Partnership development with South Africa: prospects for joint projects within the framework of the RAFU were discussed at Polytechnic University
A representative delegation from the Republic of South Africa paid a working visit to Peter the Great St. Petersburg Polytechnic University. The delegation included key representatives of government agencies in the field of science, technology and innovation, led by Masoka Buti Cecil, Acting Chief Director for International Bilateral Cooperation at the Department of Science, Technology and Innovation (DSTI).
The visit was an important step in strengthening scientific and educational cooperation between SPbPU and South African partners within the framework of Polytechnic University’s activities as coordinator of the Russian-African Network University (RAFU). During the meeting with Dmitry Arseniev, Vice Rector for International Affairs of SPbPU, and representatives of the university, the parties discussed a wide range of issues.
During the negotiations, special attention was paid to the development of joint research projects in such priority areas as space technologies, additive technologies, biotechnologies, ecology and clean waters, digital engineering and new materials. The guests visited the leading laboratories of the Higher School of Applied Physics and Space Technologies, the AES Digital Engineering laboratory and the IMM&T laboratory, where they got acquainted with the advanced scientific infrastructure and developments of polytechnics.
Successful examples of cooperation in the past were noted, including the successful joint project with the University of Venda within the framework of the BRICS-RFBR 2019 program, as well as the active participation of South African students in the Winter University of Engineering program — in 2024, 25 students from more than 10 universities of South Africa participated in the winter school. During the discussion, the parties outlined concrete steps to expand cooperation, including the launch of joint educational programs, academic exchanges, support for postgraduate programs through the international Olympiad «Open Doors: Russian scholarship project» and the implementation of innovative projects aimed at commercializing research results. The parties were particularly interested in the prospects of cooperation within the framework of the Russian-African Network University (RAFU), coordinated by SPbPU from Russia. The visit of the delegation from the Republic of South Africa confirmed the mutual interest in strengthening and bringing the long-standing partnership to a qualitatively new level.
The program of the official visit of the South African delegation continued in Moscow, where the 14th meeting of the Joint Russian-South African Commission on Scientific and Technical Cooperation was held, chaired by Ksenia Trinchenko, Director of the Department of International Cooperation at the Ministry of Science and Higher Education of the Russian Federation, and Cecil Masoka, Director of the Department of Science, Technology and Innovation of the Republic of South Africa.
Maxim Zalyvsky, Head of the Russian-African Network University Project Office, took part in the work of the commission. He made a presentation on «RAFU and the implementation of scientific and technological interuniversity projects in Russia and South Africa in cooperation with industrial partners,» presenting the results of RAFU’s activities and informing about plans to implement a joint scientific and educational project with PAO PhosAgro in the Republic of South Africa.