Saint Petersburg State University

Faculty of Psychology – Ontopsychology Chair

On 27th May 2004, in the Aula Magna of the Dodici Collegi’s building, the official opening of the Ontopsychology Chair was celebrated, in the presence of the University Rector L. Verbitskaja, prof. Antonio Meneghetti and the Dean of Psychology L. Tsvetkova.

This was the result of a long process of analysis and verification of Ontopsychology, carried out in the Russian Federation and within the Faculty of Psychology of St. Petersburg State University, which took more than 10 years.

Here are the milestones of the process.

◾In 1989 Prof. Antonio Meneghetti met the luminaries of the St. Petersburg Psychology School: B. Lomov, A. Krylov, J. Zabrodin and others. This marked the beginning of the important work.

◾In 1998 this cooperation resulted in the opening of the specialisation course in Ontopsychology at the Faculty of Psychology of St. Petersburg State University; in the same year, the first group of Russian students - 18 in total - started attending the course.

◾In 1999 the project of cooperation in the Russian Federation and in the former Soviet Union countries acquired international status: a contract was signed between the International Association of Ontopsychology and St. Petersburg State University. This opened the way to a new phase of partnership and an initial group of fifty Italian students joined the Russians.

◾In January 2000, a Brazilian group of thirty students joined the study course as well. The Baccalaureate Programme also started and the Ontopsychology laboratory was opened.

◾In 2003 the Faculty of Psychology opens its branch in Italy at the AIO premises; in the same year the magistracy programme in Ontopsychology is opened in the faculty, under Prof. N. Grishina’s guidance.

◾The Magistracy Programme has the aim of training high-qualified Ontopsychology specialists. Based on a state budget, the starting of this programme is a key step for the opening of the Chair; the Ministry of Russian Education acknowledges Ontopsychology as "a new practical-scientific trend within modern psychology, […] intended for the comprehensive description of man’s life and of the development of his individuality”.

◾The theory at the basis of Ontopsychology is included in the new edition of the "General Psychology Handbook”, approved by the Committee for the systematic guarantee of the Russian Education Ministry and recommended by the Education Ministry to all those university faculties that have ongoing psychology courses and to all the institutes of higher education in the Russian Federation.

◾In February 2004 the Scientific Committee of the Psychology Faculty decided to open the Chair of Ontopsychology.

◾In March 2004 the University’s Main Scientific Council (the main body of power in the whole of the St. Petersburg State University) supported the resolution of the Faculty of Psychology, following the presentation held by the Dean Larisa Tsvetkova.

◾On 29th March 2004, the Rector’s decree for the opening of the Ontopsychology Chair is officially issued.

Here you can see the Departments’ list of the Psychology Faculty, including the Ontopsychology department. In the Psychology Faculty web page, you can find the history of the founding of the Ontopsychology Chair, starting from 1998; it is also possible to find information on the Chair’s main goals and tasks, on the academic staff and its scientific activities through participation to international congress and publications. The study programme of Ontopsychology course, started in 2003, is also described together with the applications and professional opportunities available following completion of this study course (individual and group psychology consultancy, business and entrepreneurial consultancy, pedagogy, politics, law, art psychology). Chair students can participate in scientific and training programmes held by the International Association of Ontopsychology and can carry out scientific internships in Italy, too.

For further information: onto@psy.pu.ru

Ontopsychology Chair Aims

The Chair is the basic structural cell of the Faculty. In short, the chair is the link between the standard university training process and the scientific research training held by the Academy. A chair is opened only if it represents a scientific trend that is deemed relevant to new landscapes in science. The Chair warrants the legacy and the reliability of scientific researches, assuming the function of control and advance in scientific knowledge.

The chair of Ontopsychology has the following functions:

◾to guarantee Ontopsychology’s scientific teaching and to hold it at a professional level (the Ontopsychology study programme was formally accepted in November 2001 by the Systematic Committee of the St. Petersburg State University Psychology Faculty);

◾to organize the methodical work in study disciplines, scientific research, the preparation of scientific and pedagogical outlines and the improvement of their specialization.

The important aspect is that the Chair becomes the scientific core for the other faculties and institutes, representing Ontopsychology in the scientific field. On one hand, the Chair holds and warrants the study process (so it confirms study plans by choosing basic and specialization scientific programmes, trains teachers, etc.); on the other hand, it organizes and warrants the legal process of that scientific research that is deemed to be of real value for the comprehensive advancement of human society.