Transcript of the beginning of the meeting:  

Vladimir Putin: During the visit to the Academy of Sciences I mentioned the Federal Targeted Programme of Training Scientific and Scientific-Technical Personnel. How is work in this area going?

Andrei Fursenko: The federal targeted programme has been submitted to the Government and has gone through all the approval stages. I will report on the programme at the meeting of the Government Presidium on June 23 and I think it will be supported. It means that we will begin financing it from 2009.

Vladimir Putin: For the 2009-2013 period?

Andrei Fursenko: Yes. The budget allocations - more than 80 billion roubles - have been divided over four years. An additional 10 billion roubles will come from off-budget sources, such as the organisations themselves. 

Vladimir Putin: How will it all be organised?

Andrei Fursenko: There are several blocks: first, support of organisations that have both post-graduate and undergraduate programmes and that are headed by young Doctors and Candidates of Science. Grants in priority areas of science and technology will be awarded on a competitive basis. That is one area, probably the largest in terms of financing. We expect that grants will be sufficient to enable us not only to support our top specialists, but to attract Russian specialists who have up until now been working abroad.

The second area of effort is supplying unique equipment to the country's higher education institutions, geared above all to technological development and the defence industry.

And the third area is support of infrastructure, the building of dormitories and guest houses not only for students but also for visiting professors who teach at universities which have won the competition of innovative universities as part of the Education national project. In this way we will ensure real mobility of personnel.

Vladimir Putin: Mr Fursenko, I would like you, together with the President of the Academy of Sciences, to prepare proposals on the construction of housing for young scientists and specialists on vacant land plots belonging to the Academy of Sciences.

Andrei Fursenko: We are working on that. Money will be allocated under the Housing programme. We have worked out proposals that will be submitted to the Government. I think that it will be done in the framework of the new budget projections for 2009-2011.

Vladimir Putin: Keep that in mind. And let me have your proposals, please.