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Among those gathered were, Deputy Sergei Bozhenov, a member of said Committee, Dr Valery Makarov RAS*, Chairman of the Advisory Council on the Development of Regional and Municipal Science, and Dr Albina Buchek, Head of the Regional Vocational ��è��Ƶ and Science Department, as well as various Heads of Regional Government, Rectors and Vice-Rectors from local universities, and business owners.

The conference heard firstly from two of BNRU's experts in the field, Professor Viktor Zakharov, and Dr Konstantin Kharchenko. Both men are members of the Advisory Committee, and Professor Zakharov is the Director of the Institute of Economics and Management. Both of their reports sought to highlight problems of creating scientific awareness among Regional and Municipal managers and spoke to ways of raising the level of scientific knowledge among civil servants, budget controllers, and legal officers.

After the formalities, leading members of the Regional Council, including Dr Makarov, Dr Valery Markin RAS, and Professor Vladimir Patrushev RAS, were shown around the University. Dr Markin is the Head of the Centre for Regional Sociology and Conflict at the Federal Sociological Research Centre in Moscow. On their tour they had the opportunity to meet two of BNRU's Vice-Rectors, Dr Igor Konstantinov, Vice-Rector for Science, and Dr Andrei Peresypkin, Vice-Rector for Strategic Development, with whom they discussed ways that the University might help them in achieving their objectives.

* RAS stands for 'Russian Academy of Science'