The Global Research Council is comprised of the heads of research funding agencies from around the world and carries out international cooperation and inter-organizational experience exchange. The Science Development Foundation participated in GRC European regional meetings since 2015 and took part in the GRC's 6th Annual Meeting in Canada in 2017.
Russian Foundation for Basic Research (RFBR) and Korean National Research Foundation (NRC) were the organizers of the 7th Annual Meeting where such key issues as peer/merit review and science diplomacy have been discussed by participants.
The opening ceremony was attended by Aide to the President of the Russian Federation Andrei Fursenko, Deputy Minister of the Education and Science Grigory Trubnikov, Chairman of the Russian State Duma Committee for International Affairs Leonid Slutsky, Chairman of the Council of Russian Foundation for Basic Research Academician Vladislav Panchenko, President of the US National Science Foundation Dr. France Cordova as well as the President of the Korean National Research Foundation Dr.Jin Ho Seo.
The Summit was attended by 160 participants from 86 countries. Issues of strengthening international scientific cooperation and the role of women in science were discussed separately at the sessions on May 14th. After that, agenda of the 8th Annual Meeting of the GRC, to be held in 2019 in Brazil's Sao Paulo, was discussed and adopted as well as the new president and vice-presidents of the GRC were elected. Following issues were also discussed at the General Meeting:
- Open access for scientists to digital databases on scientific research, also establishing a common ground and standards for these databases;
- Participation in international bilateral and multilateral joint programs;
- Establishment of international standards of expertise;
- Interdisciplinary research;
- Joint use of the scientific infrastructure;
- Research managing practices and tools, technological platforms and eligibility criteria for participation in multilateral programs;
- Climate, ecology, high-tech medicine, technogenic and natural disasters, etc.
Within the framework of the 7th Annual l Meeting of the GRC, the European Regional Meeting also held on May 14th 2018. At this meeting a decision about holding the next GRC European Regional Meeting in Austria has been adopted, then several issues on the agenda were discussed, and an election has been held for the vacant seat for the Board.
At the meetings of the working groups the speeches of the participating countries were listened, as well as the general platform has been discussed. Elchin Babayev represented the Foundation at the discussions on "Science diplomacy."
During the visit, Elchin Babayev held short-term meetings with the heads of several foundations and scientific councils from miscellaneous countries (Israel, Austria, Belarus, Iran, Turkey etc.) and discussed opportunities for cooperation.
A roundtable on the topic of “Neighbors in Research” was also held on May 14th, 2018, as a side event of the Annual Meeting. The roundtable covered issues such as cooperation between former Soviet states, as well as several neighboring countries (Mongolia, Iran, Korea, Turkey), existing potentials, and researches on mega-science.
During the event, participants also visited the well-known National Research Center "Kurchatov Institute" on May 14, they were given detailed information about the work of synchrotron accelerator and other modern equipment.
On May 16, 2018 at the Board Meeting of the Eurasian Astronomical Society (EAAS) in the State Astronomical Institute of the Moscow State University named after M.V Lomonosov, Executive Director Elchin Babayev submitted his report on the current state of scientific researches in Azerbaijan, grant funding, and researches in the field of astronomy.
Resource: Azərtac
