International Forum of Russian Speaking Scientists

Science has no borders. The Maxwell equations are the same anywhere on the planet. In almost any laboratory in the world, one can find researchers and students of different nationalities. For a long time, Russian (more exactly Soviet) scientists were isolated from the international scientific community. Reforms in Russia opened the doors and currently many former Soviet Union scientists are successful in leading universities, research centers, and industry world-wide. The common culture, scientific background, and heritage provide a strong mutual attraction for Russian speaking scientists. The language is a strong common denominator.

The Russian-speaking community originating from the top scientific schools of the former Soviet Union has reached a critical mass which calls for the creation of a broader network. The workshop “On the Way to Nanotechnology Revolution” (NTR2008) attended by 50 former Soviet Union scientists from the leading Universities and research centers of Europe, America, Asia, and Australia has demonstrated a strong interest in creating such a network.

A unanimous decision has been reached [at the NTR2008 workshop] to create the Association of Russian-speaking scientists to open new opportunities for expertise exchange and collaborations within this community. The future association will help its members to start new projects, advertise their innovations and job offers, to post resumes and to meet various needs in collaboration, career and business development. Russian speaking high tech innovators have valuable resources, such as access to research funding, market, and investors, as well as intellectual property and business development expertise. The Association will also provide an opportunity for social and cultural interactions based on common origin and heritage.

An informal and open discussion has revealed various opportunities for collaboration between the Association and Russian scientific and educational organizations. The organizers and participants of NTR2008 suggest the following:

• Create an Association of Russian speaking scientists
• Establish a Coordination Committee of the Association
• Create a web portal of the Association

The Association will also

• Develop information sources for the needs of the Association and its partners
• Organize regular scientific conferences and networking meetings
• Establish partnership with the Russian nanotechnology community Russian research centres, and the Russian Ministry of Science and Education
• Provide independent expert evaluations

For further information, suggestions and initiatives, please, contact Vyacheslav Safarov (safarov{at}ntr2008.com)