The two-day BRICS Universities Rectors’ Forum opened on October 17 at the “Lomonosov” Educational and Scientific Building of Moscow University under the chairmanship of Hero of Russia, President of the Russian Union of Rectors (RUR), Rector of Moscow State University, Academician Victor A Sadovnichy.
The academician warmly welcomed 250 rectors and representatives of universities from 20 countries of the world – the BRICS countries (Russia, Brazil, Egypt, India, Iran, China, the United Arab Emirates, Ethiopia and South Africa), as well as Belarus, Bahrain, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, Libya, Mauritania, Palestine, Sudan, Yemen. He drew attention to the fact that this scientific and educational summit is being held on the eve of the Summit of the heads of BRICS states in Kazan, and expressed confidence that the event will serve as an important stage in uniting the efforts of universities in the modern world to find solutions to fateful problems.
The guests of honor addressed the plenary part of the Forum with welcoming words and speeches. Deputy Minister Konstantin I. Mogilevsky spoke on behalf of the Ministry of Science and Higher Education of Russia, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Sergey A. Ryabkov took the floor on behalf of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Russia. Vice-President of the Russian Academy of Sciences, academician Vladislav Y. Panchenko reminded the Forum participants that just recently the heads of the national academies of sciences of the BRICS countries gathered in Moscow to celebrate the 300th anniversary of the Russian Academy of Sciences. Recently concluded First Forum of Rectors of Universities of Russia, Brazil and the Republic of Belarus was mentioned in welcoming addresses by Deputy Minister of Education of the Federative Republic of Brazil Alexandre Brasil Carvalho da Fonseca and Chairman of the Republican Council of Rectors of Higher Education Institutions of Belarus, Rector of the Belarusian State University of Informatics and Radioelectronics Vadim A. Bogush.
The rector of Ain Shams University (Egypt), Saleh Hashem Mostafa Abdel Razek, the rector of the University of Sharjah (UAE), Hamid M.K. Al-Naimiy and a great friend of Moscow University, its Honorary Professor, President of the Association of Arab Universities Amr Ezzat Salama spoke about the importance of inter-university cooperation. The floor was also given to the rector of Shahid Beheshti University, the head of the Secretariat for Scientific and Technological Cooperation with Russia and Central Asian Countries, Seyed Mahmoud Reza Aghamiri (Iran). MSU graduate, rector of Girijananda Chowdhury University (India), Kandarpa Das addressed the audience with greetings on behalf of the extensive university community of his country, which today includes more than 1000 state, regional, specialized and private universities.
MSU graduate Cui Shan, President of the Russian-Chinese Foundation for the Development of Culture and Education, recalled the important role of education and science in developing the partnership of the countries of the association. The Chairman of the Ethiopian Community in Moscow, President of the Union of African Diasporas in Russia, Zenebe Kinfu Tafesse greeted his colleagues in Russian, the language of Pushkin, which connects Russia and Ethiopia. Vice-Rector of the University of South Africa, Solomon Magano called on universities to unite in a pride like lions, cooperate, establish and maintain partnerships, because otherwise even a hyena can defeat a lion.
“Today, BRICS is one of the leading associations, the economic, political, and resource potential of which is only increasing. We see how BRICS’s authority is growing in the world. In 2024, Russia chairs BRICS, and I am glad that our today’s Forum of rectors of the association’s countries is included in the official plan of events and is being held for the first time at Moscow University,” said Victor A. Sadovnichy in his presentation. He expressed confidence that the rectors community will definitely make a major contribution to the development of cooperation in this multilateral space.
In order to properly understand the place and role of universities in the modern world, a pilot version of the BRICS university ranking has been prepared with the active participation of the Russian side. This is the RUR’s contribution to increasing the authority of the university community and its importance in the socio-economic development of the countries of the association. The pilot version of a ranking is based on the methodology of the “Three University Missions” ranking, which is currently the most representative in terms of coverage. The sample included 825 universities of the BRICS countries, with representation of all participants of the association. The ranking turned out to be well balanced, the analysis of results allows us to identify the strengths of the universities of the countries of the association.
Academician Victor A. Sadovnichy presented to the Forum participants a monograph entitled “BRICS Development in the Context of Global Dynamics: Challenges and Prospects,” dedicated to the functioning of the association. It develops the provisions of the report “Overcoming the Limits to Growth” previously prepared by MSU scientists for the Club of Rome. Using mathematical modeling, the authors of the monograph prove that the tasks of putting civilization on a sustainable development trajectory are quite solvable with coordinated actions by BRICS countries. “We have proven that by 2030, the BRICS countries, as the vanguard of the formation of a new world order, have every chance to overtake the “Golden Billion” countries in the economic, educational and even technological spheres.” In this regard, it is the establishment of strategic interaction in science, innovation, and personnel training that plays a major role.
In conclusion, the rector invited all participants of the Forum to the celebrations of the 270th anniversary of Moscow University, the center of which will be a gala evening at the State Kremlin Palace.
The first step towards BRICS scientific and academic cooperation in studying the issues of international information security
Six session meetings were held within the framework of the BRICS Universities Rectors’ Forum on October 18.
A new direction of inter-university cooperation was proposed by the National Association for International Information Security and the Faculty of Computational Mathematics and Cybernetics of the Lomonosov Moscow State University. They jointly held a session entitled “Establishing a Framework for regular interaction between academia of the BRICS countries on issues of international information security.”
The session saw participation of the Dean of the Faculty of Computational Mathematics and Cybernetics at MSUIgor A. Sokolov, President of NAIIS Boris N. Miroshnikov, Scientific Director of NAIIS Vladislav P. Sherstyuk, Vice-Rector of the State University of Belarus Victor P. Kochin, Representative of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation Irina A. Tyazhlova, Professor of the Faculty of Computational Mathematics and Cybernetics at MSU Ruslan L. Smelyanskiy, Associate Professor of the Faculty of Political Science at MSU Sergey N. Fedorchenko, Vice-President of NAIIS Anatoly A. Streltsov, Professor of MGIMO Anatoly I. Smirnov.
The speakers presented a wide range of possible areas of joint research in this new area of interdisciplinary knowledge and proposed formats for cooperation.
The participants recognized the need to popularize the issues at question and expand the dialogue, adopting the following Key Conclusions of the session:
The rapid development of advanced technologies increases the digital divide between states and significantly increases the risks to national sovereignty. These risks and measures to counter them were discussed at the 10th meeting of the BRICS Working Group on Security in the Use of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT), held in Moscow in April 2024.
In the context of the aggravation of the geopolitical situation, the challenge of creating an international information security system is rapidly gaining importance on the BRICS agenda. Its goal is to build an open, safe, stable, accessible and peaceful digital environment based on the principles of sovereign equality and non-interference in the internal affairs of states.
In this context, the need to integrate the activities of BRICS member countries in forming a transnational information security system is becoming increasingly obvious.
The BRICS Universities Rectors’ Forum advocates for the integration of efforts in the development of science, technology and innovations, the implementation of joint scientific research results, technology transfer, cooperation between technology parks, increasing the mobility of academic staff and students to strengthen national potential in the ICT environment and ensure international information security. The BRICS Network University, whose priorities include the development of ICT and ensuring information security, should play a key role in this process.
Lomonosov Moscow State University, as the organizer of the BRICS University Rectors’ Forum, proposes to develop cooperation in various formats, including on the basis of the International Information Security Research Consortium which was created on its initiative.
