Most international scientific departments were established at the ITMO University within the framework of the project of improving the competitiveness of Russian universities called "5-100". One of the key requirements for the universities participating in the project is improving the quality of scientific research to the world level. At the head of each of the departments there are two scientists - Russian and foreign. It is expected that this cooperation will increase the level of collaborative research and, consequently, will lead to an increase in the number of publications in leading journals.
Before starting the discussion, the participants were addressed by Vladimir N. Vasilyev, the rector of the ITMO University. He spoke about the grand opening of the representative office of the ITMO University in Brussels, which was held on the 26th of November and about the meeting of the International Council of the University. "At the moment, we have already achieved some results: there is a number of agreements with universities around the world, we increased the number of publications in scientific books and journals. We need to convert quantity to quality. For example, in research your goal should not be just about a foreign expert participation, but the solution of a topical scientific issue.It is important to support interdisciplinary research, which are now the most effective. No need to run after the number of publications.It is better to write a few articles that will be published in high quality journals with a high rating.This also applies to international partnerships: the emphasis needs to be done on the universities, which are included in the lists of the best universities in the world", Vladimir Vasilyev said.
Public presentation of the reports of the international scientific departments is a mandatory procedure. First, the reports are analyzed by the commission members of the scientific and technical council, which includes experts from the ITMO University. They express their opinions about the work of the departments and make recommendations for its improvement during a public discussion. Then there'll be a final meeting of the commission, chaired by Vladimir Vasilyev and Vladimir Nikiforov, the vice president for research in the University. There a final decision will be made whether to include the specific projects of the departments in the road map (on 2015 year) of the ITMO University or not.
In the first session of the public presentation there were 22 international research departments.There were evaluated: the total number of scientific publications; the average impact factor of the journals in which articles were published; the number of foreign employees of the department, including the number of graduate and doctoral students; number of double degree programs and other indicators. Also there were presented the plans of the international scientific departments for 2015 and 2016.
Irina Melchakova, the head of international research department, told what the ITMO University expects from its international scientific departments. "The first step in the establishment of international laboratories has already done. But there is still a long way to go. I agree with Vladimir Nikolayevich that formal quantitative traits should develop into quality ones. I wish that some laboratories revised their views on international cooperation.It should not be a brief visits by foreign scientists, but a long-term and productive interaction. In the future, we would like to see on the basis of the international scientific departments some new competitive research centers. Therefore, we are going to strongly encourage the union of laboratories for collaborative research".
The second session of the public results summarizing will take place on the 3rd of December from 1 p.m. to 6 p.m. in the Internet-center in the ITMO University main building.