MINSK, 23 July (BelTA) - Belarus and Uzbekistan have stepped up cooperation in science and innovations, Belarus Education Minister Igor Karpenko told the media, BelTA has learned.
On 22 July - 5 August Belarus is hosting vice rectors for research and innovations of the institutions of higher education and research institutions of Uzbekistan on a training tour as part of the program “Current state and prospects for the development of science and innovations in the Republic of Belarus”.
“As part of the tour the guests from Uzbekistan are set to visit Belarus' major universities, their technoparks, to get familiar with the activities of the State Committee for Science and Technology, the Education Ministry. Today I will hold a meeting to introduce the participants of the tour to the education system, the conceptual approaches to the development of the system which were approved at the Pedagogical Congress. Of course, the focus will be on professional training programs. Relations with Uzbekistan have been developing rapidly. We have a hundred of direct agreements between educational institutions, the joint training programs based on the 2+2 principle [double degree program]. We are considering joint research under the projects that are implemented in Belarus and Uzbekistan,” Igor Karpenko noted.
According to Deputy Director of Science at the Institute of Microbiology of the Academy of Sciences of Uzbekistan Shakhlo Miralimova, the goal of the on-the-job training is to exchange experience in innovative activity, the organization of research works, and also integration of production, science and education. “We hope that the results of the visit will help us tune our activity into the development of innovations. Uzbekistan adopted the strategy of innovative development, with the focus on innovations and research activities,” she stressed. Shakhlo Miralimova added that the Institute of Microbiology of the Academy of Sciences of Uzbekistan and the Institute of Microbiology of the Academy of Sciences of Belarus plan to implement a joint scientific project in microbic synthesis of copper nanoparticles this year.
While in Belarus, Uzbek specialists are expected to get familiar with the organization of various forms of research, principles of organizing innovative activity in the institutions of higher education of Belarus. They will also adopt practical skills in the implementation of the concept of scientific and innovative activities in institutions of higher education, subjects of innovative infrastructure and production sector.
Foreign guests will also learn about the academic and scientific potential of Belarusian institutions of higher education and study the experience of international cooperation in innovative activity at the example of the Chinese-Belarusian industrial park Great Stone. They will also visit the National Library and BelAZ. The project is held ahead of the Forum of Regions of Belarus and Uzbekistan and the visit of Uzbekistan's president to Belarus.
