The development of cooperation in science and education with Switzerland is the focus of the rectorate of Ural Federal University today - a delegation led by Ambassador Krystyna Marty Lang visited the university. The diplomat gave a lecture on sustainable development and opened an exhibition at the Ural Federal University main building.

"Not only natural sciences and engineering, but also economics and the social sciences and humanities are priorities for the two countries. Joint grants from Russian and Swiss research foundations remain the most effective tools we have," the ambassador said.

Bilateral discussions also included measures to increase academic exchanges and the possibility of scholarship programs: Switzerland offers 25 scholarships for Russian students.

"In the opinion of our scientists and professors, cooperation with the University of Basel will be most effective for both sides. Taking advantage of the fact that the delegation includes a well-known expert on the rights of persons with disabilities, Professor Markus Schäfer from the University of Basel, we have prepared a separate program for him in our Center for Inclusive Education," emphasized First Vice Rector of the UrFU Dmitry Bugrov.

Professor Schäfer, in turn, said that despite the fact that his field is jurisprudence, he sees bio- and nanotechnology as a strength of the University of Basel, where, together with colleagues from Ural Federal University, Swiss researchers could achieve success. Schäfer identifies exchange programs for undergraduate and, first and foremost, graduate students as a prospect for systemic cooperation.

Reference

Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Swiss Confederation in the Russian Federation Krystyna Marty Lang was a delegate of the International Committee of the Red Cross in Sri Lanka and Bosnia and Herzegovina, held positions in the Swiss Federal Department of Foreign Affairs. She has worked at the Swiss Embassy in India, served as deputy chief of mission at the Swiss Embassy in Uzbekistan, China and was Swiss Ambassador to Kosovo.

Markus Schäfer is Professor in the Department of Constitutional Law at the University of Basel and has been working for the UN Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities since 2018.

Ural Federal University is one of the leading universities in Russia that celebrated its 100th anniversary in 2020. UrFU is located in Yekaterinburg, the capital of the World Summer Student Games 2023. The University has initiated the establishment of the Ural Interregional Research and Education Center — ‘Advanced Industrial Technologies and Materials’ and is its project office designed for solving tasks of "Science" National Project.

Excerpt from UrFU: https://urfu.ru/en/news/38310/