MINSK, July 27. /TASS/. The creation of a single Russia-Belarus scientific research space will contribute to the real development of the Union State, President of the Kurchatov Institute Scientific Research Center Mikhail Kovalchuk said on Tuesday.

"We are proposing that a single research space be set up and for this purpose we have signed a roadmap with the head of the National Academy of Sciences [of Belarus] today," Kovalchuk said.

As the Kurchatov institute head said, "powerful projects related to new research infrastructure based on powerful installations - mega-sciences - are now unfolding in front of us."

"The program has also been launched in Russia and it is expected to become the world’s most accomplished research infrastructure in 5-7 years," Kovalchuk said.

In this regard, "it seems very important to recreate a common scientific research space within the Union State, taking into account the potential of Belarus," the Kurchatov Institute head said.

"Importantly, both Belarus and Russia have the required tools," he stressed. "If we create this single infrastructural research space, we will become leaders in drawing other CIS partners into this effort," Kovalchuk pointed out.

During the talks in Minsk, the sides also agreed that "they will draft an inter-governmental agreement on Belarus joining the international center set up on the basis of the world’s most powerful PIK research nuclear reactor in Gatchina near St. Petersburg, he said.

"We have also proposed that a branch of the Kurchatov Institute be set up on the premises of the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus to strengthen integration and cooperation. Also, we proposed that a branch of the Moscow Engineering and Physics Institute be opened in Belarus in the field of new education," the president of the Kurchatov Institute Scientific Research Center said.

Kurchatov Institute

The Kurchatov Institute National Research Center is one of the leading research facilities in Russia and in the world. With its creation, Russia has set up a unique inter-disciplinary scientific and technical compound that comprises the Kurchatov specialized synchrotron radiation source (KISI-Kurchatov), the U-70 accelerator, the IR-8 and VVR-M neutron research reactors, the PIK high-flux research reactor, the T-10 and T-15 tokamak thermonuclear installations, plasma and other units.