One of the main tasks of Russia’s academic leadership initiative is to give students the chance to realize their potential in ambitious research projects, even before they officially graduate.
In June 2021, Russia’s Ministry of Science and Higher Education offered the ‘Priority 2030’ academic leadership program to the nation’s universities. More than 100 Russian higher education centers joined and will receive at least 100 million rubles ($1.4mn) annually under the program. Dozens also applied for special grants of up to 1 billion rubles ($13.6mn) per year.
The initiative has several ambitious purposes. It plans to boost education and research projects, as well as presenting Russia as an attractive place for foreign students and scientists. The program is expected to balance the education process in all Russian regions, and to make sure that students have the opportunity to realize their scientific potential. One of the program’s main tasks is to give students the opportunity to dedicate themselves to scientific research even while they are still studying. Priority 2030 unites universities from all areas – nuclear, medical, musical, and many others.
One ring to accelerate them all
While Priority 2030 is an ambitious program, the scientific tasks it is supporting are quite significant, too. Universities from Novosibirsk and Tomsk are already preparing future professionals to work at the Siberian Ring Source of Photons (SKIF) – a major ‘MegaScience’ research system being constructed in the city of Koltsovo, Novosibirsk Region.
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SKIF belongs to the latest fourth generation of synchrotron radiation sources, with its developers saying it will become the world’s first 4+ generation synchrotron. Its unique characteristics will allow scientists to conduct advanced research with bright and intense X-ray beams in a variety of fields – chemistry, physics, biology, geology, and others. SKIF is also aimed at contributing to solutions to urgent problems of innovative and industrial enterprises. The first research activities at the facility are scheduled to start in 2024.
The SKIF team is interested in educating their future colleagues. They lead student research in Novosibirsk State University, one of the higher education centers tasked with educating staff for the synchrotron. Its students and lecturers have visited synchrotron radiation sources in Switzerland, France, the UK, and Germany. Around 300 professionals will be needed to work at SKIF, while the university is preparing at least three times more.
…And another one
Another ambitious project of the same type is called NICA (Nuclotron-based Ion Collider fAсility), and it is based near Moscow. It is a new accelerator complex designed at the Joint Institute for Nuclear Research in Dubna; construction started in 2013.