MSU to be site of first of 15 ‘Technological Valleys’

Russia’s first ‘Technological Valley’ will be established at Lomonosov Moscow State University (MSU) this year, according to a recent decree signed by Russia’s Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev. 

Implementation of the project fulfils the announcement by Russia’s President Vladimir Putin in his annual message to the Federal Assembly last year about the establishment of specialised scientific and educational valleys based around Russia’s leading universities. 

Putin said: “These centres should be established on a geographical basis, while their future specialisation will depend on the university where they are based.”

Under state plans, up to 15 such centres will be established in Russia over the next three years.

The newly established centres will participate in the implementation of some scientific and technical state programmes, which will be selected by the Russian Academy of Sciences and the Presidential Council for Science and Education, as well as representatives of large Russian business.

Funding of the new educational centres will be carried out by the state from the reserves of the Nauka project, along with funds provided by private investors and the state budget. 

The Moscow valley centre will be known as the Vorobyevy Gory Innovative Science and Technology Center (INTTS) and will be granted special legal regimes and tax breaks that will be similar to those granted to Skolkovo, a high technology business area that is being built at Mozhaysky District in Moscow.

Oksana Tarasenko, the deputy head of the Ministry of Economic Development, who oversees the project, said: “The specialisation of the Moscow State University valley will be very diverse – from biomedicine, pharmaceuticals and biomedical research to nanotechnology for new materials, nanomachine-building, robotics and special-purpose technologies.

“The main objective of the project will be the development and implementation of technologies that are in high demand from business, as well as the attraction of highly qualified personnel to the universities and the newly established Technological Valleys, including some well-known university professors and teachers.”

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