Sirius Hosts IX BRICS Young Scientists Forum

The closing ceremony of the IX BRICS Young Scientists Forum took place on the sidelines of the IV Young Scientists Congress at Sirius University of Science and Technology on 29 November 2024. The event, which concluded Russia’s BRICS chairship in science, technology, and innovation, was attended by 180 delegates, the largest number of participants in the event’s history.

“It is symbolic that special attention is being paid to young scientists as part of Russia’s BRICS chairship. You are the ones who are at the forefront of rapid technological changes and fundamental scientific discoveries. I am confident that on the sidelines of the Young Scientists Congress, as part of which the Forum was held this year, researchers from different countries managed to establish new international ties, which will later develop into joint initiatives that are capable of changing the world,” Russian Minister of Science and Higher Education Valery Falkov said.

The plenary session, which concluded the Forum’s business programme, featured speeches by delegation leaders, members of the panel of judges of the BRICS Young Innovator Prize, and representatives of thematic working groups on such areas as artificial intelligence, digital humanities, and environmental and nature-like technologies as a driving force for a sustainable future.

The winners of the VII BRICS Young Innovator Prize were announced the day before at the Congress plenary session, which was chaired by Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Chernyshenko. The goal of the competition is to identify the best projects that could contribute to the development of global science and economy, as well as to involve as many young scientists as possible in international scientific and technical cooperation. The competition winners included scientists from Brazil, China, and Russia.

In addition, for the first time in the Forum’s history, the best young innovators from BRICS countries who did not win prizes in the main competition were announced and received awards at the final event. They were:

• Hady Fahmy Marcos (Egypt) with the development of methane-reducing capsules that can be used in livestock farming
• Hema Sundara Siva Rama Krishna Matte (India) with a project on sustainable and scalable solutions using lubricants: from laboratory to industry
• Zahraa Al Essa (UAE) with a project involving the production of biodiesel fuel from vegetable oil
• Somayeh Sohrabi (Iran) with the development of a cost-effective microfluidic chip for water purification
• Vukile Mnyande (South Africa) with a project to use an intelligent control system for power generating microgrids with the integration of used electric vehicle batteries

The IX BRICS Young Scientists Forum served as a starting point for the creation of international scientific consortia and the emergence of new initiatives that aim to support the technological development of countries and the sustainability of national economies.

The Roscongress Foundation manages the events of Russia’s BRICS chairship.