A regular meeting of the Organising Committee of the Russian-German Raw Materials Dialogue, which was held this time online, was dedicated to the use of hydrogen as an energy source. The event was attended by representatives of the Presidential Administration and Ministry of Energy of Russia, as well as of the German Energy Agency DENA, and world’s largest energy and steel enterprises, such as Uniper, Siemens, Verbundnetz Gas, ThyssenKrupp, NOW, Stahl-Holding-Saar, Salzgitter, Energie-Agentur, Gazprom, and other companies. Among the participants were also spokespersons of the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, German Aerospace Center, and other organisations. What did they talk about at such a highly representative assembly?

International students appealed to the Government of Russia, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and Federal Security Service to let them return to Russia and continue their studies. The level of education is at stake here. A Professor at the University of Madeira (UMa) in this interview explains why Russian universities are still popular worldwide and what career one may build in Europe with a Russian diploma in hand.

Most Russian educational institutions have bravely reported on a successful transition to online learning. However, reality turned out to be slightly less glowing than officials and heads of educational institutions imagined. Whether or not will this format muscle out traditional lectures and classes after the pandemic, and who really has benefited from the forced flight into the digital space.

On Wednesday, April 15, the Russian stage of the International Forum-Contest of Young Researchers “Topical Issues of Rational Use of Natural Resources” will take start. For the first time in sixteen years, due to the spread of the coronavirus, its delegates are not coming to St. Petersburg but will remotely report on their scientific research. The Webex platform, which allows holding online conferences with up to three thousand participants, was provided by Cisco, one of the global leaders in the development of network telecommunication systems. Dmitry Razumovsky, Head of Cisco Corporate Social Responsibility Programs in Russia and the CIS, told about the factors that affect the quality of conferences in virtual space.

The PRC, as before, plans to send a representative delegation to the city on the Neva to participate in the youth forum, which will be held as part of the BRICS summit in July. And what shall we do about the quarantine?

The network of foreign partner universities of Russian scientific community is set to increase further. Last week, an agreement on scientific-technical cooperation between the International Competence Centre for Mining-Engineering Education under the auspices of UNESCO and the University of Leoben (Montanuniversität Leoben) was signed in Austria. The document was signed by Vladimir Litvinenko, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Competence Centre, and Wilfried Eichlseder, Rector of the Austrian University. The ceremony was also attended by Kurt Wallner, Mayor of Leoben, and Kirill Molodtsov, Aide to the Chief of Staff at the Presidential Executive Office of the Russian Federation.

Beirut, Damascus, Latakia, Batroun, Tripoli - what would you think of when seeing the list of those cities? Most likely, the first things that spring to mind are military operations and counterterrorism efforts; Russians are not the exception and have similar thoughts. What do Syrian and Lebanese people think of Russia though - in particular, about higher education in the country?

At the end of October, a closing ceremony of the Russian-British Raw Materials Dialogue was held in St. Petersburg. During the course of the event, Ian Bowbrick, Director of Membership and Professional Standards at the Institute of Materials, Minerals and Mining, awarded 12 experts of the Russian National Association of Mining Engineers with certificates granting them power to accredit mining specialists on behalf of the Institute one of the most prestigious professional bodies in the world.   

Out of the many challenges that mining industry is facing nowadays, the Dialogue’s participants placed specific attention to whittling down deficit of skilled engineers through competency assessment and development. The particular importance of this problem is caused by ever increasing requirements to be met by professionals. In addition, mineral resources extraction is a process that has become more complex and sophisticated.

A delegation from the UK, who came to St. Petersburg to participate in the Russian-British Raw Materials Dialogue, aims to destroy the negative buzz surrounding Russia that builds up in the Western media.