NSU has signed a cooperation agreement with the Center for Public Diplomacy which, under an agreement with Rossotrudnichestvo, is forming a network of Russia Houses in West African countries. The new agreement will allow the University to more actively promote educational programs on the African continent and increase the number of students from the region.
Natalya Krasovskaya, Executive Director of the Center for Public Diplomacy, explained,
We have already opened a Russia House in Burkina Faso and are preparing to open others in Nigeria and Mali. Our objective is to build direct contact between universities and organize internship and training programs and preparatory courses. We have a wide range of projects that we are planning to launch. Today I am very pleased to have signed an agreement with one of the leading universities in Russia. I think that very effective cooperation awaits us.
Mikhail Fedoruk, NSU Rector and Russian Academy of Sciences Academician, noted,
We are interested in expanding cooperation with Africa. In my opinion, this is a step in the right direction. We must, of course, attract motivated African students to study with us. Promoting Russian education abroad is an instrument of soft power, which fits into the current foreign policy of our country.
According to Evgeniy Sagaidak, Head of the NSU Education Export Department, NSU plans to develop cooperation with African universities in the following areas:
· Development and implementation of joint educational Bachelor’s and Master’s programs with two diplomas in management, mathematics, and information technology;
· Organizing and conducting popular science lectures on the natural sciences;
· Organization of 3-6 months scientific internships with famous scientists in natural sciences.
