(24.03.16) At the beginning of March, a high-ranking delegation including Ludwig Spaenle, Minister of State, and Burkhard Freitag, President of the University of Passau, plus other representatives of Bavarian universities travelled to Moscow. To mark the visit of the Bavarian Academic Center for Central, Eastern and Southeastern Europe (BAYHOST), the DWIH Moscow organised a roundtable discussion on current issues relating to the collaboration with Russian universities and research institutions. Representatives from the local DFG and the DAAD offices accompanied the delegation to other meetings.

The roundtable discussion on extending the collaboration with Russian universities was part of the DWIH Science Talks held in the library of the Hotel Kempinski where since 2011 prominent representatives from the research and education communities in both countries have discussed topical issues on a regular basis. Martin Krispin (DWIH Moscow) and Jörn Achterberg (DFG Moscow) chaired the discussion. As well as the German Embassy in Moscow and the research and funding organisations represented by the DWIH (DAAD, DFG, Helmholtz Association and Alexander von Humboldt Foundation), the participants in the event included leading Russian universities such as Moscow State University (MSU), the Higher School of Economics (HSE), the Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology (MIPT), Moscow State University of Civil Engineering (MGSU-MISI), the Russian Peoples' Friendship University (RUDN), the Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration (RANEPA) and the Russian Academy of Sciences research centre in Troitsk.

In the dialogue, the DFG and its three partner organisations drew attention to joint announcements and funding opportunities for collaboration projects with Russian universities and non-university research centres. The Russian Foundation for Basic Research (RFBR), the Russian Foundation for Humanities (RFH) and the Russian Science Foundation (RSF) also presented their international funding programmes.

The discussion served as preparation for a larger academic delegation of representatives from Bavarian universities and research institutes to be held this autumn. The launching of concrete collaboration projects was therefore the subject of discussion at further meetings of BAYHOST with the new Russian Science Foundation (RSF) and the council of rectors of universities in Moscow and the surrounding area. This also resulted in the signing of a cooperation agreement between BAYHOST and the Moscow rectors' council. The council is chaired by Nikolay Kudryavtsev, Rector of the Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology (MIPT), where the DFG and DAAD organised the fifth German-Russian Week of the Young Researcher last year.