July 11, 2014 the signing ceremony of agreements on strategic partnership between Rossotrudnichestvo and a number of Russian universities was held. Konstantin Korsachev, the head of the Federal Agency and universities representatives attended the meeting. The delegation was led by Yury Kolesnikov, the vice rector of the ITMO University for educational and organizational and administrative work. 

The main content of the documents was an agreement on cooperation of the parties for the development and support of education in Russia, as well as improve its competitiveness abroad. The signing ceremony was attended by delegations from the ITMO University, the National Reseach Irkutsk State Technical University, the Tomsk State University, the Kuban State Agrarian University, as well as representatives of the National Reseach South State University, the Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology and the Kalmyk State University.

As Konstantin Kosachev noted, there is a major challenge in front of Russian universities for the organization of effective cooperation with foreign partners in the fields of science, culture and education. In the near future serious measures to build institutional partnership between the Russian research community and foreign countries should be taken in order to attract the interest of foreign students in our country, its cultural traditions, the system of training and education.

Under the agreement, the Federal agency plans extensive work aimed at creating a positive image of the Russian educational system. According to the documents, the accent is made on the implementation of partnership research, educational and teaching programs and projects with the support of foreign missions of the Rossotrudnichestvo. The outcome of the measures taken should be to raise the number of foreign students seeking to acquire Russian education.

The main problems associated with the construction of a system of international education were also discussed at the meeting. Konstantin Kosachev stressed the need to reform the principle of admission of foreign students. The study in Russian universities should be a conscious choice for them. To this end Rossotrudnichestvo intends to provide information support of domestic universities on the basis of their scientific and cultural centers abroad.

According to Yury Kolesnikov, the agreements are very important because they open up new opportunities for further development of international contacts. The ITMO University is already implementing a number of joint educational projects, double-degree programs, and academic exchange. Carrying on the joint exhibitions, festivals, competitions, scientific conferences, presentations and other activities of mutual interest on the grounds provided by the Rossotrudnichestvo, will strengthen the reputation of the university and increase the competitiveness of Russian higher education in general.