On 25th April, an agreement between the University of Warsaw and the Mongolian Academy of Sciences was signed in the capital of Mongolia, Ulaanbaatar. The cooperation between two research units will be focused on education, research projects, academic exchange and training programmes in oriental studies, geography and archaeology.

Andrzej Duda, the President of the Republic of Poland met on 25th April with Ukhnaagiina Khürelsükha, the President of Mongolia in Ulaanbaatar. During the meeting, an agreement on cooperation between the University of Warsaw and the Mongolian Academy of Sciences was signed by Krzysztof Bojko, the Ambassador of the Republic of Poland to Mongolia and Prof. Duger Redgel, the President of the Mongolian Academy of Sciences.

The University of Warsaw was represented by Prof. Agata Bareja-Starzyńska and Dr Jan Rogala from the Faculty of Oriental Studies.

“The agreement opens up opportunities for cooperation in many fields, such as Mongolian studies, geography and geology,” Prof. Bareja-Starzyńska says.

Prof. Radosław Karasiewicz-Szczypiorski from the Centre of Mediterranean Archaeology UW also draws attention to the great research opportunities in the field of archaeology. “Particularly promising are the prospects concerning a better understanding of the origins of the Scythian culture, which ruled the steppes of Asia and Eastern Europe from the early Iron Age onwards and originated in areas within the borders of modern Mongolia,” Prof. Karasiewicz-Szczypiorski emphasises.

Cooperation with Mongolian institutions

The agreement concluded on 25th April will enable the University of Warsaw to develop its collaboration with the Mongolian Academy of Sciences in terms of common research projects, academic exchange and training programmes.

“Our faculty’s cooperation with Mongolian Academy of Sciences goes back to the 1980s. At that time, we carried out research trips for both academics and geography students. We conducted geochemical research in steppe landscapes, areas that Poland lacks,” Prof. Sylwia Kulczyk, the Deputy Dean for Personal Affairs and International Cooperation of the Faculty of Geography and Regional Studies, University of Warsaw, says.