Published on: 2026-10-26
Source: Government of the Russian Federation –
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First Deputy Chairman of the Government Denis Manturov took part in the panel discussion “National Projects of Technological Leadership. Tools for Achieving Set Goals,” held within the framework of the large conference “Priority – Technological Leadership.” The event is organized by the Technological Leadership Center of Gazprombank.
The central theme of the session was the discussion of national projects for technological leadership (NPTL) and the tools to achieve their goals. Among the key issues addressed during the meeting were the need to strengthen coordination among the state, business, universities, and financial institutions in matters of technological independence, the priority of considering industrial demand in the development of new products, the characteristics of transforming advanced engineering schools as assembly points for new industries, as well as current aspects of international cooperation in science and industry.
The discussion was joined by the Minister of Science and Higher Education of Russia Valery Falkov, the Minister of Industry and Trade of Russia Anton Alikhanov, the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the People’s Republic of China to the Russian Federation Zhang Hanhui, and the Deputy Chairman of the Management Board of Gazprombank Dmitry Sauers. The meeting was moderated by Irina Zhukova, General Director of the Gazprombank Center for Technological Leadership.
Denis Manturov emphasized that achieving technological leadership requires building complete technological chains. It is a team process, the final result of which should be a commercial product. Much depends on the specifics of the university, its involvement, and understanding of all processes, but the main thing is cooperation with the industrial partner.
“The state provides fundamental support to high-tech projects by granting subsidies to universities and enterprises at all stages – from the development idea to the final product,” emphasized Denis Manturov. “As the projects progress, more relevant and in-demand support tools emerge, but fundamentally, I believe that the toolkit is already established today. We see this in the results: universities, together with enterprises, are already creating new products and implementing them in production.”
The new model of the “Advanced Engineering Schools” project implies strengthening the role of the industrial partner within the framework of joint work with universities. From the very start of development, this will allow taking into account production constraints, searching for raw material suppliers, understanding infrastructure capabilities, designing services, and preparing engineering teams for product development. This approach accelerates the full cycle of creating and implementing high-tech products.
Valery Falkov, head of the Ministry of Education and Science, spoke about the three main features of the selection of the third wave of advanced engineering schools. Thus, if at the start of the project its primary goal was the transformation of engineering education, today the focus is shifting towards creating a specific product, a technology.
“The second important point is the presence of a single key qualified customer. Whereas previously multiple partners were allowed, today we insist that each major project must have one major technological partner who acts as the qualified customer and takes on serious obligations for bringing the product to market,” the minister noted.
Finally, another important requirement of the new selection of leading engineering schools is cooperation between universities and research institutes to create a large-scale technological project. The size of the grant awarded to the engineering school will depend on the established cooperation.
The head of the Ministry of Industry and Trade outlined approaches to organizing cooperation between universities, industrial enterprises, and technology companies with the aim of building end-to-end technological chains—from an idea in the laboratory to serial production. In particular, to determine the demand volume for products, the Ministry of Industry and Trade, together with other departments, is creating technological cooperation maps that reflect the most market-demanded range of civilian and military products.
“Currently, we are identifying cross-cutting products that are used in many industries. Among them are machine tools, robots and drones, engines, composites and rare earth metals, electronics, and much more. Therefore, we conduct a cross-industry analysis of technological cooperation maps to identify priority areas, on which specialized agencies will prepare cross-cutting projects and concentrate budget resources. The entire strategic work is coordinated by committees and expert councils in each of the NPTLs with the participation of representatives from the Russian Academy of Sciences, universities, and higher education institutions,” noted Anton Alikhanov.
The minister also announced that sector departments, together with developers and manufacturers, will be forming technology development plans.
“Essentially, through technology cooperation maps and technology development plans, tasks are set for science from the perspective of the real sector. First, the market need is identified, then a pool of priority technologies and products is fixed, their adoption period and the decomposition of all work among participants, personnel measures, incentive measures, and production scales are determined. Thus, the entire path from the laboratory to the market is described,” emphasized Anton Alikhanov.
As part of the conference, participants visited the exhibition of technological projects from universities. The focus of the exposition was the journey from a complex technological challenge to a result applicable in manufacturing. The exposition combined 14 university booths and the booth of the Center for Technological Leadership. Participants presented innovative solutions in communications, biotechnology, medical instrumentation, additive manufacturing, engine building, digital selection, construction materials, space technology, avionics, energy, and neurointerfaces.
“Advanced Engineering Schools” is a federal project by the Ministry of Science and Higher Education aimed at training qualified engineering personnel for high-tech industries. Today, 50 AES operate in 23 regions, educating over 17 thousand students, with more than 1,700 educational programs developed. Among the industrial partners collaborating with the universities are the state corporations Rosatom, Roscosmos, Rostec, PAO Sibur Holding, and PAO Gazprom Neft. In 2025, AES attracted over 51 billion rubles for development programs and projects for the benefit of business. In October 2026, the third wave of university selection started, with applications submitted by a university and a domestic technology company jointly proposing a workforce training project tailored to a specific industrial task. The priorities of the new selection are to strengthen the role of the industrial partner and foster cooperation between universities and research organizations.
The major conference “Priority – technological leadership” for the second time served as a platform for dialogue between universities, the government, and business. Participants in the event included representatives of federal agencies, rectors of leading universities, heads of technology companies and state corporations, industry partners, experts, and investors.
The conference’s goal is to consolidate a new model of engineering education, in which personnel training is built around real technological projects, and the result of learning is an engineering team capable of creating, testing, and scaling technological solutions. The program includes an open discussion “Technological Leaders: who connects science, business, and production”, a workshop session “PISH through the eyes of business: when a company is ready to enter a joint project”, a closed discussion “Rector’s Club”, a business lounge “New opportunities for the development of technological projects”, and a pitch session “Battle of Technological Projects.”
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