On 17 – 18 December 2022, a JINR delegation led by Special Representative of the Director of the Institute for cooperation with international and Russian scientific organizations Boris Sharkov, took part in the Forum for Foreign Graduates of Soviet and Russian Universities, Representatives of the Education System in the Middle East and Africa in Cairo, organized by the Federal Agency for the Commonwealth of Independent States, Compatriots Living Abroad, and for International Humanitarian Cooperation (Rossotrudnichestvo).

Heads and Members of Alumni Associations of Soviet and Russian universities, representatives of Russian and foreign universities, as well as ministries and departments of Egypt and other countries of Africa and the Middle East attended the Forum.

The JINR delegation took an active part in the Forum. Boris Sharkov made an overview report on JINR and moderated a round table on the interaction of science, education, and industry. Head of the national group of Egyptian employees at JINR, Wael Badawy continued, with a report on the topic “Training and information activities of JINR in cooperation with Egypt”.

During a plenary session and round tables held within the framework of the Forum, issues related to the prospects of cooperation between Russian educational and scientific organizations with the countries of the Middle East and Africa, the potential of graduates of Soviet and Russian universities as a driving force of regional cooperation, as well as the possibilities of Russian educational and research organizations for training personnel for Partner Countries from the MENA Region. Elena Badawy, representing the International Cooperation Department, made a presentation at the round table on opportunities of JINR in this direction.

In the framework of the Forum, Boris Sharkov took part in a meeting with the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Russian Federation to the Arab Republic of Egypt, Georgiy Borisenko. The delegation also held a number of talks with representatives of universities and research organizations in Egypt and heads of alumni associations of Soviet and Russian universities in the Middle East and North Africa region.

On the sidelines of the Forum, meetings were held with representatives of Rosatom and partners from Tomsk Polytechnic University, on whose platform the JINR Information Centre was opened on 12 December. During the meetings, agreements were reached on the development of partnership in the field of research, educational activities, and personnel training of JINR, Rosatom, and TPU, and a visit of colleagues from Rosatom and TPU to the Institute was planned to be early next year.

During their stay in Cairo, the JINR delegation met with Plenipotentiary Representative of Egypt in JINR, President of the Egyptian Academy of Scientific Research and Technology Mahmoud Sakr, as well as the Head of the Egyptian Atomic Energy Authority, member of the Scientific Council of the Institute Amr el-Hagg Ali.

The subject of discussion were such topics as the implementation of the decisions of the 12th Joint Coordination Committee of JINR-ARE, held in November 2022 in Hurghada on the sidelines of the visiting session of the Committee of Plenipotentiaries, the preparation of cooperation programmes, the development of full-scale interaction, the organization of the arrival of Egyptian personnel in JINR, and the intensification of academic exchanges.

Participation in the Forum enriched JINR with new contacts with representatives of the research and educational community of both Egypt, the Member States of the Institute, and other countries of the Middle East and North Africa. Due to the wide representation of Russian universities, the range of interaction with partner universities of the country where the Institute is located has also expanded, in particular, with TPU, RUDN, LETI, etc.