The Skolkovo Institute of Science and Technology (Skoltech) and the German Aerospace Center (DLR) have signed a research cooperation agreement that will allow Skoltech to take part in real space experiments.
Hansjörg Dittus (left) and Rupert Gerzer hold up copies of the cooperation agreement. Photo: Skoltech.
The memorandum of understanding signed on June 13 envisages the planning and implementation of joint scientific projects and exchange programmes for scientists, students and doctoral candidates.
“The agreement paves the way for direct cooperation: the exchange of professors and teaching staff, and the opportunity for Skoltech students to go to study in the DRL,” said Professor Rupert Gerzer, Skoltech’s provost and the director of its Space Center.
“But the most important consequence of the implementation of this agreement will be the direct involvement of Skoltech Space Center in experiments during real space missions,” he said.
Gerzer, a medical doctor by education, is the former head of the DRL’s Institute of Aerospace Medicine.
Dr. Pascale Ehrenfreund, chair of the DLR executive board, said the aim of the agreement was to expand cooperation between her centre and Russian research institutions, and to “create new opportunities for the international exchange of knowledge.”
Both institutions will benefit from cooperation in space research, said Professor Hansjörg Dittus, a member of the DLR executive board.
“Therefore, it is important to create conditions that promote the development of joint projects by the two international partners,” he said.
Under the agreement, Skoltech, a private graduate research university, will also cooperate with the German space agency on climate research, space law and planetary research. The agreement also lays down the foundation for the exchange of scientific data and the organization of joint symposia and workshops.
The DLR is headquartered in Cologne and has another 15 locations across Germany, as well as offices in Paris, Brussels, Tokyo and Washington D.C.