Rustam Minnikhanov: Over the past 15 years, the total expenditure on research and development has increased tenfold and exceeded 12 billion roubles in Tatarstan

On June 5, speaking at a meeting of Tatarstan Presidential Council for Education and Science, Tatarstan President said that possibilities of expanding and deepening cooperation ties between enterprises in the production sector and universities and research centres have to be analyzed.

Opening the meeting, Minnikhanov said that a powerful scientific and technical potential along with the production sector is one of the key competitive advantages of our republic. According to him, there are over 120 scientific organizations in Tatarstan. By their number, Tatarstan occupies a leading position in Volga Federal District behind Moscow, St. Petersburg, Moscow, Sverdlovsk and Novosibirsk regions.

Kazan Federal University and two national research universities (Kazan National Research Technical University named after A.N.Tupolev and Kazan National Research Technological University) are the main driving forces of the scientific and technical potential of our region, Minnikhanov reminded.

Taking into account the fact that the Russian science is gradually restructuring to the university model, such a target is natural, but at the same time, the scientific complex of the republic has not reached its maximum level for a decisive breakthrough, he said. 

"We are setting ambitious modernization tasks, to the academic sector of science as well. A multidisciplinary federal research centre, which is planned to be set up at seven regional institutes of the Federal Agency of Scientific Organizations, should give an impetus to the development of science and technology," Minnikhanov said.

Minnikhanov noted that success has been achieved in the field of financial provision of basic and applied sciences. Over the past 15 years, the total expenditure on research and development has increased more than tenfold and exceeded 12 billion roubles in Tatarstan.

Rector of Kazan Federal University Ilshat Gafurov made a report on the role and place of universities in the scientific and innovative infrastructure of Tatarstan, on directions for expanding the scientific and technical cooperation of the education system.

He presented the current state of universities in the context of world science and in accordance with international ratings.

Gafurov proposed to develop a regional programme of scientific research in three main areas, inlcuding medicine and pharmaceutics, IT, agronomy.