Baikal State University officially signed the Agreement on joining the
consortium "Russian-African Network University" (RANU), which is a platform for
the development of academic cooperation between Russian and African
universities.
According to Valery Falkov, Minister of Science and Higher Education of the
Russian Federation, RANU today plays the role of a bridge of friendship between
Russian and African students. The establishment of the Russian-African Network
University will contribute to strengthening cooperation in education, science
and economic development between our country and the states of the African
continent.
Today RANU includes 70 universities from the Russian country and 31 from the
African country. The main objectives of the participating organizations are to
create joint educational programs, new forms of interuniversity cooperation,
develop academic mobility of students, promote intercultural dialogue, as well
as the preservation and mutual enrichment of cultures, languages and national
traditions.
According to Mikhail Kuz’min, vice-rector for international activities, BSU
is developing cooperation with ten countries of the African continent. Every
year the number of African students at the university increases by more than
30%. BSU participation in the Russian-African Network University will allow to
intensify this process and ensure a greater presence of the university in the
African market. This is due to the fact that African students, when choosing an
educational institution, are guided both by the presence of the university in
this organization and the possibility of priority admission to a Russian
university when graduating from an African university - RANU participant.
In the future, Russian and African students will have the opportunity to
receive bachelor's, specialist's and master's degrees from several consortium
members at once. Also under the auspices of RANU joint scientific and
scientific-practical events, as well as project and grant activities will be
organized.