COUNCIL OF RECTORS OF THE CIS LEADING AGRICULTURAL UNIVERSITIES
A regular meeting of the Council of Rectors of the CIS agricultural universities took place on June 15 in the format of a video conference.
The meeting was opened by the Chairman of the Council, the Chairman of the Management Board - Rector of the Kazakh National Agrarian Research University, Vice-President of the National Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Kazakhstan, academician Tlektes Espolov. He introduced the participants - there were 19 universities from 10 countries. Rector Vitaly Velikanov, first vice-rector Andrei Kolmykov, vice-rector for scientific work Yuri Tibets, vice-rector for educational work Mikhail Volkov, head of the department for international cooperation Svetlana Noskova represented BSAA in the conference.
Like previous meetings held online, the agenda of the current one was also "dictated" by COVID-19. And although it is too early to talk about the victory over the pandemic, the topic of business conversation was "Prospects for the development of agricultural education and science in the epidemiological period". Setting the tone of the discussion, Tlektes Espolov outlined the main requirements for modern universities, which, in his opinion, should work ahead of the curve, be constantly on trend, and increase the level of training of high-class specialists. Without the formation of a new university model, it is impossible to solve these and many other problems in modern conditions. T.I. Yespolov made a brief presentation of his research type university. The leading agricultural university of Kazakhstan received this status last year. Talking about new projects, the implementation of which is being worked out by the KazNAU team, T.Espolov named "Water HUB." This International Research Centre is linked to the problem of drinking water and is closely involved in the watering of livestock pastures and land irrigation. The Aral Sea Rescue Fund had been established and was working closely with a number of the world's leading universities and international projects. In cooperation with the Ministry of Education of Kazakhstan, the center is also engaged in the education of farm owners.
Another Kazakh-American project, also directly related to this problem, is called "Smart Water" and deals with irrigation agriculture. The Kazakh-Korean project "Smart Greenhouse" is connected with the greenhouses of the 5th generation; a joint project with the Austrian company "Smart Farm" is "integrated" into dairy farming. In total, 18 international research centers have been created and operate within KazNAU, among which there is one Kazakh-Belarusian, 13 research institutes, agrotech hubs and other formats.
T.I. Espolov shared information that several unique projects started in the framework of the celebration of the 30th anniversary of Kazakhstan's independence. Among them there are such projects as "30 best young scientists," "30 good deeds," "30 best patents," etc. In the world ranking, the leading agricultural university of Kazakhstan takes 551st position.
The participants of the video conference were warmly welcomed by the poet, writer, political figure Olzhas Suleimenov and Chairman of the Board of the National Agrarian Scientific and Educational Center of the Ministry of Agriculture of Kazakhstan, Professor Gulmira Isaeva. In the business discussion, these famous people of Kazakhstan added congratulations to Tlektes Espolov on the occasion of his birthday.
Giving the floor to BSAA rector, Vitaly Velikanov, T.I. Yespolov spoke respectfully about the elder of agrarian education and science, which celebrated its 180th anniversary last year, calling BSAA the greatest educational establishment in Belarus. Vitaly Velikanov introduced the leaders of agricultural universities of the CIS to the informatization process at the academy. He spoke about its main directions, the creation and updating of the technical base and software, which is used not only in education, international and scientific cooperation, but also in the organization of leisure activities of students and employees of the university. The rector stressed that introducing them, BSAA uses not only advanced Belarusian, but also world experience. He told his colleagues that according to the results of the Webometrics rating system, the academy rose from 19th to 14th position among all Belarusian universities over the year, and among agricultural ones, it ranks first.
The heads of other leading agricultural universities of the CIS also made interesting presentations at the conference. The outcome of the discussion of the prospects for the development of agricultural education and science in the post-epidemiological period was the decision taken by the Council of Rectors. It contains a number of specific recommendations to universities, including the need to create an environment for creative and initiative research that meets international standards; increased cooperation among institutions of higher education; development of joint educational programmes and dual diploma programmes; winter and summer schools organization, internships for young scientists, doctoral students, postgraduate students and undergraduates work in research laboratories and centres that have been accredited, etc. A separate item in the decision spells out the development of digitalization to create electronic agriculture, "smart agriculture" and "smart village."
The next meeting of the Council is scheduled to be held in October 2021 on the basis of the Tajik State Agrarian University named after Shirin Shoh Shotemur, dedicated to the 90th anniversary of the organization.
Lyudmila GONCHAROVA.
Photo: Alexander GURIKOV.
