhed Sboul, Head of the UNOV Conference Management Service, and  Gina Abu Fadel Saad, Dean of the Faculty of Foreign Languages and Translation of St. Joseph University in Beirut.

The results of competitive language exams for positions in UN linguistic services were discussed at the conference. We were pleased to hear that SCIT takes a leading position among the MoU universities, and it ranks first among Russian universities in terms of the number of graduates who passed the challenging UN language exam. The conference participants exchanged views on the requirements the labor market imposes on language specialists today and the set of competencies university educational programs should develop in students. Special attention was paid to the impact of artificial intelligence on the profession and the use of new technological solutions in education.

SCIT was represented by Director Angelique Antonova, who made a presentation on Interpretation and Interpreter training of interpreters in the AI era. Participation in such a significant international gathering contributes to the promotion of Herzen University and SCIT in the international educational space and ensures that the level of training of translators meets the highest international standards.