Association of leading Russian Universities and DAAD signed an agreement in Moscow
A joint program of young Russian and German scientists support will be worked out and implemented within 4 years by Association of leading Russian Universities and DAAD. That is stated in the agreement which was signed on 23 March in Moscow by Nikolai Kropachev, Chairman of the Association, Rector of St. Petersburg State University, and Margret Wintermantel, DAAD President. Sergei Lavrov, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation, and Frank-Walter Steinmeier, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Federal Republic of Germany, were present at the signing ceremony.
"Academic exchange plays an important role in strengthening mutual understanding between countries, - says Nikolai Kropachev, Rector of the St. Petersburg State University, Deputy Chairman of the Petersburg Dialogue Forum Russian Coordinating Committee which is a discussion platform that plays a leading part in strengthening the Russian-German public relations. - It is the communication between the young people, the ability to find common ground despite the cultural differences that leads us to the improvement of mutual understanding between Russian and German people".
According to the Foreign Ministers of the two countries, they have taken the Russian-German Year of Youth Exchanges 2016/2017 under their patronage. In his speech Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation Sergei Lavrov noted that he and his German counterpart support the signing of the agreement between the Association of Russian Leading Universities and the DAAD and called this document "a future-oriented agreement".
Frank-Walter Steinmeier, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Federal Republic of Germany, emphasized that the German party plans to support the development of the Russian-German student exchange programs. "We hope that future generation will work on developing Russian-German relations" - stressed Steinmeier.
It is planned that the agreement between Association of Leading Universities of Russia and DAAD would be implemented in the autumn semester of the 2016/2017 academic year. This support will be offered to young Russian and German researchers, scholarships who will be selected by a joint Russian-German commission on a competitive basis.
According to the agreement, the support program is aimed at talented postgraduate department students who have above-average qualifications, young researchers and professors of both countries, German students doing a master degree programs in Russia and Russian students doing a master degree programs in Germany. The post-graduate students, young researchers and young professors of both countries are able to get support during the period of up to 6 months, and post-doctorates degree program students are able to get support during the period of up to 3 months. Students can get support until they confer their master degree (not exceed 2 year).
For your reference
The Association comprises more than 40 leading universities of Russia. Lomonosov Moscow State University, St. Petersburg State University, federal universities, and national research universities are among the Association members.
The DAAD (The German Academic Exchange Service) is a self-regulating organization of higher education which comprises 238 German institutions of higher education and 107 student organizations. It acts as intermediary for promotion of Germany’s foreign culture, educational policy and national research policies.