On June 30, a plenary session of the IV Forum of the Association of Belarusian and Russian Universities was held in Grodno, the Republic of Belarus. Its venue the Yanka Kupala State University of Grodno. The forum is attended by more than 80 representatives of universities of the two countries, including SSU Rector Aleksei Chumachenko.

The plenary session was moderated by the President of the Russian Union of Rectors, the Rector of Lomonosov Moscow State University, Academician Victor Sadovnichy and Chairm of the Republican Council of Rectors, the Rector of the Belarusian State University of Informatics and Radioelectronics Vadim Bogush.

The meeting was attended by the Belarusian First Deputy Minister of Education Irina Starovoitova and the Russian Deputy Minister of Science and Higher Education Dmitrii Afanasyev, who pointed out that both the Belarusian Republican Council of Rectors and the Russian Union of Rectors are strategic, principled, and the most important partners of the ministries conducting extensive integration work. The rectors’ community was addressed by the Chair of the Committee on Science, Education, and Culture of the Russian Federation Council Lilia Gumerova and the Chair of the Permanent Commission on Education of the Council of the Republic of the National Assembly of Belarus Oleg Dyachenko.

‘...Now more than ever it is important for us to move synchronously, preserving national hallmarks, national and cultural characteristics and learning from each other at the same time. Today we are facing new challenges, and the scientific community must respond to these challenges by adjusting its work, plans, programmes, and projects, bearing in mind the immutability of our common course to improve the quality of higher education and to increase the contribution to innovative development,’ the Russian Deputy Minister of Science and Higher Education Dmitrii Afanasyev noted.

LMSU Rector Victor Sadovnichy highlighted the importance of preserving everything in education that Russia and the Republic of Belarus had acquired over the previous years. ‘Digital technologies and artificial intelligence are being actively discussed now. And this is not just terminology, it is a certain system, approaches to the future, which is connected with all fields of science. This is a really important area which is necessary to involve students into.’

During the plenary session, reports were made. Then a discussion took place, where the moderators summed up the results of their work. At the ending of the event, a new resolution was accepted and cooperation agreements were signed between higher education institutions of Belarus and Russia.

The provisions of the resolution accepted at the end of the forum were included into the final documents of the Forum of Regions of Russia and Belarus. It was decided to develop a roadmap for cooperation between Russian and Belarusian universities in key areas of educational, scientific, and innovative activities, the implementation of youth policy, and academic cooperation up to 2025.

The Forum of the Association of Russian and Belarusian Universities was held as part of the IX Forum of Regions of Russia and Belarus. On June 29, the Rector of Saratov University Aleksei Chumachenko moderated the first panel session titled The implementation of joint scientific and technical projects and programmes to ensure import substitution and strengthen technological security, and, on June 30, he took part in The integration of the Russian and Belarusian higher education system: regional aspect section.