Moscow to Host Meeting of BRICS Heads of Academies of Sciences on 29–30 May

The heads of BRICS academies of sciences will hold a meeting dedicated to the 300th anniversary of establishment of the Russian Academy of Sciences on 29–30 May 2024 at the Presidium of the Russian Academy of Sciences and the Kurchatov Institute National Research Centre. The theme of the event is ‘Academic Partnership in the Interests of Peace, Mutual Development, and Prosperity’. The meeting agenda items will include the establishment of a common scientific and educational space in BRICS countries, joint research as part of megascience class programmes, and the creation of research teams of young scientists.

TASS News Agency hosted a press conference about the upcoming event on 20 May. The press conference was attended by Russian Academy of Sciences Vice President Vladislav Panchenko, Russian Deputy Minister of Science and Higher Education Konstantin Mogilevsky, and Kurchatov Institute National Research Centre Vice President Alexander Blagov.

The work programme will focus on ways to bolster the common scientific and educational space in BRICS countries, specifically the establishment of a shared BRICS information, analytical, and publishing platform, which “could facilitate a regular exchange of information in order to jointly develop recommendations based on a detailed analysis of information collected from all BRICS countries,” Vladislav Panchenko said.

Special attention will be paid to the creation of international research teams of young scientists. “Numerous leading scientists from the Russian Academy of Sciences are ready to take part in training the country’s scientific leaders,” Panchenko said.

Scientific discussions and a large part of the business programme will take place at the Kurchatov Institute National Research Centre. In addition to BRICS representatives, heads of the academies of sciences from Belarus, Kazakhstan, and Kyrgyzstan were invited to participate. Kurchatov Institute President Mikhail Kovalchuk will deliver a plenary report titled ‘From Fundamental Knowledge to Results, From the Atom to the Genome’.

The second day’s programme will consist of two parts. First, BRICS representatives will learn about the research infrastructure of the Kurchatov Institute. The meeting participants will discuss how to use this infrastructure for key areas of collaboration. The second part consists of two thematic sessions dedicated to nature-like technologies and megascience research infrastructure projects.

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