Transcript of the start of the meeting:
Vladimir Putin: Mr Fursenko, let us talk about research problems.
Andrei Fursenko: I want to tell you that we have followed your instructions to make not only long-term forecasts up to 2025, of which I have told before, but also short-term recommendations on R&D priorities for the next two to three years taking into account all related factors and influences.
First, Russia should not squander its past educational and scientific achievements. Second, we have highlighted current top priorities to focus efforts on crucial social problems and ensure economic progress within this short time.
This is why the Education and Science Ministry has joined hands with other ministries for programmes allowing share responsibilities. R&D is up to the Education and Science Ministry, and our colleagues will go on with the job - in particular, to implement the projects with entrepreneurial help.
We and the Industry and Trade Ministry are launching two projects together. One of them concerns cutting-edge oil-mining technologies, some of them for scavenger and residual oil. New technologies make such mining no less profitable than, let say, light oil mining in Tyumen. My ministry should bring relevant R&D to final success while the Industry and Trade Ministry is venturing to get the machinery into mass production. Big business is eager to finance the programme, so scavenger oil mining will pay everywhere - in Russia, too, in particular, in Tatarstan - in a matter of two or three years.
The other project concerns integrated utilisation of minerals and consumable industrial materials. Huge tailings in deposits make it a big problem. New technologies allow a spectacular rise of their metal yield and a major cut of energy consumption. What matters even more, both projects promise spectacular rise in labour efficiency. That is why we are tying personnel training in with those projects as you have ordered us to consider the opportunities for extending Master's degree programmes and for advanced university and vocational school training.
Vladimir Putin: How is the job on the teacher training programme going on?
Andrei Fursenko: First, we have elaborated new standards. What matters most here is that we try to involve not only professional teachers but also people with other university and technical college degrees. They undergo postgraduate training in psychology and pedagogic to make schoolmasters. We are also shifting teacher training standards to extend practical tuition. Students should spend more time at schools - not merely to acquire practical skills but also to realise whether they have a gift for teaching. As things are today, many young teachers quit soon because they see they have no makings for the job.
There are another two fields I want to mention. Energy saving should come first. My ministry and the Regional Development and Energy ministries have drafted a relevant programme together proceeding from a pilot project for educational establishments under construction or repair. We perfectly afford energy saving equipment there, and the job is immune to red tape. The three ministries have agreed between themselves how to coordinate standards and launch the programme together.
Last but not least, we have a joint programme with the Health and Social Development Ministry that involves three fields - diagnosing socially significant diseases, and early detection and treatment of cancer and cardiovascular diseases. We have distributed duties on the pattern of the other two programmes. The Education and Science Ministry will finance relevant R&D and has earmarked an annual billion roubles. Ms Golikova's ministry will lead clinical tests and practical implementation. If we concentrate on those tasks, we expect major practical results quite soon. What matters most, the programme promises a solid basis for further development of the innovation economy, which will see a boom in two or three years.
Vladimir Putin: Let us come to national educational projects now. Please repeat what we should focus attention on in 2009.
Andrei Fursenko: Personnel retraining, which I have mentioned, should come first. There was a rather successful postgraduate training project for the primary and secondary vocational school staff. About 250 schools have turned into resource centres on which we will base retraining and anticipatory training of dismissed or temporarily redundant industrial workers.
Another contest will be launched this year for target support of the most effective retraining establishments, which offer students the latest knowledge and skills to adjust them to rapid economic changes.
There is another project, for national research universities. We have redistributed our resources within budget allocations to launch a contest even this year. We will choose 10-15 universities, proceeding from their curricula, to join the two pilot ones as the first to get the research university status. To qualify, the contesting universities should, on the one hand, carry on serious research and, on the other hand, make a basis for quality technical expert training.
Vladimir Putin: What practical benefits will they get with the new status?
Andrei Fursenko: This is a beneficial status now, as you might know because in a situation of demographic decline students want not only degrees but also practical skills and knowledge. The 57 universities that have won the national contest have coped with several major tasks. Our monitoring has revealed spectacular progress of their research and tuition-in particular, with pioneer curricula for some of which they have invited professors from the side.
Vladimir Putin: What does the status promise universities?
Andrei Fursenko: It will make them more attractive and get more students.
Vladimir Putin: How?
Andrei Fursenko: They see where they can have the best tuition.
Vladimir Putin: What helps them to improve tuition? What help do they get from the state?
Andrei Fursenko: They have an innovative material and technical basis, and they have purchased cutting-edge equipment.
Vladimir Putin: So we are helping them with the purchases?
Andrei Fursenko: We help them with money, and they do the purchases on their own. We have allocated about 30 billion roubles within three years for the purpose.
Vladimir Putin: I know the figure. What I want to learn is what will be done for research universities in 2009 and 2010. What extra benefits will they get?
Andrei Fursenko: They will have grants and independence in drawing new curricula and setting educational standards. They will have much greater elbowroom for that.
Vladimir Putin: I see.
Andrei Fursenko: There is another thing. During a real bad demographic recession, young people can apply for a university that has objectively earned its pioneer status. It takes students quite some time to see whether they have entered the right university, while applicants proceed from official evaluations.
Vladimir Putin: You mean the status stands for official recognition of merits?
Andrei Fursenko: Official and public alike-because researchers and businessmen have their say in such contests, so the evaluations are objective.
Vladimir Putin: I see. Now, let us come over to the APEC summit. We are preparing to host that major international event in Vladivostok. As you know, we have decided that a university will later get the premises we are building for it. What is your ministry contributing to summit preparations?
Andrei Fursenko: To begin with, the new university will be established on the basis of two national contest winners. That was a decision you made as President because the city has all the makings for a good university-a sufficient teaching staff and student body, and the authority its available educational establishments have earned.
The ministry also takes part in assessing construction blueprints. They need certain adjustment because the premises have another initial mission-to host the APEC forum. Igor Shuvalov chaired several meetings, which have readjusted the project from premises for an occasional event to a good campus. We take part in the job, and I think the major changes that have been made are reasonable and well-grounded. It will really be a latter-date university and campus.
Vladimir Putin: Thank you.