(23.05.2018) On 18 and 19 May 2018, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and the Higher School of Economics (HSE, a National Research University) hosted a discussion on “Transnational Research and Innovation Partnerships. Designing International Cooperation Projects to Deliver on Economic Competitiveness and the Grand Challenges” in Moscow. Among the participants was the German House for Research and Innovation (DWIH Moscow), while the DFG Office Russia/CIS presented a range of international funding programmes.

The workshop, which was opened by Leonid Gokhberg (Vice-Rector of HSE), Grigory Trubnikov (Deputy Minister of Education and Science of the Russian Federation), Dominique Guellec (Head of Science and Technological Policy Division, OECD) and Andreas Hoeschen (director of DWIH Moscow), covered various aspects of internationalisation and international cooperation in research and innovation against a background of global challenges such as climate change, mass migration, digitisation and the fight against major diseases. Grigory Trubnikov explained that Russia’s aim is to create an environment of international cooperation in spite of an unstable political situation to achieve success. He added that science diplomacy is important to Russia as a means of strengthening the global economy.

Representatives of international universities, state research institutions and research funding organisations presented funding instruments and concrete projects and measures designed to promote internationalisation. The director of the DFG Office Russia/CIS, Dr. Wilma Rethage, spoke about the wide range of international funding programmes offered by the DFG, referring to German-Russian partnerships by way of example. She also spoke briefly about the current status of Germany’s Excellence Strategy, the funding programme initiated by the federal and state governments and implemented by the DFG and the German Council of Science and Humanities for the sustained strengthening of German research and the enhancement of its international competitiveness.

Moscow’s Higher School of Economics (HSE) was founded in 1992 and is the only one of Russia’s leading National Research Universities with a strong profile in economics and social sciences. Nearly 15,000 students are currently enrolled in its 18 faculties. It maintains international partnerships with a large number of German universities, including the Humboldt University of Berlin and the University of Münster. The DFG has supported numerous German-Russian research projects at HSE.

Further Information:

• Programme of the OECD-HSE Workshop

HSE news article:

• https://www.hse.ru/en/news/219322081.html