A Skolkovo Foundation delegation led by President Viktor Vekselberg is setting off on a visit to Britain. This will be the largest delegation the Foundation has ever sent abroad. In addition to several vice presidents, it will also include the heads of the five technology clusters (IT, biomedical, energy efficiency, nuclear and space), as well as representatives of technological companies and startups involved in the Skolkovo project.
The visit to Britain, at the invitation of the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills, is designed to promote cooperation between the Skolkovo Foundation and British companies, universities and research centers. The foundations for this cooperation were laid during UK Prime Minister David Cameron’s visit to Moscow in September 2011 when a memorandum of understanding between the Skolkovo Foundation and Britain’s Department for Business, Innovation and Skills was signed in the presence of Russian President Dmitry Medvedev.
A number of other bilateral documents were also signed during that visit, including an agreement on cooperation in the field of laser-plasma and accelerator physics and an agreement on establishing a center of applied research on thermal processes and catalysis.
“Britain is one of the countries where cooperation with Russia in the field of innovation receives powerful support from the state, for which I am truly grateful to the British government and its head, David Cameron”, Viktor Vekselberg stated ahead of the UK visit.
During the forthcoming visit, the Skolkovo representatives will visit their partners and colleagues at Cambridge and Oxford universities, and also at the Imperial College London where they will discuss ongoing joint projects and outline plans for the future. The agenda also includes meetings with venture investors.
A conference on the prospects for cooperation between the Skolkovo Foundation and British companies and research centers will open in London on 15 February at 10.00 am (Institute of Directors, Pall Mall 116-123).