Such important issues as the formation of the Congress program, the membership of working groups, quotas for the number of delegates from the Republican bodies of state administration, recommendations on nominating delegates to the Second Congress of Scientists of the Republic of Belarus and participation of invited persons were discussed in detail at the meeting. Approaches for the development of the Congress paraphernalia were developed at the meeting, as well as the draft plan for preparing and conducting the Congress was discussed.
It is planned that the Congress will be held over two days. It will be attended by 2100 delegates from all regions of the country. It is expected a large number of well-known scientists of the Union State, the CIS, leading foreign academies of sciences, world scientific research organizations and centers to arrive at the Congress. The delegates and invitees will take part in the plenary session and will work in 9 sections devoted to the main directions of science development and international cooperation. The work in section "Youth in Science" is also envisaged. 2017 has been declared the Year of Science and the Congress will be its final event. It is expected that the Congress will set out the basic and most vital tasks and directions of development of scientific areas with a long-term nature to expand international scientific and technical cooperation and integration of national science into world scientific space. A general strategy for the development and enhancing the role of Belarusian science in the economy and its interaction with the real sector, a strategy for the formation of an effective national innovation system and progressive implementation model of the new economy and the knowledge economy in the Republic of Belarus, as well as the concept of the country's long-term scientific and innovation security will be developed.
According to the Council of Ministers Decree № 659 of 30 August 2017 the Organizing Committee for the 2nd Congress of Scientists of the Republic of Belarus is approved. Vladimir I. Semashko, Deputy Prime Minister of the Republic of Belarus, was appointed as a chairman of the Organizing Committee. The Organizing Committee was entrusted with the task of coordinating the work on the preparation and holding the Congress in the IV quarter of 2017 in Minsk. The Committee should approve the action plan and the program of the Congress for its preparation and holding, as well as to develop guidelines for selecting representatives and the procedure for electing delegates to the Congress. The National Academy of Sciences of Belarus and the State Committee on Science and Technology is responsible for implementation and logistical support of measures on preparation and holding of the Congress, as well as for providing participation representatives of foreign scientific organizations in the Congress. In addition, it is necessary jointly with the Ministry of Information, Ministry of Culture, Ministry of Education and other stakeholders to form working groups on organizational, editorial and publishing, logistical and information support for the Congress and submit the lists to the Committee. The National Academy of Sciences of Belarus together with the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Culture and with the participation of the public association Belarusian Republican Youth Union should involve young scientists and individuals included in the data banks of gifted and talented youth to work on the preparation and holding of the Congress.