On April 1, the SFedU delegation took part in a meeting of the Russian-Cuban Working Group on Cooperation in Science, Technology and the Environment. Gennady Veselov, Director of the SFedU Institute of Computer Technology and Information Security, made a presentation on research initiatives being developed jointly with universities in the Republic of Cuba, in which he noted that SFedU has been actively cooperating with Cuban colleagues for many years. As part of this cooperation, research centers and joint laboratories have been established, on the basis of which scientific and educational projects with partner universities are being implemented.

For example, a Laboratory of Advanced Computer Technologies was established jointly with the University of Havana, and the Russian–Cuban Scientific Research Center for Theory and Practice of Education and Development of Persons with Special Educational Needs was established with the Central University of Marta Abreu de las Villas. As part of the program of the Intergovernmental Russian-Cuban Commission on Trade, Economic, Scientific and Technical Cooperation, it is planned to open an Artificial Intelligence Laboratory in Technical Systems jointly with the Havana University of Technology named after Jose Antonio Echeverria (CUJAE), and also, thanks to the support of the University of Havana, the Ministry of Education of the Republic of Cuba and the Ministry of Higher Education and Science of the Russian Federation, the opening of a branch of the Southern Federal University will take place on April 4 at the site provided by the University of Havana.

In his message, Gennady Veselov noted that SFedU has been the developer and operator of the Internship in Russia – a Step towards Success program organized by the Ministry of Education and Science of the Russian Federation for students of the Republic of Cuba for three years. As part of this program, 26 of the 50 participants completed internships in the format of research activities at five universities in Russia.

Close cooperation with universities in the Republic of Cuba has allowed the formation of international research teams to participate in a project competition organized by the Ministry of Education and Science of the Russian Federation. SFedU submitted two applications for participation in the competition. The first project is a response to the serious challenge facing the Republic of Cuba in the face of critical deterioration of the energy infrastructure and a series of major power outages. The SFedU scientists are solving the priority task of ensuring the energy independence of the island state jointly with the Havana University of Technology named after Jose Antonio Echeverria (CUJAE) and the University of Havana. The parties have developed proposals for the development of a fundamentally new, synergetic approach to the design of autonomous intelligent energy systems with renewable energy sources. Such power systems will be able to function effectively both offline and in conjunction with other power systems, while ensuring maximum sustainability, energy efficiency, and adaptability to changing and uncertain conditions.

As part of the second project in collaboration with the University of Moa named after Antonio Nunes Jimenez and the Moa Nickel industrial partner plan to evaluate the areas of rational use of waste from the mining industry, fuel and energy complex and metallurgy of Eastern Donbass and the Republic of Cuba for the extraction of valuable components and the production of building materials. First of all, we are talking about rare earth elements and "critical" metals, the current shortage of which necessitates the processing of waste from mining companies and man-made waste both in order to expand the mineral resource base and to improve the environmental situation.

Among other initiatives, an international research group on the conservation and reproduction of plant biodiversity and soil resources is being formed with the participation of the SFedU Botanical Garden and the National Botanical Garden of the University of Havana. According to both sides, a promising area of cooperation is the development of agro- and biotechnologies for soil quality management and food security.

The participants of the meeting of the working group from the Cuban side welcomed the information about the SFedU's research initiatives. The Rector of the University of Havana, Miriam Nicado Garcia, noted the special partnership that has developed with the Southern Federal University. In fact, the University of Havana and SFedU have become twin cities. It would great if the SFedU branch at the University of Havana became an open platform for interaction between many Cuban and Russian universities at a new level.

Marta Dunia Delgado Dapena, Rector of the Jose Antonio Echeverria University of Technology of Havana (CUJAE), emphasized the strategic role of our universities in the development of human resources. SFedU and CUJAE have joined forces in the field of artificial intelligence to respond to the great challenges facing the countries. It is proposed to fully unleash all the potential and groundwork that was created during the research internships within the framework of the joint Laboratory of Artificial Intelligence in technical systems, created on the basis of CUJAE and the Russian-Cuban Scientific Research Center of the Southern Federal University.

The warm feedback from Cuban colleagues and the friendly and working atmosphere in which the meeting was held confirm the strong and leading positions of the Southern Federal University in developing relations with universities in the Republic of Cuba.

The university delegation includes SFedU President Marina Borovskaya, SFedU Vice-Rector for International and Project Activities Maxim Bondarev, Rector's Plenipotentiary Representative in the countries of the Ibero-American area, Director of the International Institute of Interdisciplinary Education and Ibero-American Studies of SFedU Natalia Karpovskaya, Director of the SFedU Institute of Computer Technology and Information Security Gennady Veselov, Associate Professor of the SFedU Institute of Computer Technology and Information Security Alexey Tselev and senior lecturer at the SFedU International Institute of Interdisciplinary Education and Ibero-American StudiesMaria Shevtsova.