Aiming to boost development and cooperation within research, representatives of research organisations from the Visegrad Four countries (Slovakia, the Czech Republic, Hungary and Poland) and Japan signed a memorandum on cooperation at the Japanese Embassy in Bratislava on September 23 afternoon.
The signatories of the document – representatives of the Slovak Academy of Sciences (SAV), the Czech Education, Youth and Physical Education Ministry, the Hungarian Scientific Research Fund, Poland’s National Centre for Research and Development, Japan’s Science and Technology Development Agency and the International Visegrad Fund –stated that by signing the memorandum, they have laid the foundations for joint research projects and opened the door to new opportunities within the field of scientific cooperation.
SAV Chairman Jaromír Pastorek told the TASR newswire that the idea of launching cooperation with Japanese researchers originated in Slovakia. “Science can’t function without partnerships, and it’s a big advantage to work with the best, he said, adding that although the Japanese agreed to the move, they asked for even further cooperation that would include the other Visegrad Four countries.
Visegrad Fund Executive Director Karla Wursterová told TASR that this is a historic moment because the negotiations that preceded the signing of the memorandum took years. “It will be most vital now to implement meaningful projects that will have a real impact and will contribute towards disseminating and boosting science in these countries,” she said, according to TASR.
(Source: TASR)
Compiled by Zuzana Vilikovská from press reports
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