Author: Emil Karabekian

Rector of the Russian-Armenian (Slavonic) University, full member (academician) of the Academy of Pedagogical and Psychological Sciences of Armenia Edward Sandoyan welcomed the participants of the conference: Nowadays many researchers can use their skills and knowledge to develop a new product, which can be monetized in the future. Today science is a true and real sector of the economy, with the help of which it is possible to create future strategies for the development of a country. I would like this conference to give us a new potential for the development of the future. I hope that in each section interesting questions will be voiced and answers will be found.

Olga Vlasova, Director of the Graduate School of Biomedical Systems and Technologies of IBS&B SPbPU, delivered a plenary report on «New Biophysical Methods of Neuron Research» at the opening of the conference. The multidisciplinarity of Polytechnic University developments made a special impression on the audience consisting of specialists from various fields.

SPbPU employees presented reports at the «Biological and Chemical Sciences» section. Nikita Zernov, a postgraduate student of SPbPU, research engineer at the Laboratory of Molecular Neurodegeneration, demonstrated the results of a joint research project with Lernik Unanyan, Head of the Structural Bioinformatics Laboratory of RAU, and postgraduate students Ani Makichyan and Victor Kamaryan.

Associate Professor Anastasiya Bolshakova presented research opportunities for students in graduate and postgraduate programs.

During the conference, IBS&B staff participated in a master class and workshop at the RAU Structural Bioinformatics Laboratory.

The workshop participants discussed the specificity of a potential therapeutic compound for the treatment of Alzheimer’s disease being investigated both in silico and in vitro, and clarified the conditions for molecular docking.

The visit of the SPbPU IBS&B delegation to RAU has taken a new turn in the development of cooperation between our universities.

The delegation of the Institute of Industrial Management, Economics and Trade presented 12 reports in face-to-face and online format on key problems of management, economics and finance, sustainable development, economic theory.

Associate Professor of the Graduate School of Production Management Natalia Alekseyeva made a report on «Managing the value of intellectual capital of the innovation-industrial cluster» at the «Management» section. Alex Krasnov, Associate Professor of the Graduate School of Service and Trade, made a report on «Strategies of interaction with influencers for consumer segmentation within the concept of influencer marketing».

Associate Professor of the Graduate School of Production Management Nikita Lukashevich held a master class on «Economics of project activity: how to understand that the project is profitable?» for students of the Department of Management and Business of the RAU Institute of Economics and Business. Associate Professor Natalia Alekseyeva held a master class on «Time Management: Skills of a Successful Manager».

Students of the Department of Economics and Finance attended the «Digital Resources in Scientific Research» master class by Victoria Brazovskaya, assistant professor of the Higher School of Engineering and Economics, Chair of the IIME&T Student Scientific Community.

There was also a meeting with the chairman of the RAU Student Scientific Society, where the main directions for cooperation in student science were defined. At the Department of Economics and Finance, ten students were awarded certificates of advanced training on the program «Data analysis in digital environment based on Python programming language».

Undoubtedly, the exchange of pedagogical and managerial experience that took place at the conference will be the beginning of fruitful international cooperation in the field of linguistics, Russian studies, jurisprudence, media communication, pedagogy, psychology and others. The work of the sections took place in different formats. Scientific reports were presented, interactive lectures, round tables and master classes were organized, devoted to topical problems in different fields of science.

The open lecture by Natalia Chicherina, Director of the Institute of Humanities, on the existing models of multilingual university and language practices implemented in them aroused keen interest not only of the student but also of the pedagogical community. The participants of the interactive lecture discussed whether SPbPU and RAU are multilingual universities and what language practices are accomplished in these universities.

Cooperation in the field of teaching Russian as a foreign language is of special significance for Russian-Armenian relations. Anna Rubtsova, Director of the Graduate School of Linguistics and Pedagogy, took an active part in the work of the «Rusistics» section, where innovative approaches in the methodology of teaching Russian as a foreign language, various linguocultural and philological issues were discussed. Anna Rubtsova also held talks on the creation of a network educational program for teaching Russian as a foreign language.

Marina Arkannikova, Director of the Graduate School of Media Communications and Public Relations, made a report «World Trends and Drivers of Development of the Communications Industry», introduced the conference participants to the educational project of the Graduate School of Media and Public Relations «Engineers of Meanings» and proposed to organize with the Institute of Media, Advertising and Cinema of the RAU a joint round table within the framework of the 17th anniversary International Scientific and Practical Conference «PR and Advertising Technologies in the Information Society» in SPbPU in April 2024.

At the «Political Science» section, Alexander Kholod, Director of the Center for Social Communications Research at GSOMISO, spoke about the projects that create an image of the future for Polytechnic University of 2030, and invited RAU professors and students to take part in the project «Engineers of Meanings» aimed at training specialists in the communications sphere.

Associate professors of the Higher School of Law and Forensic Expertise Alexander Isaev and Alexander Tebryaev made reports and held master classes on the problems of forensic expert examination in law enforcement, on conducting engineering and technical transport expertise, as well as discussed with colleagues from RAU the prospects of cooperation in criminalistics.

Maria Kukushkina, assistant professor of the Higher School of Linguistics and Pedagogy of the Institute of Humanities, conducted a master class devoted to the work with fear of public speaking. RAU students, participants of the master class, derived the «formula of successful performance» and brilliantly applied the obtained knowledge in practice in working with cases.

During the visit to the RAU Institute of Media, Advertising and Cinema, the polytechnic agreed with its director Karen Markarian on academic mobility, joint research projects and organization of a round table at the XVII International Scientific and Practical Conference «PR and Advertising Technologies in Information Society» of SPbPU.

https://indiaeducationdiary.in/spbpu-presents-at-scientific-conference-hosted-by-russian-armenian-university/

The Azerbaijani foreign minister said they sent a response to Armenia regarding its peace proposals meant to normalize relations after years of conflict.

“At the end of November, we received a package of further proposals on a peace treaty from the Armenian side, and within a month, the package of proposals processed by us was returned to the other side,” Jeyhun Bayramov said in an interview with Azerbaijan's AzTV aired late Sunday.

Expressing that the peace process, which began after a 2020 truce, is continuing, Bayramov said face-to-face meetings are important and will probably be held in 2024.

He said a bilateral peace agreement would not mean a full solution to everything, but it could create conditions to define the direction and principles of establishing normal neighborly ties. “We, as the Azerbaijani state, will take all the necessary steps towards it,” he added.

On Nov. 21, the Armenian Foreign Ministry announced on X that Yerevan submitted a sixth package of proposals to Azerbaijan for a peace agreement.

Relations between the two former Soviet republics have been tense since 1991, when the Armenian military occupied Nagorno-Karabakh, a territory internationally recognized as part of Azerbaijan, and seven adjacent regions.

Most of the territory was liberated by Azerbaijan during a war in the fall of 2020, which ended after a Russian-brokered peace agreement, and also opened the door to normalization.

This September, the Azerbaijani army initiated an anti-terrorism operation in Karabakh to establish constitutional order in the region, after which illegal separatist forces in the region surrendered.

Earlier this month, both countries traded prisoners of war at their border following a landmark joint statement.

The city council of Cologne city in Germany has decided to remove the monument to the Armenian genocide in the city. The city council will now hold a meeting on 7th December 2023 to ponder a thought upon erecting a new memorial to “commemorate the victims of oppression, racism, violence and human rights violations”. 

The city council succumbed to the pressure of 60,000 Turkish Muslim migrants living in the city of a million people. Turkish Muslims deny the genocide of Armenian Christians by Turkey which took place from 1915 to 1918. The conflict still goes on. Notably, there are only 6,000 Armenians in Cologne.

This monument was first erected in 2018 to mark the centenary year of the Armenian genocide. It was initially installed on the left bank of the Hohenzollern Bridge, opposite the equestrian statue of Kaiser Wilhelm II. Unfortunately, it was dismantled in May 2022 and hasn’t yet found a permanent location. It faced vehement opposition from Turkish Muslims right from the inauguration.

The city had previously opted to dismantle the statue, citing reasons such as the planned construction of a cycle path or concerns about potential “social upheaval.” It was removed and restored multiple times before the final decision of the city council came after a recent demonstration by Turkish Muslims in Germany at the end of October 2023.

The steel sculpture stands at a height of approximately 1.80 meters. At the pinnacle of the three-sided pyramid, there is a bronze pomegranate featuring a notch, serving as a poignant symbol for the Armenian genocide. The inscription, titled “This Pain Affects Us All,” is eloquently expressed in Armenian, German, Turkish, and English.

Erected in April 2018 by the Cologne initiative “Remembering Genocide,” the monument commemorated the Armenian Genocide during World War I (1915-1918). It aimed to raise awareness about the genocide and acknowledge the responsibility of the Ottoman Empire. It also included information about the systematic displacement, deportation, and murder of over a million Armenian women, men, and children. The monument served as a powerful symbol of remembrance and a call for the prevention of future genocides.

Cologne’s mayor Reker justified the decision to remove this memorial by saying that the city needs to consider the “diverse interests of our pluralistic urban society”. The Turkish Muslims in Cologne staged protests against this memorial in October.

The political influence exerted by Turkish Muslims in Germany to achieve its objectives is not a new thing. An instance of this was observed in 2005 when, following the intervention of Turkish diplomats, Brandenburg removed the subject of the Armenian genocide from its curriculum. In 2011, the University of Stuttgart, citing Turkish “protests from Berlin,” declined to permit a lecture on the genocide, asserting a decision to “remain neutral.”

In 2014, protests emerged against a play by Edgar Hilsenrath titled “Das Märchen vom letzten Gedanken,” which addresses the Armenian genocide. In response, the theatre in Constance removed the event poster, and before each performance, a statement from the Turkish consul was read out. The premiere had to be conducted under police protection due to the heightened tensions.

The Armenian Genocide, a series of systemic killings of the minority population of Christians during the Ottoman Muslim rule in the region of Armenia, is one of the most horrific state-sponsored genocidal events of the 20th century.

Usually, the Armenian Genocide refers to a series of massacres of the Armenian Christian population carried out by officials of the Ottoman Empire from 1915 onwards. The genocide began in 1915 and lasted until 1923, killing an estimated 1.5 million Armenian Christians, among other minority Christian groups.

Even years before 1915, a tragic event in Adana in April 1909 displays how the Ottoman Empire was prejudiced against the Christians under their rule and how an entire population was branded the enemy of the state, and subjected to tragic, horrific murder on an enormous scale. Details of the Armenian genocide can be read here.