BRICS Heads of Academies of Sciences Meeting Participants Learn about Kurchatov Institute

The plenary session of the second day of the meeting of the Heads of BRICS Academies of Sciences on 30 May 2024 opened with a report by Kurchatov Institute National Research Centre President Mikhail Kovalchuk, who spoke about the history of the research centre and the main focuses of its work, including research on megascience class installations and developments in nature-like technologies, which are based on the creation of technical systems and technological processes that operate in a manner that is similar to those of nature.

Kovalchuk noted that biosafety issues that could be a priority area of international scientific cooperation. “Biological methods of destruction could replace nuclear ones. They are more dangerous because they are less obvious and can be created artificially,” he said.

The Kurchatov Institute president proposed signing a “declaration on the creation of a biological safety shield similar to the Pugwash agreement on nuclear safety” on behalf of the heads of BRICS national academies and leading scientific centres. This document could be drafted jointly and presented at the BRICS Summit, which will take place on 22–24 October 2024 in Kazan.

The event was also attended by Russian Academy of Sciences Vice President Vladislav Panchenko.

The Roscongress Foundation manages the events of Russia’s BRICS Chairship.