Chizhik wants share of NASB foreign contracts at 30%

The scientists of the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus (NASB) have been set a set to increase the share of foreign contracts minimum to 30% of the total volume, First Deputy Chairman of the Presidium of the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus Sergei Chizhik told an online conference hosted by BelTA on 16 January.

“We believe that about 30% of our financing should come from abroad today. In the recent years we have been staying at an approximately one level in foreign contracts – over $40 million on a yearly basis,” Sergei Chizhik said.

Today the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus has framework cooperation agreements with 75 countries and concrete contracts with about 40 countries. “Every year the academy holds 50-70 conferences with foreign participation. Foreigners come here to study, our scientists go abroad for training,” Sergei Chizhik said. In his words, last year the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus elected new foreign members for the first time in the last 15 years. These are three prominent scientists: academician Anton Zeilinger, president of the Austrian Academy of Sciences, Professor Chau Van Minh, president of the Vietnam Academy of Science and Technology, and academician Alexander Aseyev, vice president of the Russian Academy of Sciences, chairman of the Siberian Office of the Russian Academy of Sciences.

According to Sergei Chizhik, the academy is currently busy with updating the country strategy. “There are a lot of countries in the world and we understand that we should concentrate and work on the most promising areas,” he said.