The launch ceremony of the open week of Shenzhen MSU-BIT University (SMBU)'s second "NAUKA 0+" Science and Culture Festival on Oct. 24. During the week, the festival opened to the public from Oct. 24 to 29.

Officials press the button for the launch of the open week.

Over a period of 46 days, 135 academic seminars, science popularization, and cultural exchange activities were held during the Shenzhen MSU-BIT University (SMBU)'s second "NAUKA 0+" Science and Culture Festival, which officially opened Sept. 13.

Themed "Now is the Future," the event was jointly organized by SMBU, Beijing Institute of Technology (BIT), and Lomonosov Moscow State University (MSU).

The festival was open to the public from Oct. 24 to 29. During the open week, Victor Antonovich Sadovnichy, rector of MSU; Stepan Kalmykov, chairman of the Board of Directors of SMBU; 24 academicians of the Russian Academy of Sciences; numerous department heads of MSU; and 87 Russian experts and scholars from various disciplines gathered in SMBU.

Long Teng, president of BIT; Jiang Peng, chief engineer of China's FAST telescope; and other Chinese scholars and experts also converged on the grand event to delve into cutting-edge science and discuss international cooperation in science and technology with foreign counterparts.

Xi Ru and Zhang Xiaodong, officials from the International Cooperation and Exchanges Department of the Ministry of Education; Sadovnichy; Long; Cheng Buyi, director of the Organization Department of the CPC Shenzhen Municipal Committee; and Zheng Xiuyu, director of the Shenzhen Municipal Education Bureau attended the launch ceremony of the festival's open week on Oct. 24.

At the ceremony, Alexander Ermolaev, science and technology counselor of the Russian Embassy in China, read out a congratulatory letter from Igor Morgulov, ambassador extraordinary and plenipotentiary of the Russian Federation to China. 

Morgulov said in the letter that the festival is a major event in the cooperation between Russia and China. A delegation of scientists from Russia came to the SMBU campus to have in-depth exchanges with teachers and students, which reflected the high-level cooperation between the two countries. Morgulov wished the event a complete success.

Xi Ru said SMBU is the first Sino-Russian cooperative university built on the important consensus reached by the heads of state of China and Russia. "Deepening Sino-Russian education cooperation" and "enhancing friendship between the two peoples" are SMBU's inevitable missions. 

Xi believed that this year's science and culture festival would become a feast of scientific innovation and collision of ideas, effectively promoting Sino-Russian cultural exchanges and education cooperation to a new level.

Long said as one of the cooperative parties, BIT fully leverages its advantages in resources and actively contributes to building SMBU into a hub for Sino-Russian scientific and technological exchanges. The event was given a wider range of international elements, better resources for science popularization, and a more open innovation ecosystem as it was jointly organized by the three universities.

"I believe that the festival will greatly promote Sino-Russian exchanges and cooperation in education, technology and talent, and deepen the comprehensive strategic partnership between the two countries in the new era," Long said.

Li Hezhang, rector of SMBU, said over the past six years, SMBU has always kept its mission in mind and integrated MSU's rigorous and profound academic traditions, BIT's academic philosophy, as well as Shenzhen's can-do spirit, innovation and inclusiveness. 

Li pointed out that SMBU innovatively launched the science and culture festival in September last year, which has become a model of Sino-Russian education cooperation. 

"We sincerely hope that through the festival, we can show the achievements in school running and academic development of SMBU, MSU and BIT, promote Sino-Russian exchanges and cooperation in education, technology and talent, support high-quality Belt and Road cooperation, and make new and greater contributions to deepening the China-Russia comprehensive strategic partnership of coordination for a new era," Li said.

Sadovnichy also delivered a keynote speech at the ceremony, which saw the participation of 23 Chinese and Russian enterprises and institutions. Meanwhile, Memorandums of Understanding were signed between SMBU and MSU, BIT, China Electronics Corp., and Shenzhen Guofu Culture and Technology Co. Ltd.

Additionally, Shenzhen Guofu donated 10 pure gold school badges and commemorative plates to SMBU. Chen Xin, Li Zhaolun and Zhao Zhong donated ancient Silk Road artworks to SMBU.

The open week featured activities, which were free for the public, in the fields of natural science, aerospace, artificial intelligence, and culture and art, covering over 30 international academic meetings, lectures, shows, performances and exhibitions. The open week attracted over 10,000 on-site visits.

SMBU also signed 10 cooperation agreements, which has been widely reported by dozens of Chinese and Russian media outlets, and has received widespread attention and unanimous praise from all walks of life in both countries. 

During the festival, SMBU, MSU and BIT also held a second joint meeting and reaffirmed their full support for SMBU's development.