Memorandum on research cooperation between the State Geological Museum in Uzbeistan and UPJŠ in Košice

On November 30, 2020, a Memorandum on Research Cooperation between the State Geological Museum and Pavol Jozef Šafárik University in Košice was signed at the Embassy of the Slovak Republic in Tashkent, represented by its director, Mr. A. Š. Achmedšajev for the Uzbek side, and the rector of the Pavol Jozef Šafárik University, prof. Pavol Sovák who signed the Memorandum in advance. This act took a place under the auspices of Mr. JUDr. Ján Bóry, Ambassador of the Slovak Republic to Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan, based in Tashkent. Based on the Memorandum, preparations began for the Slovak-Uzbek paleontological expedition led by an employee of the Center for Interdisciplinary Biosciences TIP-UPJŠ Martin Kundrát. This extensive expedition project will begin in the summer of 2021, but the first contacts, negotiations, and personal stay were realized by Martin Kundrát with the invaluable help of the Ambassador JUDr. Ján Bóry already in 2019. After Iran and China, this is the third exploratory plan that our institution has prepared since 2017 on the Asian continent with the aim of reconstructing biodiversity during the period of significant global climate change. In this case, however, it is the most complex project to date with its scope, duration, and mission.