This week, the Minister of Science and Higher Education of Russia Valery Falkov held a working meeting with the heads of the regions-winners of the second wave of selection for the creation of world-class campuses. The Minister drew the governors’ attention to the need to work out the content of each individual project and noted that it is important for the regions to determine which programs and research will be implemented on the sites of new campuses in cooperation with industrial partners.
"The campus is not just a construction, but, above all, a special environment for training, research and innovation activities, full-fledged creative and spiritual and moral development of students. In order for such an environment to appear, it is necessary to do a lot of work – to unite representatives of universities, regional authorities and businesses on one platform, that is, potential employers – partners of these universities. Only together we can determine what new effects will appear, what educational programs will be opened and conducted," Valery Falkov noted.
In the Samara region, the concept of creating an International intercollegiate campus for 5,000 places of the IT major at the interface between aerospace, automotive, medical, construction and other specialties was developed under the leadership of the regional head Dmitry Azarov. The creation of such a powerful educational centre is designed to contribute not only to the development of scientific thought, but also to attract and retain talented young people from other regions of the country and abroad in the region. The campus will be built in a unique recreational area, in a promising area of the northern part of Samara, adjacent to the Solidarity Samara Arena stadium.
The Minister discussed with the governors the current statuses of determining land plots and transferring them to the ownership of the regions, signing concession agreements, developing project documentation and determining the target purpose of campus facilities.
Dmitry Azarov reported on the project progress to the Minister. Samara region is one of the strongest research and education centres of the country. 24 higher education institutions develop actively in the region, including aerospace, medical, engineering industries, and the world-class research and education centre "Engineering of the Future" operates successfully. By 2024–2025, the number of enrollees is projected to increase. Taking into account the need for high-quality spaces for studying and living, including foreign and nonresident students, the demand for such a facility in the region is high. The Samara University is a key beneficiary of the project for creating an International interuniversity campus in the Samara region. Since the preparation of the application documentation, it has become the main project participant. Of the 5,000 places of residential infrastructure that will be created at the first stage, 3000 places are planned for Samara University. It is planned to place modern residential buildings, office, retail, exhibition and hotel premises, two schools with a total of 1,100 places and two kindergartens for 550 places next to the campus.
The region, in cooperation with the Ministry of Science and Higher Education of the Russian Federation, is developing the main parameters of the project. We are working with its potential partners – negotiations are underway with about 500 companies. The emphasis is on such areas of cooperation as internships, practical work of campus students in the companies of the project partners on real equipment and with real tasks in the format of projects; joint educational programs; placement of laboratories, experimental productions, workshops of the project partners, involving work with new ideas and products.
It should be noted that the Ministry of Education and Science of Russia on behalf of the Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Chernyshenko launched a format of strategic sessions with representatives of universities and the business community, as well as heads of regions where world-class campuses are being created. The purpose of the meetings is the highest quality elaboration of target models and roadmaps for the campus development in cooperation with universities and entrepreneurs. The first strategic session was held in the Chelyabinsk Region in February 2023. This format allows us to work out in detail the issues of priority thematic areas for each individual campus, form programs within these areas and determine the productive lines of their development. Strategic sessions will be held in all regions participating in the campus construction until the end of 2023.
At the end of the meeting, Valery Falkov added that he would hold extended meetings of the working group with the participation of governors at least once a quarter to coordinate the construction of new university campuses. The next meeting will be held at the end of June. Also, the delegations of the Ministry of Education and Science of Russia, headed by Valery Falkov, will visit all regions as part of strategic sessions.
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The task of creating a network of modern university campuses is being performed on behalf of the Prime Minister of the Russian Federation Mikhail Mishustin and is under the constant control of Valery Falkov. In 2022, the second wave of selection of campus creation projects. 9 regions became the winners, infrastructure facilities will appear in Samara, Perm, Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk, Ivanovo, Arkhangelsk, Tyumen, Khabarovsk, Veliky Novgorod and Sirius federal territory.
In total, as part of the national project "Science and Universities", it is planned to allocate more than 174 billion rubles from the federal fund until 2030 for the implementation of 17 world-class campus projects in Russia. These are new comfortable living conditions for more than 60 thousand students, as well as new spaces for learning and leisure.
It is planned to implement the campus project in the Samara region through the concession mechanism. The government acted as a pilot region for the project certification according to the IRIIS methodology (national assessment of the infrastructure project quality). The received "golden level" confirmed by the conclusion of the PPP (Public Private Partnership) VEB.RF Centre, testifies to the high economic, social and environmental indicators of the project.
The project first stage is planned to be commissioned in the IV quarter of 2026. The campus creation will be a key factor in the formation of a large IT cluster in the Samara region will ensure the openness of the communication environment between the scientific and technological community of the region, will increase the attractiveness of the region for investors.