The Third German-Russian Forum of Young Scientists was held from July 21 to July 26 in Bonn. The Forum was organized by the German National Academy of Science “Leopoldina”, Russian Academy of Science, Council of Young Scientists of the Russian Academy of Science and Young Academy of Germany.

Over 40 participants representing various universities and scientific institutions from Russian and German cities took part in the Forum. Kazan was represented by Ekaterina Alekseeva, an Associate Professor of the German Language Department of the Institute of Language of Kazan Federal University. She made an oral report on the topic “German and Russian psycholinguistic studies: current state and prospects” in the framework of the scientific session conducted in the science slam format.

On the first day of the Forum its participants heard reports of the Secretary General of the German National Academy of Science “Leopoldina”, European Commission members, DAAD and Young Academy of Germany. The speakers emphasized importance of international cooperation in the sphere of science, gave examples of successful projects, outlined prospects.

On the second day the audience was offered reports devoted to problems of the transitional period, as well as to its economic, migration and scientific aspects. On the same day the Forum participants visited the University of Cologne, where they heard reports made by representatives of the German Scientific Research Society (DFG) and the Scientific Council of Germany. The speech made by the Rector of the University of Cologne, Prof. A. Freimut, aroused the most intense interest with the attendees. He shared the experience gained by the University of Cologne during its participation in the national program “Exсellence Initiative”, which was aimed at supporting leading German universities and scientific institutions in their scientific and educational activity.

On the following day of the Forum its participants got a unique opportunity to visit the Scientific Research Centre “Jülich”, which is famous for its researches in the spheres of physics, biochemistry, power engineering, surrounding world and human health studies. The young scientists were welcomed by the member of the Board of Directors of the Centre, representative of the Scientific Alliance of Jülich and Achen, Director of the Joint Research Centre of the European Commission. The reports attracted attention of the audience, and a lot of counter-questions were asked. The majority of young scientists were interested in technologies applied for conducting world-level scientific researches and opportunities of their results publishing in the leading magazines. It was noted that the situation concerning equipment available in Russian universities and scientific institutions had significantly improved, however, a serious deficiency of highly qualified scientific staff that could operate it was still observed. This gap could be filled in with the assistance of German colleagues in the framework of bilateral cooperation. Short- and long-term probation trainings in German universities and scientific centres can be a possible solution of this problem.

A trip to Cologne concluded the Forum program.