The 5th Forum of Rectors of the Universities of the Russian Federation and the Islamic Republic of Iran

On July 7, 2020, the President of the Russian Union of Rectors, the Rector of Lomonosov Moscow State University, Academician V. A. Sadovnichy, and the president of the Summit of Rectors of Leading Universities of Iran, the Rector of the University of Tehran, Professor Mahmoud Nili Ahmadabadi, held the 5th Forum of Rectors of Universities of the Russian Federation and the Islamic Republic of Iran.

Minister of Science and Higher Education of the Russian Federation V. N. Falkov, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Russian Federation to the Islamic Republic of Iran L. S. Jagaryan, Minister of Science, Research and Technology of the Islamic Republic of Iran Mansur Golami, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Islamic Republic of Iran to the Russian Federation Kazem Jalali, Senior Adviser to the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Islamic Republic of Iran Mr. Mehdi Sanai addressed the participants of the forum.

The event, held in an online format, was attended by more than 50 rectors, vice-rectors and professors of Russian and Iranian universities. In his report, V.A. Sadovnichy presented examples of cooperation between the Russian Federation and the Islamic Republic of Iran in the fields of science and higher education and proposed a number of initiatives aimed at developing the activities of the Association of Higher Educational Institutions of Russia and Iran. In the second part of the plenary session, the heads of Russian and Iranian universities spoke about examples of cooperation between universities of the two countries and expressed their proposals for further cooperation.

As a result of the Forum, the following proposals were put forward, which received the support of representatives of the rector’s community:

1. In order to develop the Association of Higher Educational Institutions of Russia and Iran, to focus on strengthening the organizational component of the Association’s work by creating three committees that will oversee a) cooperation in the field of education, b) scientific cooperation in the humanities and c) cooperation in natural and technical sciences, in addition to the existing bureau for coordinating the activities of the Association,
2. To develop youth relations within the framework of the Association’s activities, namely, to create a Youth Association of Russia and Iran, to regularly hold online meetings of young scientists to discuss common scientific interests and ideas for joint projects within the framework of committees and to prepare joint speeches of students and young scientists within the framework of Rectors' Forums, as well as to hold joint schools of young scientists, round tables and symposiums,
to integrate the Russian and the Iranian universities on the basis of the expanded regional alliance of universities of the Eurasian space and Central Asia, to hold the next meeting in such an expanded format.