WASHINGTON, D.C. /eNewsChannels/ — Several U.S. Russia Bilateral Presidential Commission Working Groups will meet in Moscow February 28 to March 5, 2011, to hold discussions on joint projects and engagement designed to build sustainable scientific, academic, and private sector cooperation. By strengthening these links, the Commission’s Working Groups will help to create a new generation of global thinkers and institutions to collaborate on solutions to the challenges facing both our nations.
The Science and Technology Working Group, co-Chaired by Dr. John P. Holdren, Director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, and Dr. Andrey Fursenko, Minister of Education and Science of the Russian Federation, will seek progress in bilateral projects involving climate science, information technology and nanotechnology.
The Education Sub-Working Group, which is co-Chaired by Alina Romanowski, Deputy Assistant Secretary at the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs in the U.S. Department of State, and Igor Protsenko, Director of International Integration in the Ministry of Education and Science of the Russian Federation, will be meeting with an Institute for International Education (IIE)-organized delegation of U.S. university presidents who are in Moscow to discuss to discuss opportunities for faculty, academic, and research partnerships between U.S. and Russian institutions on a broad range of topics, including science and technology.
Also under the auspices of the Education Sub-Working Group, the Association of American Universities (AAU) will have discussions with its Russian counterpart and host a university roundtable in April in Washington, DC. The AAU will launch a multi-year initiative to expand U.S.-Russian university collaboration on research, research management, and university-industry relations.
Finally, the U.S. Russia Innovation Council on High Technology (ICHT), co-Chaired by Lorraine Hariton, Special Representative for Commercial and Business Affairs at the U.S. Department of State, and Dr. Sergey Mazurenko, Deputy Minister of Education and Science of the Russian Federation, will be meeting to exchange views and develop collaboration on the commercialization of research and technology transfer.
Under the leadership of President Obama and President Medvedev, and coordinated by Secretary Clinton and Foreign Minister Lavrov, the U.S.–Russia Bilateral Presidential Commission is dedicated to identifying areas of cooperation and joint projects that strengthen strategic stability, international security and the development of ties between the Russian and American people.
For more information, contact John Fleming (FlemingJT2@state.gov, 202-632-6454) or James Lawrence (LawrenceJA@state.gov, 202-632-3241); or visit: www.state.gov/russiabpc.
