Rustam Minnikhanov: "Fundamental science requires practical application"

On October 17 at the end of his three-day working trip to Germany Tatarstan President Rustam Minnikhanov visited the Ilmenau University of Technology and held a round table with the academic community and representatives of Thuringia and Tatarstan educational institutions.

Principal of the Ilmenau University of Technology Mr. Peter Scharff made a presentation of the university to Rustam Minnikhanov. Ilmenau is the state university and takes a leading position in some spheres of fundamental and applied science both at the domestic and international levels.

“The Ilmenau’s strategy is to maintain close interaction between fundamental science and a certain industrial enterprise. This is the secret of competitive advantage of our researches.”

Mr. Peter Scharff reminded about German-Russian University of New Technologies, which is being established together with Tupolev Kazan National Research Technical University and noted: “We are launching a very important project and going to run new educational courses in Kazan next year.”

Welcoming his colleagues, Principal of Tupolev Kazan National Research Technical University Albert Gilmutdinov appreciated support of the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) and four German partner universities which are taking part in establishing new university.

Thuringia Minister of Economy, Labour and Technologies Matthias Machnig noted that there is only one way to achieve innovative goals – co-existence of economy, science and government institutions. The Ilmenau is a successful example of a close interaction between theory and science.

Summing up, Tatarstan President Rustam Minnikhanov said: “It goes without saying that fundamental science requires practical application. The sphere of education and science should meet the needs of the industry and real sector of economy. The German-Russian University will become the global center of engineering competence and practical application of fundamental science.

Later, Thuringia Innovative Center for Mobility founded at the Ilmenau University with the support of Thuringia leadership to carry out precise researches was demonstrated to Tatarstan President.