Russian-Armenian Scientific and Educational Forum was Held in Yerevan

11:20, June 15, 2023

The event was coordinated by the Russian Union of Rectors

The Russian-Armenian scientific and educational forum "Integration of science, education and production - the engine of economic modernization" was held in Yerevan. Organizers of the event on the Russian side included the Ministry of Science and Higher Education of Russia, the Russian Union of Rectors, Lomonosov Moscow State University, the Russian Center of Scientific Information, the Russian Academy of Education, and on the Armenian side - the Ministry of Education, Science, Culture and Sports of the Republic of Armenia, Yerevan State University and the Russian-Armenian University.

The event was attended by rectors and representatives of leading universities, ministries and relevant agencies, scientific organizations and enterprises of Russia and Armenia.

Viktor Sadovnichiy, President of the Russian Union of Rectors and Rector of Lomonosov Moscow State University, moderated the forum on the Russian side. In his welcoming speech to the participants of the event he said that more than 80 forums have been held under the auspices of the Russian Union of Rectors with the participation of 6,000 rectors of Russian and foreign universities. This autumn rectors' forums will be held with the participation of leading universities from Cuba, Vietnam, Belarus, Kazakhstan, China, Kyrgyzstan and other countries.

Viktor Sadovnichiy emphasized that the Russian-Armenian forum contributes to the development of educational and scientific cooperation between the two countries. He suggested to hold the next forum in Moscow in the spring of 2024.

It was also noted that a number of bilateral and multilateral international inter-university associations have been created. For example, one of the oldest inter-university organizations is the Eurasian Association of Universities (founded in 1989 and uniting 140 universities from 11 countries).

On the initiative of the Russian Union of Rectors, the Moscow International Ranking "Three University Missions" was developed, which is the most representative educational ranking in the world. Viktor Sadovnichiy invited Armenian universities to actively participate in this ranking.

He also spoke about other scientific and educational projects launched on the initiative of MSU and RSF, such as the National Platform "Open Education", Science Festival "Science 0+" ("Science for All"), the International Scientific Conference "Lomonosov". Victor Sadovnichy invited representatives of Armenian higher educational institutions to participate in these projects.

Hovhannes Hovhannisyan, President of the Union of Rectors of Armenia and Rector of Yerevan State University, noted in his speech that international cooperation is an essential factor for the development of science and education. According to the Rector, the development of Russian-Armenian cooperation in science and education should include student and teacher exchanges, joint research and development, creation of joint funds, grant programs and recruitment of scientific specialists from both countries. He also suggested an increase in the number of double-degree programs between Russian and Armenian universities.

The Minister of Education, Science, Culture and Sports Zhanna Andreasyan expressed confidence that the forum will become one of the platforms for identifying new opportunities for cooperation in education and science between Russia and Armenia as well as raise the cooperation to a new level.

The Minister of Education of the Russian Federation Sergey Kravtsov noted the importance of developing cooperation at all levels of education, including school and secondary education. The Minister said that he had visited the Pushkin School in Yerevan, where it was agreed to resume the Forum of Schools named after Alexander Pushkin.

Mikhail Shvydkoy, special representative of the Russian President for International Cultural Cooperation, pointed out that representatives of more than 50 Russian universities and scientific organizations take part in the forum. He reminded that there are several branches of Russian universities in Armenia and also the Russian-Armenian University operates, which is a center for Russian-Armenian cooperation.

At the end of the plenary session, the cooperation agreement between Moscow State University and Yerevan State University was signed. The work of the Russian-Armenian Research and Education Forum continued until June 14 through session meetings.

The news article was translated by UrFU International Marketing Office. 
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