Additional CIS-Countries

Political framework for cooperation in education and research

In addition to Germany’s close relations with the Russian Federation and Ukraine, there are a wide range of scientific collaborations at individual and institutional level with partners from other CIS member states and Georgia (Georgia withdrew from the CIS in summer 2008). The Central Asian countries in particular (Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan) are becoming increasingly important in European and international politics. Against this backdrop, the Federal Government initiated an EU Strategy for Central Asia during Germany’s EU Council Presidency in the first half of 2007. It provides the first political guidelines for increased European commitment in Central Asia. Scientific and technological cooperation with Central Asian countries plays a particularly important role in these efforts. Some countries, such as Kazakhstan, have a high level of economic growth and will start investing more in the development of their national research systems. The BMBF would like to take advantage of this opportunity to increase its scientific cooperation with the region. The BMBF is also very interested in intensifying scientific cooperation with (former) CIS members that are also Eastern target countries of the European neighbourhood policy (particularly Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia and Moldova). 

Basis and key areas of cooperation

The basis of Germany’s cooperation with the CIS and Georgia is the STC agreement that was concluded in 1987 between the Federal Republic of Germany and what was then the Soviet Union. Joint declarations with Belarus in 1996 and Uzbekistan in 1998 confirmed Germany’s willingness to cooperate with the two countries on the basis of this agreement. In 2008, the BMBF signed a memorandum with the Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Moldova in which an intensification of cooperation in research and education was agreed. A first joint call for proposals for joint projects between German and Moldovan researchers was issued in spring 2008.
The most important areas of cooperation are:

Applications in the following priority subject areas are especially likely to receive funding:

The environment and sustainability

• Water resources management 
• Environmental technologies 
• Desertification 
• Biodiversity

Geotechnology

• Resource exploration 
• CO2 storage 
• Natural hazards

Health research and biosciences

• Infectious diseases: monitoring, detection, prevention 
• Phytochemistry (pharmaceutical products) 
• Biotechnology: particularly green biotechnology / renewable raw materials

Chemical technologies

• Catalysis research

Examples of scientific and technological cooperation

In Kazakhstan, the BMBF – together with the Federal Foreign Office – is supporting the German-Kazakh University (DKU) as part of the “Courses offered by German universities abroad” programme. The DKU currently offers 14 degree courses, most of them in the fields of economic and social sciences as well as engineering. During his state visit in September 2008, which took place under the motto "Educational bridges to the heart of Central Asia", Federal President Horst Köhler also paid a visit to the DKU. The BMBF is providing €3 million in funding to the DKU. Between 2008 and 2011, 9 bachelor’s and master’s degree courses are being run.
´
To strengthen university cooperation between Germany and Kazakhstan, the BMBF supported the First German-Kazakh University Forum in Almaty in October 2008. The university forum was organized by the University Rectors' Conference (HRK) and the association of universities of the Republic of Kazakhstan.

The BMBF is currently funding the third phase of a collaborative project (2007-2011) in the field of development research / sustainability for the economic and ecological restructuring of land and water use in the Khorezm region in Uzbekistan. The project is being carried out in cooperation with the University of Bonn (ZEF), the German Aerospace Center (DLR) and UNESCO. The aim of the project is to lay the foundations for modern and environmentally friendly agriculture in the Aral Sea region, thus counteracting the shortage of drinking water that is a result of the increasing desertification of the region.

The first German-Uzbek workshop on plant biotechnology took place in October 2008. The aim of the workshop was to exchange information about research priorities and to identify potential thematic priorities for future collaborative projects between individual institutes. Cenral Asian flora features a large number of plants with great potential for the production of pharmaceutical components, much of which has yet to be researched in depth. Central Asia is also the place of origin and the diversity centre of numerous globally cultivated plants and boasts a large reservoir of plant genetic resources (older varieties of useful plants and related wild varieties) that can be used for the development of new cultivars. Central Asia has special climatic conditions (precipitation, aridity, temperature, soil humidity) that are ideal for research into new plant varieties.

A further important example of cooperation in the region is the “Central Asian Institute for Applied Geosciences" (CAIAG). The GeoForschungszentrumsPotsdam (GFZ) and the Kyrgyzstani Government are the founding members and main supporters of this institute. It was opened in Bishkek (Kyrgyzstan) on 21 August 2008.

Further examples of cooperation projects funded by the BMBF are:

• Cooperation with Kazakhstan in the field of laser technologies (F+E Technologiebroker Bremen GmbH / Al-Farabi Kazakh National University)
• Desertification monitoring and its effects on CO2 emissions in Central Kazakhstan (University of Göttingen / Remote Sensing Laboratory of the Academy of Sciences in Kazakhstan)
• Ecosystem services and sustainable use of ecosystems in the arid regions of Central Asia (University of Greifswald / Desert Institute, Turkmenistan)
• Development of a mycobacteria database for interdisciplinary research into multiresistant tuberculosis strains in Georgia and Armenia (Koch-Metschnikow Forum / National Reference Laboratory for Tuberculosis in Georgia)
• Sustainable, environmentally friendly, decentralized technological infrastructure for remote tourist areas in emerging countries in Eastern Europe; example: Borjomi National Park in Georgia (Knoten Weimar GmbH / Georgian State Agriculture University)
• New types of polymer-bound organo-stereo selectors from renewable resources: synthesis and application in asymmetric catalysis (University of Erlangen / Chemistry Institute of the Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Moldova)

The BMBF is also active in the coordination of multilateral cooperation projects with Central Asian countries at European level.  Through its International Bureau, the BMBF is involved in the EU project “S&T International Cooperation Network for Eastern European and Central Asian Countries” (IncoNet EECA). The central goal of this IncoNet is to establish a political dialogue between the EU Member States and their Eastern European and Central Asian neighbours in the areas of research and development and to improve the integration of scientists from this region into the European Research Area.