On December 5, Vitebsk /Olga Bogacheva - BELTA/. The official launch of a series of events for the I Student Slavic Forum will take place in Vitebsk on December 8, Irina Bondal, Vice-Rector for Educational Work at Vitebsk State University named after P.M. Masherov, told a BELTA correspondent. On this day, a grand concert-presentation will be held at the "Vitebsk" Concert Hall, featuring the management and creative youth from eight higher education institutions of the Vitebsk and Smolensk regions: Polotsk State University (PSU), Vitebsk State Technological University (VSTU), Vitebsk State University named after P.M. Masherov, Vitebsk Academy of Veterinary Medicine, Vitebsk State Medical University, Smolensk State University, Smolensk Medical Academy, and Smolensk State Academy of Physical Culture, Sports and Tourism. Greetings to the concert participants will also be sent by Oles Honchar Dnipropetrovsk National University (Ukraine), whose representatives will not be able to come to Vitebsk. The creative concert will consist of 15-minute presentations from each of the educational institutions, during which students will strive to present the cultural, sporting, and scientific life of their alma mater as vividly and fully as possible. "This event will mark the beginning of a whole series of cultural, scientific, and sporting events that will unite Vitebsk and Smolensk universities in the near future," noted Irina Bondal. She emphasized that culture, science, and sport are the three pillars on which the cooperation of all participating universities in the Student Slavic Forum will be built, and its main principle is defined as the continuity of student interaction. To this end, from January to April 2013, student youth will participate in joint scientific conferences, cultural, and sporting events. From the Belarusian side, the coordinating university for all projects is VSU named after P.M. Masherov, and from the Russian side, it is Smolensk State University. The results of all these meetings will be summarized in the last ten days of May in Vitebsk at the congress of the I Student Slavic Forum. Plans for further projects will also be determined there. "The Student Slavic Forum is open, so other universities from various countries can join it," emphasized Irina Bondal.