The Russian Federation’s National Research Nuclear University (“MEPhI”) will become the second major university to offer an IAEA-endorsed master's programme on nuclear technology management.
The International Nuclear Management Academy (INMA) is a collaboration scheme of leading nuclear engineering faculties at several universities. MEPhI has actively contributed to the programme development and proceeded to incorporate the INMA requirements into its existing curricula.
The INMA framework has been developed with leading nuclear engineering and business faculties at several universities, including MEPhI. It aims to develop a set of common requirements for master’s programmes with specialized focus on advanced aspects of management in nuclear technology, science and engineering. It also strives to promote collaboration among universities to develop joint programmes and share educational resources, materials and tools.
At the sidelines of the 59th IAEA General Conference last week, Mikhail Strikhanov, Rector of MEPhI, and Nikolay Geraskin Head of the Nuclear Reactor Department at MEPhI signed an agreement making MEPhI an official member of the IAEA’s INMA framework.
Strikhanov said he was confident that INMA would bring his institute new results and achievements. Nikolay Geraskin, for his part, added that the agreement was a big step forward in their successful implementation of the INMA master’s programme.
The University of Manchester in the United Kingdom was the first university to implement a new master’s in Nuclear Technology Management Programme and MEPhI is expected to be the next, with plans to launch an INMA master’s degree programme in nuclear technology management next year.
“Many universities have already expressed interest in implementing an INMA programme,” said Mikhail Chudakov, IAEA Deputy Director General and Head of the Department of Nuclear Energy during the signing ceremony on 16 September 2015.
He highlighted that maintaining high levels of safety in the nuclear sector depended on competent decision-making and effective management processes, which is the focus of INMA. John de Grosbois, Head of the IAEA’s Nuclear Knowledge Management Section and responsible for the INMA initiative said that “the programme is creating new forms of international university collaboration that will strengthen management education in the nuclear sector and make it more accessible to working professionals, regardless of their location.” He also thanked Japan’s Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) for its ongoing extra-budgetary financial support to help establish the INMA project.
