U.S.-RUSSIAN JOINT
COMMITTEE FOR SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
RECORD
of the December 5, 2002, Regular Session of the Joint Committee
Washington, DC
The U.S.-Russian Joint Committee for Science and Technology, established in accordance with Article 6 of the Agreement between the Government of United States of America and the Government of the Russian Federation on Scientific and Technical Cooperation of December 16, 1993, met in regular session on December 5, 2002, in Washington, DC.
At the meeting, the Russian Delegation was headed by M.P. Kirpichnikov, First Deputy Minister of Industry, Science and Technology of the Russian Federation; the U.S. Delegation was headed by J. Marburger, Director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy.
Lists of the members of both delegations and the topics they represented are attached (Appendix 1).
The sides agreed on an agenda for the meeting (Appendix 2). In accordance with the agenda, the following topics were examined:
I. Information Exchange on Basic Directions of Current U.S. and Russian Science and Technology Policy
The sides reported to each other about the priorities of current U.S. and Russian national science and technology policy.
The Committee noted that in a number of areas, national priorities coincide, which creates favorable prerequisites for the further development of mutually beneficial cooperation in the most promising directions.
II. Present Status and Potential Expansion of On-Going Scientific and Technological Cooperation in Priority Directions
Observational Seismology
The Committee approved the joint activity and results achieved under the U.S.-Russian cooperative seismology and geodynamics program and recommended continuing efforts to reduce seismic dangers and estimate seismic risks, through development of seismo-geodynamic observational systems by improving geological-geophysical data interpretation. The Committee looks favorably on future cooperation in regions of common seismic risk such as the Russian Far East and the Alaska-Aleutian area.
Informational and Telecommunication Technologies in Science and Education
Note: Emphasis added
The Committee gave a favorable appraisal of the results achieved through cooperation between the Russian Ministry of Industry, Science, and Technology (MIST) and the Russian Academy of Sciences (RAS) and the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) on high capacity computing and new generation computer networks, including under the NaukaNet (FASTnet) Project, carried out by the Interagency Supercomputer Center, the Russian Science Center Kurchatov Institute, the National Center for Supercomputing Applications (University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign), and the Supercomputer Center at the University of California, San Diego.
The Committee recommended that U.S. and Russian cooperation partners continue their active cooperation and discussions of the potential of next-generation computing and networking projects, such as those envisioned as the "TERRA GRID" network and the Global Network For Advanced Application Development (GLORIAD).
Global Climate Changes
The Committee emphasized the importance of science and technology in addressing the challenge of climate change. The Committee expressed its positive assessment of ongoing efforts in this area. The Committee agreed to continue these efforts, as well as to explore areas of new activity. The Committee thinks the following joint actions hold promise: collaboration to improve and augment the global climate observation system; research to reduce significant uncertainties in climate science; and efforts to promote the development and dissemination of new technologies to address the climate issue.
Fundamental Properties of Matter
Recalling the commitment made by our Presidents at the May 2002 Moscow Summit to promote expansion of cooperation in fundamental research in high energy physics, the Committee emphasized the importance and mutual benefit of longstanding Russian-U.S. cooperation in the area of research on the fundamental properties of matter.
The Committee expressed the desire of the respective governments to support and further develop cooperation and scientific exchanges in this field. The U.S. side expressed its readiness to continue actively supporting this cooperation as in the past, on the basis of reciprocity, with the understanding that the Russian side will fund visits by Russian scientists and specialists to specified U.S. laboratories and scientific centers at a rate of 330 to 350 person-months per year.
Cooperation between the Russian Academy of Sciences
and the U.S. Department of Energy
The Committee gave a positive appraisal of the results of scientific projects carried out within the framework of program activity based on the March 25, 1999 Memorandum of Understanding between the Russian Academy of Sciences (RAS) and the U.S. Department of Energy.
The Committee favorably acknowledged the RAS-U.S. DOE Joint Coordinating Committee’s (JCC) decision to conduct the next regular meeting in Moscow in March 31, 2003, for the purpose of elaborating proposals on new directions for cooperation. It is anticipated that topics of common interest will be the subject of joint workshops among U.S. and Russian scientists.
Technology Commercialization and Intellectual Property
The Committee applauded the extensive bilateral efforts to promote technology commercialization cooperation. In particular, the International Science and Technology Center's (ISTC) Partner Program, the Initiatives for Proliferation Prevention (IPP) Program, and the suite of commercialization programs at the Civilian Research and Development Foundation (CRDF) have helped to create U.S.-Russian partnerships leading to commercial applications, new jobs and financial benefits for both sides. The Committee encouraged the MIST-CRDF Technology Commercialization Working Group to continue to develop effective procedures for mutually beneficial R&D collaborations involving Russian and American scientists and industry. The sides also agreed to explore new opportunities aimed at mutually beneficial commercialization of R&D projects in Russia that engage small- and medium-sized enterprises and attract venture capital.
The Committee welcomed the announcement that the Department of Commerce and the Russian Ministry of Industry, Science and Technology plan to establish a new Memorandum of Understanding on Cooperation in Technology and Innovation.
Noting the linkage between sound and effectively enforced intellectual property regimes and technology innovation, the Committee welcomed the Department of Commerce’s proposal to bring together experts from business, academia and government to discuss intellectual property issues within the context of technology commercialization.
III. Future Directions for Cooperation
Life Sciences
The Committee stated the importance and mutual benefit of developing U.S.-Russian cooperation in the area of life sciences.
Both sides agreed to explore opportunities for conducting joint research and promoting scientific exchanges in priority life science areas including:
- structural, functional, and comparative genomics and proteomics
- brain disorders and neuroscience
- ecology of infectious diseases, including evolution of infectious diseases and control of the spread of their agents
- development of vaccines and new generation pharmaceuticals, including computer design methods
- development of rapid diagnostic methods, including biochips
Using the Capacities of Civilian Science in the War on Terrorism
The sides believe that countering international terrorism, especially its possible high technology manifestations (radiological, computer, biological, chemical terrorism, etc.) and its global dimensions should be the subject of broad and intensive cooperation by U.S. and Russia in the field of science and technology.
In this connection, the Committee gave a positive appraisal of joint activity in that area by the CRDF and MIST, in particular, for sponsoring a competition on “Scientific and Practical Problems of Minimizing the Effects of Terror Acts on the Civilian Population.”
Proposals on possible directions for future cooperation with the National Science Foundation and other U.S. agencies were also discussed. Based on this discussion, the Committee agreed to explore cooperation in the following areas of common interest during the upcoming period:
- modeling, simulation, and interaction of rapid damage assessment issues in technologically caused disasters resulting from terror acts
- development of search and rescue robots
- creation of biosensors for rapid detection of toxins and pathogens
- research on advanced materials through the International Materials Research Network
- development of immunomodulators and immunostimulators, for producing a strong and rapid human immune response during a bioterror attack
- development of biometric tracking tools
The Advisability of Developing a New Marine Research Agreement
Based on a mutual desire for further development of scientific and technical cooperation in world ocean research, it was agreed to continue discussions on the desirability of a U.S.-Russian agreement on cooperation in world ocean research. Such an agreement would provide for carrying out mutually beneficial marine and polar research on a reciprocal basis. For those purposes, the sides will establish an interim joint working group.
IV. Legal and Organizational Infrastructure for Cooperation
Extension of the Agreement between the Government of the United States of America
and the Government of the Russian Federation on Scientific and Technical Cooperation
of December 16, 1993
The Committee recommended that appropriate organizations of the sides undertake in the near future consultations for the purpose of extending the term of the Agreement for an additional ten-year period.
The General Issues Working Group
The Committee recommended resumption of activity by the General Issues Working Group, after having commissioned representatives of both sides to prepare and agree on proposals for the working group’s program of activity before the end of the first quarter of 2003.
V. Place and Time of the Next Regular Meeting of the Joint
U.S.-Russian Committee On Science and Technology
The next meeting of the Committee will be held in Moscow in 2003. Exact dates for the meeting will be agreed additionally through diplomatic channels.
| For the Russian Side, | For the U.S. Side, |
| First Deputy Minister of Industry, Science and Technology of the Russian Federation |
Director Office of Science and Technology Policy Executive Office of the President |
| M.P. Kirpichnikov | J. Marburger |
