Associate Professor Gulnaz Fakhretdinova (the Department of Foreign Languages for Professional Communication) won a grant of the Summer Institute for Overseas Teachers of English program, organized by the University of Texas Language Center at Austin. The Summer Institute trains university-level English as a Foreign Language (EFL) faculty from technical or other universities teaching EFL to students in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM fields). It is a four-week program with costs of participation covered.

In the framework of the program participants attend daily seminars delivered by qualified American EFL instructors (EFL-English as a Foreign Language) on English-language and pedagogy, that are mainly focused on teaching strategies, application of new technologies, authentic materials and instructional units. The program participants have the opportunity to collaborate and to improve EFL teaching methods within the university-level STEM context.

Applicants are to have a minimum of three years of full-time experience teaching English at the university level in a STEM-related context and to hold the standard terminal degree for specialists in this field.