experiences gained with scopes research partnerships with partners from switzerland ... ·...

Berne, 16 February 2006 - Reinhard Lässig - [email protected]

Experiences gained with SCOPES research partnerships with partners from Switzerland

and Eastern Europe

Reinhard LässigSwiss Federal Institute for Forest,

Snow and Landscape Research WSL8903 Birmensdorf


Thanks70 project co-ordinators and project partners in East and West for your appreciated interviews and

for the excellent photos

Irmi Seidl, WSL, Interviews (Switzerland)

Alexandra Stark, Moscow, Interviews (Russia, Ukraine)

Stephan Hille, Moscow, Interviews (Belarus, Russia)

Ines Senger, Zürich, Layout

Jürg Pfister & Helen Jaisli, SNF, productionEvelyne Glättli & Annette Kimmich, SNF, Project responsibility & editing


Introduction – Why to co-operate?Success in joint research

• Technology & Innovation• Networking• Publishing

Solutions to social problems• Health• Education• Environmental risks• Nature, Agriculture, Forestry

Problems• Scientific• Politics• Staff• Project management, Administration

Conclusions

Outline

• Regional development• Social, Politics, Law• Culture• Economics


Why to co-operate?

"Partnership in research is an important investment in a jointEuropean future as it is an important contribution to betterunderstanding. And this may lead to a growing and trustworthyfriendship between Russians and Germans".

Helmut Kohl & Boris Jelzin 1997

"It makes sense to co-operate with NIS today because of still existing and outstanding S & T potential, still unknown scientific schools and technologies to be discovered by the West and a definite intent of S&T co-operation in the East to network with the West, primarily with Europe.

Charles Kleiber (Birmensdorf 2000)


Scientific institutions

Why to co-operate?

Forest Engineering Univ. Yekaterinburg

Tbilisi State University

Lomonosov Univ. Moscow

P. P. Shirshov Institute of Oceanology, Moskow


Scientists

Why to co-operate?


Society

Why to co-operate?


Why to co-operate?People


Why to co-operate?Natural ressources

Southwest Siberia Sevan Lake / Armenia

Ararat


Natural ressources

Karabasch Copper Mine (Urals)

Why to co-operate?


Technology & Innovation

Success

The microtribometer, which can measurevery fine and thin materials precisely.

"We have discovered that valuable expertiseexists in Belarus and that there are some real jewels to be found".

Nicholas Spencer, ETH Zürich

Laboratory for Surface Science and Technology ETH Zürich

Metal-Polymer Research Institute at the Belarus National Academy of Sciences, Gomel



Success

Crystal growth: New materials which can be used, for example, as insulators in power stations or in innovative cooling systems.

"In this way we are the ideal partners for each other and together can achieve more than each team separately".

Albert Furrer, PSI Villigen

PSI Villigen

Department of Physics and Condensed Matter, University of Geneva

Physics Department, Ural State University, Yekaterinburg

Institute for Metal Physics, Russian Academy of Sciences, Yekaterinburg

Institute of Nuclear Physics, Academy of Sciences of Uzbekistan

"From our point of view, SCOPES is a veryimportant piece of a puzzle; our co-operationwith institutes in Eastern Europe is based on long-term considerations".

Albert Furrer, PSI Villigen


SuccessTechnology & Innovation

Carousel wind turbine view from the side a)

and from the top b)

Fabian BrütschSupervising Professors: A. Amiryan (Jerevan), A. Steinfeld (ETH Zürich)



Success

Heinz Weber’s group wants to improve the efficiency of lasers so that they can be used in surgery.

"We have discovered how lasers can burn microchannels in even the hardest surfaces. If the channels are filled with lubricant, this reduces friction".

Vitali Konov, Moscow

Institute of Applied Physics, University of Berne

General Physics Institute, Russian Academy of Sciences, Moskow

"You need completely transparent artificial crystals to make lasers with a good beam quality, and our partners in Russia are specialised in making them."

Heinz Weber, Univ. of Berne

Vitali Konov



Success

Development of new substrates for an application called photoaffinity labelling.

"During our investigations we discovered a new class of molecules that had not been described before".

Thomas Bally, Univ. Fribourg

Institute of Physical Chemistry, University of Fribourg

Institute of Chemical Kinetic and Combustion, Russian Academy of Sciences, Novosibirsk

Institute of Bioorganic Chemistry, Russian Academy of Sciences , Novosibirsk

International Tomography Center, Russian Academy of Sciences , Novosibirsk

"Science is fun," Bally says. "I feel it is important to take a hands-on approach to science in order to give intellectual creativity room to develop".

Thomas Bally, Univ. Fribourg


Networking

Success

Virtual campus in hydrology and water resources (VICAIRE)

An e-learning and distance training courses in Water Resources Use and Management for students, engineers & interested scientists

Institute of Soil & Water Management, EPFL

Techn. Univ. of Civil Engineering Bucharest

Politehnica University Timisoara RO

Technical University Iasi RO

Sofia University St. Kliment Ohridski

Kharkiv State Technical University of Civil Engineering and Architecture UA

Ukrainian Scientific Research Institute of Ecological Problems Kharkiv UA

Technical University of Moldova Chisinau


Networking

Solutions

Institute of Soil & Water Management, EPFL

Techn. Univ. of Civil Engineering Bucharest

Politehnica University Timisoara RO

Technical University Iasi RO

Sofia University St. Kliment Ohridski

Kharkiv State Technical University of Civil Engineering and Architecture UA

Ukrainian Scientific Research Institute of Ecological Problems Kharkiv UA

Technical University of Moldova Chisinau

Chisinau, Moldova

Kharkiv, Ukraine

"Collaboration between the Eastern European countries in VICAIRE increasedas the project progressed".

André Musy, EPFL


NetworkingSuccess

"Forum für Wissen 2000" at WSLNatural Values in East and West "We observe a dangerous pattern in our country: every

time when our country begins to recognize the limits of an economical development that goes with the extensive exploitation of nature resources protected areas become increasingly threatened".

Evgeny A. Shvarts, WWF Moscow (Birmensdorf 2000)

Swiss Federal Inst. WSL, Birmensdorf

Ural Forest Engineering Academy, Yekaterinburg, RU

Institute for Plant and Animal Ecology, Yekaterinburg, RU

Institute of Forest and Wood, Krasnoyarsk, RU

Moscow State University, Moscow, RU

Ukrainian State University of Forestry and Wood Technology, Lviv, UA

4 International conferences [co-]organized

58 Publications of which 9 in peer-reviewedscientific journals

16 Posters

Co-authors from 5 countries and 12 institutions

Promotion of Forest and Wood Sciences in the Ural Region, in Western Siberia and in the Carpathians to Mitigate the Effects of Climate Changes on Long-term Forest Development - Strengthening of an International Network


Publishing Success

Yurii Sitenko (left), Valery Gusynin (right) and their Swiss partners have managed to publish 33 national and international publications under the SCOPES project.

Hans Beck, Institute of Physics, University of Neuchatel

Bogolubov Institute for Theoretical Physics, Ukrainian National Technical University, Kiev

Institute for Physical Research, Armenian Academy of Sciences, Ashtarak

"We became better known internationally. Today it is easier to publish our work. And because our institute publishes a lot of work, it has become easier to acquire international funding".

Yurii Sitenko, Kiev

Theory of high temperaturesuperconductors: electronicproperties, pairing interactionsand competition betweendifferent types of ordering


HealthSolutions

"Now I know what I need to tell our interns: You need to learn English!“

Svetlana Dumitras, Chisinau

Hans Leumann, University Children’s Hospital, Zürich

Institute of Clinical Pathology, University Hospital Zürich

Lviv City Children’s Hospital

Chisinau Medical University Chisinau

Medical Centre 'Arabkir' Yerevan

"Today we're a team, before we were a group of individuals and experts".

Narine Manukyan, Yerevan

"Before the project we had no computers, no Internet access and no information. The projecthas improved both our level of qualification and our work".

Iryna Derkatch, Lviv

Diagnostic techniques in paediatric renal disease


HealthSolutions

"We can’t cure these diseases, our aim is for patients and their families to have as much quality of life as possible and to enable them to live in dignity until the end".

Anna Gorchakova, Children's hospice, Minsk

Sascha, 18

Palliative care for young cancer patients. Children are suffering from the effects of radiation unleashed by the explosion of a reactor in Chernobyl in 1982.

Eva Bergsträsser, University Children's Hospital Zürich (in coopwith Walter Schäppi, 'Doctors for Environmental Protection' (Swiss NGO)

Institute 'Glaube in der 2. Welt', University of Zürich

Centre for palliative care, Belorussian Academy for Higher Education, Academy of Sciences

Faculty of Theology, Belarus State University

Chair for Clinical Psychology, University of Rostov-on-Don, RU


HealthSolutionsVyacheslav Rumynin

"Safe drinking water is going to be a very hot topic in thefuture and consultants will be in demand in Eastern Europe".

Eduard Hoehn, EAWAG

"In our country there are a whole series of test zonescontaining radioactive waste, and the groundwater in these areas is heavily polluted with radioactivity".

Vyacheslav Rumynin, St. Petersburg

Swiss Federal Institute for Water Science and Technology (EAWAG)

Institute of Environmental Geology, Russian Academy of Sciences, St. Petersburg

Radioecological Center, National Academy of Sciences, Kiev

"The results from our data tell us which plant species to cultivate and which not".

Nadezhda Goncharova, Minsk

Emanuel Frossard, Hannes Flühler, ETH Zürich

Department of Radioecology, International SakharovEnvironmental University, Minsk


Education

Success

Ernst Leuenberger

Natalia Menshutina

"Disciplines like the nanosciences and system biology show that sciences such as biology, chemistry and physics are increasingly merging with information technology".

Hans Leuenberger, Univ. Basel

Institute of Pharmaceutical Technology, University of Basel

Mendeleev University of Chemical Technology, Moscow

Development of new courses and scientificwork in the field of scientific education: A new e-learning platform for pharmacists

"In a country as big as Russia, we need to be able to access electronic teachingmaterials simultaneously from Kaliningrad to Vladivostok".

Natalia Menshutina, Moscow


Education Solutions

Training, education and research inenvironmental microbiology (TERRA)

Swiss Federal Institute for Environmental Science and Technology (EAWAG)

Institute of Microbiology, Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow

Department of Microbiology, Moscow Lomonosov State University

"Because of the very specific geological and geochemical situation Russian scientists setimportant milestones in microbiology".

Alexander J.B. Zehnder, ETH-Board

"In the early 1990-ies the 'brain drain' was enormous. At that time, many women tookover leadership in science. Today, many of them are in leading positions. They are highlyengaged in supervising scientific talents".

Alexander J.B. Zehnder, ETH-Board


Environmental risksSolutions

"There is no objective reason why Bulgaria, with its enormous natural resources, should be in a bad state".

Rainer Schulin, ETH Zürich

Institute of Terrestrial Ecology, ETH Zürich

Department of Land Planning and Agricultural Development, University of Architecture, Sofia

N. Poushkarov Research Institute of Soil Science and Agroecology, Sofia

Executive Environmental Agency, Ministry of Environment and Water, Sofia

"We must sensitise Bulgarians to what can happen to the environment if they do not take proper care of it, so that this country does not have to go through the samepainful processes some western countries did".

Rainer Schulin, ETH Zürich

Geostatical soil quality assessment and regional mass flux analysis for sustainableland use planning and management


Environmental risksSolutions

Institute of Plant Biology, University of Zürich

Department of Chemistry, University of Tirana

Department of Agronomy, Agricultural University of Tirana

Department of Biology, University of Tirana

"In Switzerland the country of Albania is not well known. In our media we rarely find distinctionbetween Albania and Kosovo where manyAlbanians are living too".

Reinhard Bachofen, Univ. of Zürich

"On the one hand you have many clean mountainlakes and rivers, and on the other bodies of waterin urban areas that are massively polluted withorganic substances".


Heavy metal concentrations in water and benthic algae in some important rivers of Albania


NatureSolutions

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Promotion of Forest and Wood Sciences in the Ural Region, in Western Siberia and in the Carpathians to Mitigate the Effects of Climate Changes on Long-term Forest Development - Strengthening of an International Network


NatureSolutions

"Through our colleagues at various institutes in Russia and the Ukraine we gained access to invaluable data onforests, climate and biomass. That would never have been possible without them".

Christian Hoffmann, WSL BirmensdorfIntas project

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NatureSolutions

Biodiversity of extensively used grasslands, Univ. of Basel,Romania & Russia

Genetic diversityof an endangeredprimeval forest lichen, WSL & Russia

Virgin beech forests, WSL & Ukraine

Ecology and population geneticsOf Bechstein's bat in Europe,Univ. of Zürich & Bulgaria


NatureSolutions

"I view our research collaboration as an investment in the younger generation".

Heinz Müller-Schärer, Univ. Fribourg

"International opinion reckons thatGeorgia has the greatest plant diversityin Europe".

Heinz Müller-Schärer, Univ. Fribourg

The biological control of veratrum album as amodel system for developing sustainablemanagement strategies of species-rich alpinegrasslands under changing farming activities

Department of Biology, University of Fribourg

Institute of Botany, Academy of Sciences, Tbilisi GE

Batumi Botanical Garden, Batumi GE


NatureSolutions

"This is the first evidence that dinosaurs lived in this region in the Jurassic period".

Christian Meyer, Basel

Natural History Museum Basel

Department of Geology and Paleontology, University of Zagreb

"This collaboration brought the specialists in Croatia out of their isolation. Today they are part of the international research community, participate in conferences, can get to know colleagues in the field and think in a more integrated fashion than before".

Christian Meyer, Basel

Palaeostudies and reconstructions of dinosaur populations and their environments in Istria and adjacent islands (Croatia) during the upperjurassic and cretaceous periods


Regional developmentSolutions

Forschungsstelle fürWirtschaftsgeographie und Raumplanung, University of St. Gallen

Department Spatial Planning, Hochschule Rapperswil

Faculty of Geography, Taurisc National VernadskyUniversity Simferopol UA

ERZTK The Program on Creation of Uniform Republican Digital Territorial Cadastre, Simferopol UA

"Invest in training, so that young graduatescould be prepared to take on the tasks of thefuture".

Martin Boesch, Univ. of St. Gallen

The goal of the project partners was to establish a post-graduate course in sustainable regional development.


Regional developmentSolutions

Institute for Political Sciences, University of Zürich

Güller Güller Architecture Urbanisme Zürich

Institute for Architecture, Urbanisme and Spatial Planning (IAUPP) Sarajevo BIH

Institute for Study of Regional Economy, Russian Academy of Sciences St. Petersburg

"The transition from a planned to a freemarket economy destroyed the connectionsbetween the regions".

Yuri Samokhin, RAS St. Petersburg

Interregional co-operation as the basis forsustainable economic development of territories: Swiss and EU experience and Eastern european practice

"In Bosnia-Herzegovina, the people are very willing to take the initiative".

Michael Güller, Zürich


Social, Politics, LawSolutions

Tbilisi State University

Regionalisation and decentalised governance inGeorgia

Institute of Public Law, University of Berne

Institute of State and Law, Georgian Academy of Science, Tbilisi GE

Faculty of Law, Tbilisi State University Tbilisi GE

"The fact is that Georgia is too decentralised; since the breakaway of South Ossetia and Abkhazia it has been threatened by breakingapart".

Walter Kälin, Univ. of Berne

"A credit from the Swiss Department of ForeignAffairs will enable us to work on topics relevant to the constitution, and in Tbilisi we are in theprocess of setting up a one-year post-graduatecourse on public-law issues for lawyers fromthe southern Caucasus".

Walter Kälin, Univ. of Berne



Reinventing citizenship in the South Caucasus.Exploring the dynamic and contradictions between formal conceptions and informal practices.

Department of Psychology, University of Geneva

CIMERA Geneva (NGO)

Institute of Philosophy and Law, Azerbaijan Academy of Sciences, Baku AS

Institute of Philosophy and Law, National Academy of Sciences, Yerevan AM

Department of Philosophy, Tbilisi State University GE

"After 1990 citizenship must be newly definedor reinvented in the successor states of theSowietunion. This is especially interesting in countries like Georgia and Azerbaijan whichhave a high portion of minorities".

Corinne Bachmann,CIMERA Geneva

The partners surveyed students’ views on the'concept of citizen' in three Caucasus republics



Swiss Federal Research Station for Agricultural Economics and Engineering (FAT), Tänikon

Babes-Bolyai University Cluj-Napoca RO

Institute of Agriculture and Tourism Purec HR

"As in Croatia and Romania, social research on women in rural areas in Switzerland is not institutionally embedded either".

Ruth Rossier, FAT Tänikon

Rural transition and development to marketeconomy. Scientific research and higher education in rural studies in South-Eastern Europe (ROCNET)


CultureSolutions

Institute for the Preservation of Historical Monuments and Sites, ETH Zürich

Jansahia Georgian State Museum, Tbilisi

Fund of Science "Udabno", Tbilisi

"With respect to its many cultural treasures, Georgia is a very rich country".

Konrad Zehnder, ETH Zürich

"These discoveries have taught us a lot about early medieval life in Georgia".

Lado Mirianashvili, Udabno Tbilisi

Studying of rock-cut hermitages and cavevillages of middle ages in Kvemo KartliProvince of Georgia


CultureSolutions

Transfer of hermeneutical proficiencies: philosophy of religion and religiousculture in the State Universities of Omsk and Kurgan

"If the church wants to continue to back people in their religious sphere, they have to open up to social questions and break away from their currentnostalgic practices".

Pierre-Luigi Dubied, Univ. of Neuchatel

Theological Seminar of the University of Neuchatel

Department of Philosophy, State University of Omsk RU

Department of Psychology, State University of Kurgan RU


CultureSolutions

"By preserving knowledge and publishing these works we are making a contribution to objectivity in historiography, and in doing so we are helping to ensure that the new openness is not curtailed by a new ideology".

Anke von Kügelgen, Univ. of Berne

Institute for Islamic and Middle Eastern Studies, University of Berne

Institute of Oriental Studies, Academy of Sciences, Tashkent

State Institute of Oriental Studies, Tashkent

Ahmed Yasawi Kazak-Turkish International University, Turkistan

Disputes on Muslim authority in Central Asia(19th-20th centuries): critical editions andsource studies


EconomicsSolutions

Biodiversity and sustainable management of Kyrgyzstan's walnut-fruit forests: development of new silviculturalconcepts (ORECH-LES)

"Today multifunctionality, agroforestry and sustainability are no longer foreign words to Kyrgyz foresters".

Jean-Pierre Sorg, ETH Zürich

Department Environmental Sciences, ETH Zürich

Institute of Forest and Walnut Research, Academy of Sciences, Bishkek


Economics

Solutions

"Some of the official data are inaccurate. For example, the official figures for emigration are substantially lower than the one million inhabitants that have in fact left the country since 1994".

Wolfgang Polasek, Univ. of Basel

International immigration and the labor market (Economic consequences for Western Europe and source areas of former USSR)

Department of Statistic and Econometrics, University of Basel

University of International Economic Relations, Yerevan

State Engineering University of Armenia, Yerevan


Problems

In the early 1990ies English was not a well known language in Eastern European science. On theother hand, only few scientists from Switzerland speak Eastern European languages.

The laboratories in the Western Ukraine are, partly, in very bad shape. The infrastructure to bebuilt up would be very expensive in order to allow data measurement and analysis on a westerlystandard.

About 20 of 100 colleagues left because of the minimal pay. They could no longer afford to bescientists.

In the Ukraine and in Moldova the administrtive structure has not change very much. Thestructures are still incrusted.

Transfering money and goods to Eastern European countries was very difficult. Sometimes wecould not communicate by e-mail, fax or phone.

The main problem was the lack of funding for the Swiss partners, especially for the co-ordinator. In addition, it must be taken in consideration that scientists in Switzerland need to publish in peer-reviewed journals because they are evaluated by the number of publications. Within SCOPES funded projects the output of publications is far too small.


How to get aroundProblems?


Conclusion

High motivation, quality and flexibility of Eastern European partners. Strengthening of research capacities.

Strengthening of research partnerships.

Many Eastern European partners in worldwide networks integrated.

Language skills improved (English, German, French, Italian, Russian)

Administrative and political structures in Eastern Europe: we need to be patient, losing time includes the risk of losing partners

More co-operation and openess among Eastern European partners.

A research partnership is a bilateral and intercultural commitment.Usually, new intercultural projects need time to start and it might need some more months achieving new results and publishing themjointly. In the long run, it is worthwile taking enough time.


Conclusion

Increase of international contacts and reputation of East European partners in the countries of the West.

Important growth of scientific knowledge on both sides; scientificunderstanding and learning from each other.

Increase in additional funding (national, international) (function of SCOPES funding as seed money)

Better understanding of Eastern European history, politics, socialproblems etc.

Getting to know Eastern European hospitality and friendship.

Personal "Iron curtains" have disappeared.


"The cultural exchange is always interesting. I think, each human, who is visiting a country, must respect the rules of this country".

Narine Manukyan, Yerevan

"The Swiss could learn something from the hospitality of the Albanians. We got to know very sincere people and we also received thanks from colleagues again and again. We are not used to that in our country".


Conclusion

Berne, 16 February 2006 - Reinhard Lässig - [email protected] you very much for your attention…

Berne, 16 February 2006 - Reinhard Lässig - [email protected]… and all the best for your SCOPES-project

experiences gained with scopes research partnerships with partners from switzerland ... ·...

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