Published on: 2026-09-03
Source: Peter the Great St. Petersburg Polytechnic University –
An important disclaimer is at the bottom of this article.
The XI Eastern Economic Forum is taking place in Vladivostok. The main theme of this year’s EEF is “The Far East — development for the benefit of the people.” An associate professor from the Higher School of Technosphere Safety and the Higher School of Atomic and Thermal Power Engineering of SPbPU is participating in the forum on behalf of the Polytechnic University. Khashayar Sadeghi.
Speaking at the plenary session, the President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin noted that over the past few years, the resource, industrial, and logistics capacities of the Far East have significantly increased, a solid foundation has been laid for transitioning to the next stage — the implementation of the updated Strategy for the Development of the Far Eastern Federal District, planned through 2036. The President highlighted the key tasks that need to be addressed for this and spoke about the tools to support business and public initiatives. Speaking about the prospects for the development of science and innovation, Vladimir Putin instructed the government to develop a separate program to attract Russian and foreign scientists to the Far East.
We are on Russky Island, where an innovative scientific and technical center operates — one of a whole network of similar complexes in our country. Its focus is on applied solutions in the fields of information and biotechnology, biomedicine, and other areas. It is important to create conditions to attract both Russian specialists and foreign scientists, engineers — our friends — to such scientific centers and universities of the Far East, including providing housing, relocation allowances, and assistance to family members. And I ask the government to consider a separate program in this regard, — said the head of state.
Even before the forum opened, the issue of attracting personnel for the technological development of the Far East was discussed at a meeting of the Deputy Chairman of the Government of the Russian Federation — the Plenipotentiary Representative of the President of the Russian Federation in the Far Eastern Federal District, Yuri Trutnev, with engineers, entrepreneurs, and scientists. Among the participants in the meeting were foreign researchers who chose Russia to continue their scientific careers, including Associate Professor of the Polytechnic, Hashayar Sadeghi.
The main topics were creating conditions for the work of scientific teams, supporting specialists when relocating to the Far East, and forming teams for specific tasks of technological companies — residents of the Innovative Scientific and Technological Center (INTC) “Russky”.
The theme of the meeting was further developed during the main business program of the Eastern Economic Forum at the session “Green corridor for scientific discoveries: how to attract foreign scientists and engineers to the Far East.” Participants of the discussion focused on several key issues: the role universities play in creating opportunities for foreign scientists; the barriers existing in the field of international academic mobility for foreign scientists and engineers; and which digital solutions can minimize these barriers.
Opening the session, the director of the “Young Professionals” division at the Agency for Strategic Initiatives, Alexander Vaino, noted: Today, countries compete not only for capital and technology but also for the researchers and engineers who determine where the science of the future will be created. And in this competition, a decisive role is played not only by salary and laboratory but increasingly by how quickly and easily a person can enter the country, obtain status, settle a family, and start working. For the Far East, where large-scale scientific, technological, and investment projects are being implemented, this issue is especially acute: the region needs world-class researchers, and the speed at which projects are launched depends on how convenient their “entry” into the system will be.
Deputy Minister of Science and Higher Education of the Russian Federation Denis Sekirinsky spoke about the state support measures currently in place to attract foreign scientists, how effectively they are applied in the Far Eastern regions, and what growth points the ministry sees for scientific and technological projects in the Far Eastern Federal District.
“It would be more accurate to speak not simply about attracting scientists to the Far East, but about attracting them with significant and interesting challenges,” Denis Sekirinsky believes so. — The geography itself, the climate, and a number of unique regional features determine a set of priorities that are highly in demand in global science today. The resources of the World Ocean and biotechnology form a fantastic natural laboratory. Seismics and geothermal energy—found in Kamchatka. It would also be desirable for key thematic events to be connected with the location of the research. It is obvious that discussions on volcanology should not take place at conferences in Moscow and St. Petersburg, but in Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky. And the center of marine biology should be Vladivostok, Russky Island, because there is an excellent oceanarium here—not just an entertainment facility, but a scientific and educational complex, a branch of the A. V. Zhirmunsky National Scientific Center of Marine Biology.
Denis Sekirinsky also noted that when talking about attracting foreign scientists, it is important not to forget about students, because they are the future scientists.
The discussion included Boris Korobets, rector of the Far Eastern Federal University; Elena Kharisova, general director of the Development Fund of the INTC “Russkiy”; and Lyubov Shcherbakova, president of the Welfarm Group. Irina Korotkova, general director of the Agency for Attracting Foreign Talents to Russia, spoke about the difficulties foreign scientists face when relocating and adapting in Russia.
Scientists Tarek Farouni from the Higher School of Economics, Julijana Cvetinovic from Skoltech, and polytechnic Hashayar Sadeghi shared their experience. The associate professor of SPbPU noted that it is very important for foreign scientists that their problems are understood and are being addressed at the state level.
“The day before the forum, I visited the Science and Technology Center in Vladivostok and saw how actively they are working there, how many resources they are investing in projects and what results they are already achieving, — the scientist said. — As a nuclear energy specialist, I see great potential for implementing real projects in the Far East. The most important thing for attracting foreign scientists is a large-scale technological challenge, and such challenges exist in the Far East.
Khashayar Sadeghi proposed creating a laboratory for artificial intelligence and digital twins focused on advanced fields such as nuclear energy and nuclear power plant design. In his view, this could become an important step for attracting talented researchers and forming joint Russian-Iranian teams.
Photo: https://photo.roscongress.ru/en/projects/480
http://dfo.gov.ru/trutnev/9032/
Please note; This information is raw content received directly from the information source. It is an accurate report of what the source claims and does not necessarily reflect the position of MIL-OSI or its clients.