From January 21 to 23, 2019, a delegation of Lobachevsky University visited the University of Calabria (Italy). The delegation included: UNN President R.G. Strongin, Vice-Rector for Research V.B. Kazantsev, Vice-Rector for International Affairs A.B. Bedny, Vice-Rector for Public Relations N.V. Avralev, Director of the Institute of Economics and Entrepreneurship A.O. Grudzinsky, Head of the International Affairs Department, I.S. Leonova, First Deputy Director of the Institute of Economics and Entrepreneurship O.V. Petrova, Associate Professor of the Software and Supercomputer Technologies Department A.V. Grishagin.  During the visit, a meeting was held with the Rector of the University of Calabria, Gino Miroce Crisci, and the Vice-Rector for Research and Commercialization, Giuseppe Passarino. Professors Davide Infante, Yaroslav Sergeyev and Zhanna Smirnova, coordinators of the Russian-Italian University project, also took part in the meeting.

At the meeting, issues of bilateral cooperation were discussed. The guests visited the Center for Technology Transfer, a number of research laboratories and were introduced to the infrastructure of the University.

UNN delegation members took part in a bilateral scientific seminar on priority research projects of the University of Calabria and Lobachevsky University and presented their reports. Italian colleagues, heads of relevant faculties of the University of Calabria, made their presentations on scientific achievements in the fields of biology, physics, chemistry, economics, finance, political and social sciences, engineering, mathematics and computer science. Project coordinators, Professors Davide Infante and Yaroslav Sergeyev told the participants about the successes achieved in the course of the 25-year work of the Russian-Italian University. The joint Russian-Italian seminar became an important milestone on the way to the development of cooperation in new areas of research and to the implementation of projects at the national and international levels. During the discussion, the most promising areas of cooperation for both parties were identified.

On January 22, a solemn declaration was signed to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the Russian-Italian University. The declaration noted the progress achieved during this quarter of a century in the training of students, the development of student mobility, and scientific exchanges. The parties confirmed that they will continue to actively participate in the creation of the European space for higher education in the spirit of the Bologna Declaration on the European Higher Education Area. The UNN and the University of Calabria also expressed their continued interest in strengthening cooperation in the field of education and science.