Chair of Ontopsychology in Russia

The high vaults of one of St. Petersburg’s oldest buildings seemed to have grown in their proportions. Outside the windows, the life of the large city flows gently by, but here in the silence of the University corridors, everything was ready for the important event.
On May 27, 2004, in the great hall of Twelve Colleges building – the main administrative building of the St. Petersburg State University– in the presence of Prof. Antonio Meneghetti, the University Chancellor, L. Verbitskaja and the Dean of the Department of Psychology, L. Tsvetkova, in addition to several hundred others, including the teachers at the University and students from Russia, Italy, Europe, and Latin America, the official inauguration of the chair of Ontopsychology took place.
Everything that happened that day, the speeches, the special atmosphere and at the finale the entrance of a young woman wearing a dress that symbolized the Russian flag while the national anthem played, emphasized the importance and worldwide significance of the event.
This was the result of over ten years’ analysis and review of Ontopsychology in the Russian Federation and in the Psychology Department of St. Petersburg State University.
In 1989, Prof. A. Meneghetti met luminaries of the psychology school of St. Petersburg including B. Lomov, A. Krylov, and J. Zabrodin. This was the beginning of a great task. In 1998, the collaboration led to the opening of a course of study specialized in Ontopsychology in the department of psychology at the State University of St. Petersburg; in the same year, the first group of eighteen Russian students started their studies.
In 1999, this project of collaboration in the Russian Federation and the countries of the former Soviet Union took on an international status. A contract between the International Association of Ontopsychology and St. Petersburg State University was signed. This opened a new stage in the collaboration and the Russian students were joined by the first group of fifty Italian students. Later, in January 2000, a group of thirty Brazilian students joined. A baccalaureate program and an Ontopsychology workshop were also started.
In 2003, the Department of Psychology opened a separate seat at the AIO headquarters in Scandriglia (Italy); in the same year, the master program in Ontopsychology was opened under the leadership of Professor N. Grishina. The objective of this master program is to prepare highly qualified specialists in Ontopsychology. With the support of a government budget, the start of this program was an essential step for opening the chair. The Russian Ministry of Education recognized Ontopsychology as a “new scientific/practical approach within modern psychology which represents the synthesis of developing approaches and individual differences and aims at an integral description of human life and the development of human individuality.”
The basic theory of Ontopsychology is included in the new edition of the “General Psychology Manual” approved by the commission for methodical review of the Russian Ministry of Education and suggested by the Ministry of Education for all university departments in which psychology courses are taught and for all higher education institutes in the Russian Federation.
In February 2004, the Scientific Board of the Department of Psychology decided to open the chair of Ontopsychology. In March 2004, the Major Scientific Board of the University (the main organ of power in St. Petersburg State University) supported the decision of the Department of Psychology following the presentation made by Dean Larisa Tsvetkova. On March 29, 2004, the Chancellor’s decree to open the chair of Ontopsychology was officially published.
The chair is the structural cell on which the Department is based. Essentially, the chair is the mediator between the educational process (typically of a university) and the process of scientific research (conducted by the Academies).
The chair is only opened if the scientific orientation that it represents is considered important for opening new horizons in science. The chair ensures the legality and seriousness of the scientific research, assuming a function of overseeing and advancing scientific knowledge.
The chair of Ontopsychology has the following functions: first, to ensure the scientific nature of the teaching of Ontopsychology and organize it professionally (the program of ontopsychological studies was formally accepted by the Method Committee of the Department of Psychology of St. Petersburg State University in November 2001); second, to organize the methodical work of the study disciplines, scientific research, preparing scientific and pedagogical frameworks and improving their specialization. An important point is that the chair becomes the scientific core for other departments and institutes, representing Ontopsychology in the scientific sphere.
Therefore, the chair has a twofold duty, on the one hand it organizes and oversees the study process (confirming study plans, choosing basic and specialized scientific programs; training teachers, etc); on the other hand, it organizes and oversees the legal process of scientific research considered of real value for the overall advancement of human society.
The teaching staff will include major specialists from the Department of Psychology at St. Petersburg State University and excellent representatives from the psychology school of St. Petersburg, including: N. Grishina (instructor and head of chair scientific programs), L. Tsvetkova (instructor and dean of the Department of Psychology), S. Manicev (instructor and head of the chair of organizational consulting), J. Filimonenko (instructor of the chair of Ontopsychology), V. Dmitrieva (instructor and director of the chair of Ontopsychology). Teachers and Ontopsychology consultants graduated in Russia and Italy participate in the organization and teaching process.
Over 200 students (from the Russian Federation, Italy, Brazil, the three Baltic Republics and Ukraine) have studied in the programs so far.
We can identify a few main issues for the chair’s future.
The first is training specialists in this field to solve the major questions of contemporary psychology through an interdisciplinary approach, particularly the relationship between the existential development of the individual and his effective inclusion in society.
The second theme is the development of all scientific activity, both through experiments and through analysis of results garnered from graduates theses, some of which, in the opinion of the committee of state certification, are worthy of a doctorate.
The subjects studied pertain to complete research on the human personality over the course of our lives: psychological and professional growth, the development of creative potential, leadership capacities, how Ontopsychology can ensure depth in scientific research and so forth.
The third important issue is the growth of scientific and cultural projects with the universities in the Russian Federation and Europe which have appreciated the project and are ready to work together, while ensuring the scientific nature and high organizational quality of the work.