Schröder and Putin sign up to strategic research partnership
German Chancellor Gerhard Schröder and Russian President Vladimir Putin have signed an agreement on a strategic partnership in the field of research and innovation. The two countries will cooperate closely in a number of areas, including nano-, bio- and microtechnologies, as well as space, environmental, marine and polar research. Joint research institutes and laboratories are also foreseen, as is a centre for laser research that will be opened this year in Russia. Russia will also be offered partner status in a number of large international projects, such as the free electron laser based in Hamburg and the acceleration facility for Hadron and nuclear physics in Darmstadt. 'Close collaboration in research and education with Russia is a path to success for the future,' said German Minister for Education and Research Edelgard Bulmahn on 11 April. Russia is already Germany's closest non-EU partner in the area of science. Around 550 partnership agreements between universities are in place, and around 10,000 German and Russian students and researchers are studying in the partner country.
Countries
Germany, Russia