About Forum

The proposal on the creation of the BRICS Young Scientist Forum (BRICS YSF) was recorded in the Brasília Declaration, adopted at the 2nd STI Ministerial Meeting (Brasília, March 2015). The participants of the BRICS YSF should come from the scientific community and must be up to 40 years of age.
Key goals of the BRICS YSF are the development of cooperation among young scientists from the BRICS countries, initiating of new young scientific groups in R&D field, encouragement of mobility of scientists, and creation of BRICS cross-cultural talent pools for STI cooperation.
According to the established practice about 20 distinguished representatives of young scientific community are welcomed to participate in annual YSF from each BRICS country. The average number of participants is 100-130. The duration of the event is usually 5 days.
The BRICS YSF Programme, developed by the Chair country, includes plenary reports by the leading young scientists and reports on the most relevant and demanded STI areas. It should be noted that the Programme of the Forum is being expanded every year by means of the implementation of new formats of interaction in the form of specialized seminars and prize-winning competitions. However, the implementation of the new participation formats within the Forum remains at the discretion of the organizers.
No formal declarations have been adopted at the BRICS YSFs, however, participants attempted to identify current positions of the young scientific community in the format of recommendations on how to address common problems intended for use by the leading scientists and the highest authorities of the BRICS members.
Support and involvement of young scientists in the BRICS STI initiatives is an integral part of the BRICS cooperation agenda. The BRICS YSF is one of the most effective platforms for expanding the network of international contacts among young scientists and exchanging experience and best practices.
These activities ensure the sustainable development of the five-party cooperation, promote the development of the leadership position of the BRICS countries in the area of science, technology and innovation and are beneficial for the strengthening of the young talented population in the BRICS countries.
1st BRICS YSF
The 1st BRICS YSF was held in Bangalore, India, on 26-30 September 2016.
The thematic areas of the 1st BRICS Young Scientist Forum selected for debate were computational intelligence, affordable healthcare and energy solutions. Efforts undertaken by India in respect to organizing the first event were warmly welcomed by the BRICS STI Ministers at the 4th BRICS STI Ministerial Meeting in Jaipur, India in October 2016. BRICS countries agreed to hold the BRICS YSF regularly in the country presiding in BRICS.

2nd BRICS YSF
The 2nd BRICS YSF was held in Hangzhou, China, on 11-15 July 2017 under the theme «Building Young Scientists’ Leadership in Science, Technology and Innovation». The Forum defined three thematic areas – energy, materials, biotechnology & biomedicine.

3rd BRICS YSF
The 3rd BRICS YSF under the theme «Building BRICS Youth Leadership through Science, Technology and Innovation» was held in Durban, South Africa, on 25-29 June 2018. The 3rd BRICS YSF Program comprised parallel sessions on such thematic areas as energy, water sources and social science. Organizers of the event also held seminars addressing a wide variety of challenges, such as youth entrepreneurship, the role of women in science, the significance of science diplomacy. The 3rd BRICS YSF was the first time the BRICS Young Innovators Prize was held. Two innovative projects aimed at providing solution of social and economic problems and improvement of life quality were expected from each BRICS country for participation. First three award-winning places were taken by the representatives of Brazil, South Africa and China.

4th BRICS YSF
The 4th BRICS YSF under the theme «Fostering Young Scientists and Innovators partnerships for a BRICS STI long-term cooperation» took place in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on 6-8 November 2019. It followed the 2nd BRICS Science Academies Meeting. The main thematic areas of the 4th BRICS YSF were cybersecurity, bioeconomics, young innovations and youth entrepreneurship. In the framework of the 4th BRICS YSF two plenary sessions on interdisciplinary thematic areas «Young Women in Science» and «Science Diplomacy» were also held. BRICS Young Innovators Prize with the money prize was organized by the host country for the second time. First three award-winning places were taken by the representatives of India, Russia and Brazil.

5th BRICS YSF
Due to the COVID-19 global pandemic and the related international travelling restrictions the 5th BRICS YSF under the theme «BRICS Partnership of Young Scientists and Innovators for Science Progress and Innovative Growth» will take place via videoconference on 21-25 September 2020 under the Russian Presidency in BRICS. The main thematic areas of the 5th BRICS YSF will be ecology, material science and artificial intelligence. The program will be expended by Science Communication Program which implies engagement of youth in up-to-date science networking and activities. The host country will also organize the 3rd BRICS Young Innovators Prize with the money prize, focusing on 3 thematic areas – ecology, material science and application of artificial intelligence in the areas of ecology and material science.
Ural region
The Ural Federal District was founded on May 13, 2000. It comprises 6 constituents of the Russian Federation: 4 regions (Sverdlovsk, Chelyabinsk, Kurgan, Tyumen) and 2 autonomous districts (Khanty-Mansiysk – Yugra, Yamalo-Nenets). The above mentioned regions were part of the Ural Region from 1923 to 1934 and served as a prototype for the Ural Federal District. The district area of the Ural Federal District is larger than the total area of Germany, France, Great Britain and Spain. The city of Yekaterinburg is its administrative center.

The most picturesque place of the region is the Ural mountain range. The blue Ural mountains stretch for thousands of kilometers from the south to the north, from the steppes of Kazakhstan to the Arctic Ocean. The Stone Belt of the Ural Mountains is the symbol that connects Europe and Asia, the meridian that connects ethnic groups and their cultural heritage.

Since ancient times, the Urals has been a “melting pot” that unites Russians, Tatars, Bashkirs, Khanty, Mansi, Udmurts, Mari, Komi, Nagaybaks, Ukrainians, Belarusians, Kazakhs, Germans, and many other nationalities. Due to the diversity of cultures, many Uralians are born bilingual. Holding the 5th BRICS YSF in the South Urals is symbolic and not occasional. A multinational region, where representatives of different cultures live in good neighborhood, suits best for this purpose.
The Ural Federal District is a treasury of mineral reserves of the Russian Federation. Two thirds of all proven oil reserves in Russia (6% of the world reserves), about 75% of proven natural gas reserves in Russia (26% of the world reserves), one sixth of iron ores and almost 10% of timber reserves are located here. The Ural Federal District is rich in bauxites, chromites, non-ferrous and rare metals, phosphates, barites, limestone, construction materials, as well as water and forest resources.
The concentration of industrial production in the Ural Federal District is four times higher than the national average! The economy of the district is based on fuel and energy complex, metallurgy and mechanical engineering. The Southern Urals is the foundation of the country’s resources, and South Ural State University (SUSU), the largest university of the region, located in Chelyabinsk, trains professionals who can apply the resources of the Southern Urals to science and industry.

SUSU (South Ural State University)
SUSU is a «SMART university that unites Europe and Asia» – the way the university’s motto sounds today. Being located in the heart of the Southern Ural, SUSU became the foundation of positive changes which take place in the region: development of powerful industry, preservation of unique environment, creation of multicultural and multinational environment which favors to new discoveries and development of international collaboration.

SUSU sets a goal to be one of the leading universities of the largest continent on Earth – the Eurasia continent. The university aspires to strengthening its positions as a scientific-and-research, educational and innovative center among the world’s universities, which would allow it to implement significant theoretical and practical contribution to innovative development and global competitiveness of Russia in Eurasia and around the world.
Address: 76, Lenin prospekt, Chelyabinsk, Russia, 454080.
Website: https://www.susu.ru/en
E-mail: info@susu.ru
Phone: +7 (351) 267-99-00