Money is smart: how the Union of business and science helps the development of the Russian economy

Effective cooperation between the business community and scientists helps the development of Russia as a state and the country's economy. This was stated by Vladimir Putin at a meeting with young scientists in the Kremlin on November 29. Today, almost all leading Russian companies are working with researchers to varying degrees, which is already bearing fruit. Separately, Vladimir Putin confirmed that Russia continues to increase cooperation in science with foreign partners, despite the fact that some countries are trying to "close down" cooperation in the scientific field. About what young scientists are concerned about today and what, in the opinion of the president, constitutes the happiness of a modern person — in the material of Izvestia.

How the Sirius Congress of Young Scientists ended

The last third day of the Congress of Young Scientists has ended at Sirius University of Science and Technology. This year's event is being held for the fifth time. More than 8,000 participants from 88 regions of Russia, as well as specialists from almost 90 countries, gathered on the Black Sea coast. The average age of the delegates is 33 years. The business program consisted of 185 sessions, meetings and lectures, during which scientists discussed the most relevant topics of scientific and technological development. Among them are artificial intelligence, genetic and nuclear medicine, robotics, unmanned and agricultural technologies, nuclear energy, space and much more.

The Congress of Young Scientists is a key annual event of the Decade of Science and Technology in Russia. In 2025, it started on November 26 and lasted until November 28, with events taking place on the federal territory of Sirius. The main theme of the forum is "The Energy of Science: from the potential of knowledge to the creation of the future."

The Congress brings together representatives of leading scientific schools from different regions of Russia, scientific and educational organizations, government agencies, industrial partners, business representatives and state corporations, and most importantly, talented young scientists, winners of grant competitions from Russia and other countries.

The Congress pleasantly surprises with the number of people interested in science and allows us to open up previously unknown research areas, Evgeny Filatov, 27, a leading design engineer at the MIPT Laboratory of Molecular Medical Diagnostics, told Izvestia. Here, at the stand of the Nasha Lab project, the specialist presented a scientific device created by him together with Skoltech — a high-resolution mass spectrometric complex for the analysis of gas mixtures, which can be used to study complex substances in medicine and the oil and gas industry. Thanks to the congress, many scientists became interested in the invention.

— Working under sanctions forces us to look for domestic suppliers, so our development is assembled entirely from Russian parts. The main problem in the scientific field today, I can name weak funding, which is most strongly felt at the final stages: testing and searching for a potential manufacturer. An excess of bureaucracy also hinders. For example, when applying for a grant, you must specify what the final result of the research will be. However, in the case of fundamental work, the scientist himself does not know what it can lead to," the specialist explained.

Lilia Urusova, 36, PhD, Head of the Department of Fundamental Pathomorphology at the National Research Medical Center of Endocrinology, agrees with the fact that lack of funding complicates the launch of projects on the market. At the congress, she presents a device developed together with specialists from the Faculty of Physics of Moscow State University to determine the boundaries of organs for error-free operations.

— I'm a doctor. We do thyroid surgery. There are tumors and benign growths that need to be removed. During this operation, it is important not to damage the small parathyroid glands that are nearby but not visible. There were no medical methods to detect them, and physicists from Moscow State University helped us. We found out that the optical properties of these glands are very different from each other, and we created a device for their detection," said Lilia Urusova.

According to her, under the conditions of sanctions, it is more difficult for scientists to purchase components and reagents, and there may be problems with publications in foreign scientific journals, although recently some of them have been willing to cooperate with researchers from Russia.

— We do not have enough financing at the final stage. For example, in order for our device to be available in every hospital where thyroid surgery is performed, we now need an industrial partner. He will help to create a production site and expand production. But in order to find it, you need to produce several copies yourself, which you don't have enough money for," said Lilia Urusova.

Thanks to the Congress, the device developers have already received many offers of cooperation from major domestic companies, so the device has a great chance of mass use in the near future.

What worries young scientists today

While the congress was coming to an end in Sirius, everything was ready in the Catherine Hall of the Kremlin's Senate Palace for Vladimir Putin's meeting with the young scientists participating in the congress. Experts from biotechnology and materials science to energy and agriculture gathered at a large table. The president admitted that he did not expect such representation at the congress.: 8 thousand people from more than 100 countries gathered there. According to him, this is a good indicator that the set goals have been achieved.

— The main goal (of the Congress. The goal was not to overcome any barriers related to external restrictions. The goal was to create a platform for free communication and exchange of opinions, ideas, and establishing new contacts between those people who want to engage in science, because science, like art and sports, should be outside politics, and they should unite people," the head of state said.

At the same time, Moscow will continue to increase cooperation in science with foreign partners and co-finance the work of leading scientists through grants. And this is despite the fact that some countries are trying to "close down" cooperation in the scientific field. Scientists were concerned about this issue in terms of import substitution and protection of technological sovereignty. The President stressed that such issues should not be resolved by banning foreign partners from trading and allowing only domestic equipment to enter the market.

— If we are talking about preserving technological sovereignty, then the simplest idea comes to mind: "ban everything foreign." In this case, we risk losing competition in the market and getting a low-quality and expensive product. It is very important to find a middle ground here. Of course, the government is obliged to support key research so that competitive products enter our market, and they would be better than what competitors offer, in this case from abroad. It is desirable that there be competition in the market, inside," Vladimir Putin added.

Among other topics, the attitude of the authorities towards young scientists was discussed. According to the president, today in the Russian Federation they are actively thinking about how to build work with talented researchers who are just starting their way in science. Effective cooperation between the business community and scientists is also important, it helps the development of Russia as a state and its economy, he stressed. Almost all leading Russian companies, to varying degrees, already work together with domestic science, formulate an order, and then create a market to use the latest developments.

In addition, scientists were concerned about the situation with the reduction of quotas for postgraduate studies. The policy of reducing the number of graduate students in Russia was deliberate, so that people would come there only for scientific work, Vladimir Putin explained. It is noteworthy that the number of foreigners among graduate students in Russian universities has increased significantly recently and continues to grow, with the largest percentage among Chinese citizens, he noted. And the conditions for this category of students are favorable: today, 1,000 graduate students, including from new regions of Russia, receive a scholarship of 75,000 rubles per month starting in 2024, the president said. Vladimir Putin even remembered his student days. "I once received an increased scholarship, it was 40 rubles, and I was very happy about it," the president recalled.

What is the "recipe for happiness"

The President willingly and confidentially communicated with scientists, immersed himself in the details of their professions, and inquired about the origin of the names of their departments, such as "Department of Heating and Ventilation." Moreover, he was clearly in high spirits and actively tried to defuse the situation in the hall, where the scientists were a little constrained. For example, Anna Gneush, director of the Institute of Veterinary Medicine, Animal Science and Biotechnology at Kuban State Agrarian University, began telling Vladimir Putin that biotechnologies of the agro-industrial complex had become a priority in her research. In particular, it was about biological products for agriculture.

— But you won't feed us with genetically modified products? Vladimir joked.

- no. It's just a job for microbial synthesis," Anna Gneusz replied.

"Are you not going to give us a bull the size of this room for lunch?" — the president continued joking.

We also talked with Vladimir Putin about happiness. Olga Gerasimova, Associate Professor of the Department of Human Resource Management at the Faculty of Economics of the Southern Federal University, spoke about her study "Does happiness affect the academic career of young professionals", which she has not yet completed. Putin acknowledged that this issue is really very serious: according to his estimates, not only a salary increase has a positive effect on employee efficiency, but also a work-life balance, lack of health and sleep problems, and mental health. The President listened attentively to the interviewee and said that he would be happy to apply the results of a study on the impact of happiness on a career in the work of regional teams, the government and the presidential administration.

"A man thinks all the time, achieves something, searches, finds, and then sees that his ideas are realized in life, in practice, and bring benefits. It seems to me that this is what we should strive for, and I want to wish you such a result, both in specific research and in life in general," he concluded.