Polytechnic Leads the Charge at the Inaugural Russian-Azerbaijani Science Forum
On September 25 and 26, the first Russian-Azerbaijani scientific and educational forum was held at Lomonosov Moscow State University. The forum was organized by the Russian Union of Rectors, Lomonosov Moscow State University, the Ministry of Science and Higher Education of Russia and the Ministry of Science and Education of Azerbaijan.
More than 70 Russian and Azerbaijani universities participated in the event. Valery Falkov, Minister of Science and Higher Education of Russia, Firudin Gurbanov, Deputy Minister of Science and Education of Azerbaijan, and Ulkar Sattarova, Chairman of the Azerbaijani State Agency for Science and Higher Education, addressed the forum. Peter the Great St. Petersburg Polytechnic University was represented by Vladimir Khizhnyak, Head of the International Cooperation Department, and his deputy Alla Mazina.
At the plenary session, the partners noted the warm relations formed between our countries, between the presidents of the two states. Many rectors of Azerbaijani universities graduated from Lomonosov Moscow State University and other leading Russian universities.
The plenary session was followed by the meeting of the Association of Higher Education Institutions of Russia and Azerbaijan and scientific discussion sections.
At the section «Priority areas of cooperation in the field of science» Vladimir Khizhnyak spoke about the achievements of Polytechnic University, the experience of cooperation with other countries, including the CIS and BRICS+ countries, and potential areas of cooperation with universities in Azerbaijan. Khizhnyak made specific proposals to activate the work of the Association of Higher Education Institutions of Russia and Azerbaijan. He spoke about the program of visiting professors and invited talented graduates of postgraduate studies to participate in the Open Doors Olympiad in the direction of «Postdocs», which is currently being implemented at Polytechnic University together with the Global Universities Association. To implement the «affiliated collaboration» direction of cooperation (contacts with universities of research institutes), Vladimir Khizhnyak told about the possibilities of interaction with research institutes of the Russian Academy of Sciences, which are under the scientific and methodological guidance of the St. Petersburg Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences. Its Chairman is the Rector of SPbPU, Academician Andrei Rudskoi.
Alla Mazina, speaking at the section «Development of inter-university cooperation in education», made proposals on the development of joint educational programs, student participation in summer and winter schools of Polytechnic University, and the use of online courses.
Due to the sufficiently high level of higher education in Azerbaijan, high qualification of scientific and pedagogical staff, absence of language barrier, friendly relations between the states and strong cultural ties, there is a good basis for the development of cooperation between the universities of our countries.