German-Russian Year of Science 2011/12

The cooperation in education, research and technology is a crucial pillar of German-Russian relations. In order to further strengthen the partnership, a “German-Russian Year of Education, Science and Innovation” was held successfully in 2011/2012.

Logo German-Russian Year

The German-Russian Year of Science took place from May 2011 to May 2012, was themed around “Partnership of Ideas” and involved more than 200 events. The priorities included basic physics research, optical technologies, marine and polar research, information and communication technologies and biological research and biotechnology. German-Russian cooperation in vocational education promoted the establishment of bilateral vocational education partnerships, and innovation partnerships were able to speed up the process of transferring research results to marketable products.

Special focus was also put on fostering young talent. The qualification of young scientists in both countries was supported by German-Russian exchange programmes and university partnerships. In addition, “Russia Weeks” were held at 18 selected German universities in order to foster greater awareness among students, scientists and the general public of the potential of German-Russian cooperation in higher education. German and Russian scientific organisations, research institutions and universities, and not least the ministries of the two countries, have worked on further expanding relations in the areas of education, research and innovation, and have officially confirmed this in numerous agreements.

The “Russia Country Campaign”, which took place from 2012 to early 2014 as part of the initiative “Advertising Germany as a location for innovation” under the umbrella brand “Research in Germany” was based on the German-Russian Year of Education, Science and Innovation 2011/12. Its objective was to further strengthen bilateral cooperation in research and science organisations. The country campaign supported the marketing projects of German research institutions and innovative companies. It focused on Optical Technologies, Nanotechnology, Resource Efficiency and Health.