Alpha and mega: Putin spoke about the development of science and measures to support young scientists

Russia has completed the construction of the unique Siberian Ring Photon Source (SKIF) installation, despite the sanctions, President Vladimir Putin said during the "Results of the Year", which are summed up in a straight line format combined with a press conference. The issue of supporting young scientists was also raised: according to the head of state, in order to attract and retain research staff, it is necessary to create decent social conditions — to raise wages and provide affordable housing. For more information about what measures are needed to develop scientific personnel, how Russian megascience projects are being implemented, and what the president thinks about the 3I/ATLAS interstellar object's approach to Earth, see the Izvestia article.

Completing work on SKIF

Russia has managed to complete work on the SKIF installation, despite delays related to sanctions, President Vladimir Putin said during the "Results of the Year." The Head of State noted that the installation will allow conducting various types of research.

"This is an opportunity not only to conduct fundamental research, but also applied research at the same time. This is very important," the President stressed.

The Head of State recalled that the initiative to create SKIF was initiated by scientists of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences at the Science Council in Novosibirsk in 2018. The project is aimed at developing Russian advanced technologies in the fields of materials science, biology, medicine and pharmacology.

This is a powerful tool for researching materials. The technique is well known: samples — new materials, composites, biomaterials or pharmacological preparations — are illuminated by X-ray synchrotron radiation, receiving detailed information about their structure, explained Andrey Kuznetsov, Vice Rector of the National Research Nuclear University MEPhI.

— In Russia, there is a synchrotron at the Kurchatov Institute, but the creation of SKIF is a fundamentally new level of possibilities. Such megascience installations allow obtaining data on the structure of matter at the atomic level. Without this, the development of modern materials is impossible. For example, pharmaceutical companies and car manufacturers have been operating many stations with similar synchrotron radiation sources abroad for years. The knowledge they gain gives them significant competitive advantages. For Russia, the presence of such mega—installations is a prerequisite for technological development," he said.

A whole complex of complementary synchrotron installations is currently being formed in Russia, the expert explained. A source is already operating at the Kurchatov Institute, SKIF will become a new generation installation, and an even more powerful SILA complex is being built in Protvino, combining the capabilities of synchrotron radiation and free electron lasers. In addition, the LUCH complex is being created in Vladivostok, which will allow scientists to apply synchrotron technologies in the Far Eastern region, which is strategically important for the country.

The program for the development of synchrotron research in Russia involves updating one existing synchrotron and launching three new ones, said Valentin Borshchevsky, head of the Laboratory of Structure and Dynamics of Biomolecules at MIPT. According to him, synchrotron radiation is actively used in many scientific fields. In particular, buildings have already been erected in the science city of Koltsovo, where SKIF is located, which will house dozens of experimental stations for various studies. They cover a wide variety of fields, from oil production to the development of micro- and nanoelectronics. The existence of such a facility provides scientists with opportunities not available in conventional laboratories and allows them to work at the forefront of science.

— As a biologist, I can single out the main advantages of synchrotron for medicine and pharmacology. Such installations make it possible to understand the structure and principles of the work of organisms — from the human body to pathogenic bacteria and viruses. This helps to develop methods of treatment and forms of medicines for diseases," the expert explained to Izvestia.

Synchrotron radiation makes the process of creating antibiotics and antiviral drugs rational and scientifically sound, replacing intuitive search with accurate engineering data, the specialist emphasized.

Support for young scientists

The President also raised the issue of supporting researchers. Russia will increase the level of salaries and housing for young scientists, Vladimir Putin said.

"We need to create social conditions <...> Such as the level of wages, the availability of housing, the conditions in which a person lives — we will do all this gradually," the Russian leader said.

Currently, our country has a wide range of measures to support young scientists: a range of "youth" grants from the Russian Science Foundation (RNF), competitions from the Ministry of Education and Science for the creation of youth laboratories, as well as a program for providing housing certificates, noted the winner of the Challenge Award in the Perspektiva nomination, head of the laboratory of chemistry of industrially useful products at the Institute of Organic Chemistry. named after N.D. Zelinsky RAS Vera Vil.

— Combined, these measures have an excellent effect. For example, the number of young people at our institute has increased several times. I know that the management of many institutes of the Russian Academy of Sciences also allocates internal resources to support actively working students and graduate students. In order to maintain this positive trend, it is necessary to maintain existing support measures and support institutions," she believes.

However, some problems remain. Nikolay Kondatyuk, 33-year-old executive director of the MIPT Center for Computational Physics, whose team includes 17 other scientists, told Izvestia that measures to support young scientists in the Russian Federation vary greatly depending on the region and the organization that distributes them.

— I can say that the average salary of guys who are actively involved in scientific activities and engaged in fundamental research is somewhere from 80 to 130 thousand rubles, taking into account all support measures and scholarships. And if they receive grants or commercial orders, the revenue increases to 200-250 thousand. However, in business, the level of patches is still higher. It turns out that the "fundamentals" are the least protected, so they need to be supported first," the scientist noted.

Today, about 70% of the performers of projects supported by the Russian Science Foundation are young scientists under the age of 39, Andrey Blinov, Deputy Director General of the Russian National Science Foundation, told Izvestia.

— At the same time, we are talking not only about fundamental areas. Young scientists are participating in research within the framework of national projects to ensure technological leadership, as well as under the Megagrant program, which began to be implemented by the Russian Science Foundation in 2025. It is focused on attracting leading foreign researchers and creating world—class research teams in Russia," he said.

Young scientists need ambitious goals and working conditions, says Alexey Fedorov, head of the scientific group at the Russian Quantum Center, Deputy Chairman of the scientific Committee of the Challenge Prize. At the same time, it is equally important to create tools to celebrate the achievements of scientists and tell the general public about them, he added.

"Alien ship" 3I/ATLAS

During the Results of the Year, a journalist from Tyumen asked Vladimir Putin about comet 3I/ATLAS, which passed through the closest point to Earth today.

"I'll tell you, but this should remain strictly between us, this is classified information. This is our secret weapon, we will use it only as a last resort, because we are against the deployment of weapons in space," the president joked.

He said that in fact it is a comet and our scientists know what is happening there. It's from another galaxy, so it doesn't behave like the comets of our galaxy, the head of state added. He also joked that the object could be "sent to Jupiter."

According to Stanislav Korotky, head of scientific work at the Ka-Dar Observatory near Moscow, as well as the TAU astronomical station in Nizhny Arkhyz, the president's answer about the comet is fully consistent with scientific data on this phenomenon.

"There is currently only one NASA Juno spacecraft operating around Jupiter," the astronomer said.

Perhaps with his help it will really be possible to obtain some new data about this unusual comet, the scientist emphasized.