Technological entrepreneurship at universities 

One of the key topics at the plenary session was bridging the gap between fundamental and applied research. Creating new technological centers and developing technoparks or even tech valleys affiliated with research centers could be a way to solve this problem. Together, these steps would help support projects by students and young scientists. 

As an example of such initiatives, Sergey Kulikov, head of the RUSNANO corporation and chair of ITMO’s Supervisory Council, named the startup studio launched by RUSNANO’s Fund for Infrastructure and Educational Programs in collaboration with Ekaterina Skorb, the head and leading professor of ITMO’s Infochemistry Scientific Center. According to the expert, starting from 2022 the fund will act as the operator for the creation of 15 startup studios that will boost tech entrepreneurship at universities.

However, this is not the only possible path to take. Naturally, resources and infrastructure are crucial for projects, but their main value is people who possess and produce the necessary knowledge. Moreover, the progress is brought closer by knowledge-intensive research. 

“As a knowledge-intensive investor, we try to separate hype from trends and enter exclusively projects  with guaranteed target markets and co-investors. Our projects in hydrogen energetics, gas limits chemistry, and renewable energy sources all follow this same formula,” says Sergey Kulikov. 

RUSNANO focuses not only on ESG (Environmental, Social, and Corporate Governance – Ed.) agenda and innovative projects aiming to change the production and consumption models, but also on finding solutions to fundamental tasks. 

New regional research centers and science communication 

According to Dmitry Chernyshenko, over 5,000 events organized under the aegis of the Year of Science and Technology aimed to develop universities and launch new research centers, campuses, and labs. Special attention was paid to young scientists, with over 1,600 PhD students receiving funding for fundamental research in 2021.

This year was meant to make the job of a researcher more prestigious and draw public attention to scientific and technological developments and as a result, over 60% of school students stated that they are proud of Russian science in a recent survey. At the same time, 62% of parents stated that they would like their children to have a career in academia. Another result of the initiative was the re-launch of the Russian Knowledge Community.

The experts named the appeal of science and its accessibility from an early age among the changes that have led to the growing number of research staff and young scientists in particular. Infrastructure created for full-scale research conducted by school students at the Sirius center is just one example. Elena Shmeleva, head of the Council of the Sirius Federal Territory and the head of the Talent and Success foundation, is certain that there should be more laboratories of this kind created at universities, schools, and even kindergartens so that children and adolescents could be able to fully engage in research. 

Science and business

Another matter discussed at the session was the involvement of business in the projects of young scientists. 

“We need to create integrated innovation environments that would include new laboratories, engineering schools, and high-tech companies that will broadcast their agendas, set tasks, and evaluate both the produced results and the specialists in training,” adds Elena Shmeleva. 

Olga Golodets, deputy chair of the Executive Board at Sberbank, represented high-tech companies. According to her, Sberbank has produced a pool of solutions as a result of active collaboration with Russian universities. 

“It’s not always that we appreciate our opportunities, resources, and advantages. This year was our chance to reevaluate them. Any technology-based corporation today supports development institutions – for instance, at Sberbank we already have the AI Institute and the School of Developing Digital Technologies. We collaborate with many universities and every solution we create together is a breakthrough,” shares Olga Golodets.