Siberian Federal University

Prime Minister Vladimir Putin held a meeting in St. Petersburg on the implementation of development programmes for major universities on October 7, 2010.

Opening the meeting, Prime Minister pointed out that «the main objective of the government's modernization strategy for higher education is to form the pivot of a strong, comprehensive and competitive system through support for renowned leaders in this area and the creation of new strong educational centres».

Vladimir Putin added that the development programmes are given a priority status. They are approved by the Government and receive additional funding from the federal budget to reach the certain goals and objectives. Prime Minister said that the money will be allocated for the clear and realistic projects to integrate education, science and the economy, introduce contemporary educational standards and management practices, modernise research centres and laboratories and get them involved more deeply in R&D projects.

Directing to the all rectors at the meeting, Vladimir Putin said: «We expect that the universities you head will set a new benchmark for Russian higher education developing new standards to be followed by other universities across the country».

Speaking about the federal universities, Vladimir Putin pointed out that «each university should pay special attention to the issue of training specialists in demand in the region where it is based. The universities should become innovative platforms for launching high-tech projects and developing regions. That is why it is so important to get local authorities and businesses involved in their activities, including through supervisory boards».

Prime Minister said that this year the two pilot federal universities - Siberian Federal University and Southern Federal University will have finished the first stage of their programmes for which the Government allotted for about 13 billion roubles from the federal budget 2007-2010. Vladimir Putin gave an order to the Ministry of Education and Science to review the experience gained to find how efficiently the human resource and academic potential of the universities has been used and develop mechanisms to monitor the performance of the development programmes for other leading universities.

Vladimir Putin also discussed the issues concerning higher education with the Rectors at the meeting: wages and salaries, halls of residence, sports centres, etc.

At the end of the meeting, Prime Minister expressed his hope that the national higher educational institutions and federal universities will play noticeable and important roles as engines driving the country forward in this vital sector.