The article reports on experience of the effective contract system implementation for research and teaching staff at National Research Tomsk Polytechnic University. The system includes variable set of key performance indicators and incentives related to the contract. The system of effective contract is aimed at facilitating staff motivation to enhance performance efficiency and meeting key performance indicators of the Programme for Promoting the Competitiveness of the university by transforming the goals and tasks of the Programme into the goals and tasks of each research and teaching staff member.

The necessity for changes in content and technology of engineering personnel training is discussed. The model of "new" engineering education has been developed and tested as a project at Siberian Federal University in order to find changing mechanisms in engineering personnel training. On the basis of this concept, the authors claim the necessity of complete change of educational process and crucial impact on students' educational experience.

The paper dwells on students' value system issues, priority of education and students' involvement in social practice. A methodological foundation of the research has been laid by the conceptual idea of D.A. Leontiev, who discovered that value matter translation was by means of activity. It has been established during the conducted study that the students' value system is focused mainly on hedonic, material and family values. Thereafter moral, ethical and aesthetic values are of low importance. On the other hand, the priority of values, concerning personal life, health, safety, self-development and self-improvement can be set, whereas social values such as democracy improvement, freedom growth, more humane society, active civic position of young people are less important. This testifies an increase of a subjective factor of value system and a risk of further society dehumanization. The education priority are unique education in prestigious institute of higher education, tuition-free education preference; location of higher education institute plays a great role as well as a positive sociocultural environment, IT support level of educational process. Future expectations are prestigious, interesting and well-paid work, which meets personal abilities and possibilities, with student's awareness of the importance of professional skills, experience and scientific knowledge.

The article presents the results of a quantitative analysis of the international activities of universities and universities' branches in the Asian part of Russia on the basis of the indicators of the monitoring of universities' effectiveness conducted in 2015. The results of the international activity of 322 universities and universities' branches were analyzed on the basis of the following indicators: the number of foreign students who studied at the main programs, the number of Russian and foreign students who participated in short-term international mobility programs; the number of international double degree programs and the number of students at these programs; the number of foreign graduate students; the number of foreign researchers and teachers; revenues of higher education institutions from the educational activities and from R & D obtained from foreign sources; the number of articles produced in collaboration with foreign organizations. According to the study, the best results demonstrate the major state universities and the universities with special status. In other higher education institutions some international activities are realized with varying degrees of success. Organizations of higher education in Tomsk, Omsk, Novosibirsk and Sverdlovsk regions demonstrate the highest values according to the analyzed indicators. In general, higher education institutions of the Siberian Federal District have the highest results compared to the results of institutions from the other two federal districts. Foreign students studied in 85.7% of higher education institutions in the region. In universities and branches of the region incoming and outgoing programs of academic mobility were realized and 2463 foreign and 2110 Russian students participated in them. In the institutions of the region there are 295 international double degree programs and 2850 students studied at them. The region has trained 630 foreign postgraduate students, 394 foreign faculty members worked in the region. Faculty of universities and branches of the region published 3772 articles prepared in collaboration with the faculty form foreign organizations. Organizations of higher education in the region have received 1218.5 million rubles of the income from educational and scientific activity from foreign sources.

The paper aims to analyze the Clarks' concept of entrepreneurial university within the 3rd generation university theory by J. Wissema. Originally the Clarks' entrepreneurial university is defined by the set of consistent practices (independence from the governmental funding, management quality, entrepreneurial culture etc.) that demonstrate the potential to commercialize an obtained knowledge. The useful interpretation of entrepreneurial university within the Wissema's 3rd generation university theory gives an opportunity to evaluate the quality of internal policies that the university established to develop the entrepreneurial culture. The very fact that within the Wissema's concept the reasons of necessity of the develop of the entrepreneurial culture are not based on the external conditions (requirements to advance the development of the innovation economics, the technology transfer etc.), but are based on the internal requirements to fight the rivalry for funding, talented academics, prospective students etc., helps to move from the discussion of the development of the entrepreneurial activities within the third mission framework to the discussion of the transformation of the first mission by the bringing up to date the curricula and pedagogy towards the entrepreneurial culture shaping.

The article is devoted to «third mission» of universities. Having analyzed the practices of implementation of the «third mission », the author comes to a conclusion that complete copying and integrating of foreign ideas into the Russian higher education field is impossible without taking into account cultural diversity. In her research the author finds out that the change in mission of higher education, transformation of society into the «knowledge society» and market oriented modernization of domestic education reveal the necessity of seeking for an optimal way of its further development. In author's view, it is the public mission that may facilitate university, traditionally generating common benefit, to withstand the market without losing its identity and functions as a social institution.

Since 2016, the rapid spread of writing centers in Russian universities tends to become a trend. In a few months, their number increased from three to eleven, and the process might soon involve most federal and research universities. Most centers follow the US model of a writing center with its hand-off approach to tutoring. Experts from the USA also show increased interest in the process, providing help in consulting future directors. However attractive the adoption of a ready-to-use and efficient model may seem, it is limited by the social, cultural and academic differences between the USA and RF. These differences involve the interests of many agents, who may oppose innovation due to understandable reasons. If this becomes the case, establishing academic writing in the Russian system of education may fail with fewer opportunities to recover in the future. The paper presents the comparative analysis of the US model's efficiency in Russia and the USA based on the seven sets of parameters introduced by Russian economist Oleg Sukharev. The analysis is a part of research carried out by the author for the Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration.

The Writing and Communication Center (WCC) at the New Economic School (NES) turned five years old in 2016 and remains the oldest writing center in Russia. Unlike many of its counterparts throughout the country, the WCC at NES has a special focus on student writing. This article offers an overview of the WCC's philosophy and current activities and presents a case for prioritizing students in writing centers. It also provides an analysis of the session reports collected from consultants from 2013-2016 in order to identify patterns of use at the writing center and understand the needs and expectations of students who visit. Experts in the field tie the growth of the information economy to rising demand for advanced literacy in all walks of life. Developing good writing habits and skills in both native and foreign languages is becoming increasingly important not only for academic success but in a variety of professions. Writing centers therefore play a critical role in preparing students for their futures.

Recommendations on formation and implementation of Fund of Assessment Tools (FAT) to control the level ofprogress in an academic subject in intermediate certification stages for bachelor, specialist and master programs are suggested. The proposed structure of FAT, recommended indicators and assessment criteria allow to assess more objectively disciplinary parts and competency components.

The article covers the issues concerning the formation of engineers' social and cultural competences at higher education institutions. The concept of science and engineering moral neutrality is receding into the past, engineering education standards undergo changes. Not only specific technical knowledge plays an important role in training an engineer, but also such knowledge and skills as creative, systematic and critical thinking, sticking to professional ethics, teamwork, social context of engineering, etc. Forming an engineer's social and cultural competences is a requirement of various international engineering training standards. We have shown the necessity of teaching engineering ethics at technical universities and have given corresponding recommendations, which can be used in Russian higher education institutions.

The article addresses the problems of methodology to measure and assess students' knowledge in accordance with the prescriptions of professional standards that are implemented in higher education system of Russia. The research problem is considered both from the position of the general theory of measurement, and the analysis of the application practice in education and other spheres of economic activity.

The article highlights the activities of Almetyevsk State Petroleum Institute, its contribution to the development of professional oil education in Russia. The Institute cherishes and upholds the traditions of Tatar Evening Department of the State Academy of Oil and Gas named after I.M. Gubkin allowing it to keep the leading positions in the region. The article views the new tasks and challenges that arise from the structural modernization and renewal of higher technical education with an emphasis on training of managers and elite engineering personnel for innovative segments of the regional oil industry.

The article discusses the features of professional training system for oil and gas complex based on the integration of education, science and industry. This system is intended to foster practice-oriented education of professionals and generally to improve the quality of training. The article dwells on the interaction areas between the Oil Institute and the enterprises, the forms of employer's participation in educational process and in curricular formation. The advanced learning is provided by the research-and-education centre with laboratories equipped with world class equipment and facilities based on the latest technologies.

The article presents the first steps of oil higher education establishment in Tatarstan Republic. The formation of petroleum engineering elite and the corresponding infrastructure became a direct consequence of commercial operation start of large oil fields in the south-east of Republic in 1950s. One of the most pressing issues was providing of the oil industry enterprises with an engineering staff. The new oil-producing region was not able to solve the staffing problem, because of demographic, socio-economic and cultural characteristics. By the end of 1960s the engineers and technicians deficit in oil industry of Tatarstan, was overcome by the decision adoption on the establishment of higher oil educational institution directly in the area of oil and gas company «Tatneft» activity. Thus began the history of Almetyevsk State Oil Institute, the former Centre for education and consulting of Moscow Oil Institute, and then Tatar Evening Department of the State Academy of Oil and Gas named after I.M. Gubkin.

The paper discusses a technology of continuous «included» search and selection of prospective students by representatives of the basic enterprises which favorably differs from foreign analogues, such as Headhunting, Assessment, since it is based not only on the identification and selection, but on the growing and assistance to students' self-determination through development of sustainable motivation and attitudes on a continuous self-education, self-determination, self-development, self-presentation in the labor market, which contributes significantly to increasing the competitiveness of university graduates.

This paper presents the practice-focused experience of maths training of oil and gas students and engineers at Almetyevsk State Oil Institute. The author describes the methods to formation of professional maths competences, proposes the structural and functional model of maths training within the system "education - research - production", and views the organizational and pedagogical conditions for its realization.

The article addresses various forms and methods of teaching physics for undergraduate students at technical faculties of O&G Institutes. These methods allows lectures to provide an optimal way for students to study physics in conditions of cutting down the time for learning this discipline. The authors discuss the modern teaching methods and technologies used in the educational process at the Physics Department of Almetyevsk State Oil Institute. The importance of interdisciplinary communication is noted. An efficiency of score-rating system in the current and final assessment of students' knowledge is shown.

The current socio-economic situation in the region calls for the high intellectual level of future oil and gas engineers. The Institute and the leading oil company in the region are interested in search and selection of the talented youth as a future human resource. Therefore since 2011 they organize the regional subject competition for pupils. This paper analyzes the possibilities of the contest environment for self-development of future students.

The paper addresses the problem of writing the modern scientific and pedagogical review. A reviewer faces a lot of questions concerning peer review process. The author considers the review as a genre influencing on the development of scientific and pedagogical knowledge.

The article describes the organizing and holding experience of the International Network Conference «Interdisciplinarity in Engineering Education: Global Trends and Management Concepts - SYNERGY », arranged in six Russian cities and Kazakhstan. There is explained the necessity of interdisciplinary teaching as an innovative form of project engineering education aimed at improvement of training quality and further professional development of engineering staff, summed up the network and final sessions of the conference.