A high-profile corruption scandal in Vladivostok: the rector of the Far Eastern Federal University, Sergei Ivanets, is accused of "organizing abuse of official powers," the correspondent of the website reports, citing the press service of the Investigative Department of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation for the Primorsky Territory. Apparently, it was on Monday, March 21, that the Far Eastern career of Sergei Ivanets suddenly ended, for many - extremely unexpectedly. The correspondent of the site decided to remember what the four-year-old Ivanets will remember in FEFU.
Perhaps it’s worth starting from the end: the first news about the detention of the rector right in the dormitory of the FEFU campus with reference to “sources” appeared on the morning of March 21. Some media, having realized it, deleted the publications without receiving confirmation from official sources, but the most persistent ones turned out to be right - by the end of the working day, the press service of the Investigation Department of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation confirmed the information about the charges.
At the same time, the first "bells" were heard earlier, last week - then two vice-rectors of FEFU were accused of exceeding official powers at once. Alexey Tskhe in charge of science and innovation and Viktor Atamaniuk, who oversees economics and finance at the university, were detained exactly a week ago, on March 14th. At the same time, the general public learned about how the leadership of the Far Eastern Federal University managed to inflict damage to their native university in the amount of 20 million rubles.
According to investigators, 5 years ago, in 2011, the Far East federal university and some LLC Modern university» entered into a contract, the subject of which was the provision of services for the creation of the Information and Technical System in five stages from 2011 to 2013. total amount, which the performers were supposed to receive amounted to more than 647 million rubles. However, as law enforcement agencies managed to find out, the third stage of work, which involved the creation, implementation and implementation of a distributed printing subsystem, a financial, management accounting and planning subsystem, as well as a campus card subsystem, was not completed.
Initially, the investigation believed that Aleksey Tskhe and Viktor Atamanyuk, by joint efforts, but independently, prepared and signed an acceptance certificate for the fulfillment of obligations under this stage work, allowing the "executors" LLC "Modern University" to receive more than 20 million rubles for services that were not provided. A week later, on March 20, it turned out that the vice-rectors were acting not in their own interests, but on behalf of the rector of the university, Sergei Ivanets.
“From August 20 to September 11, 2015, the suspect (Sergey Ivanets - ed.) instructed subordinate employees of vice-rectors educational institution Aleksey Tskhe and Viktor Atamanyuk, ensure the preparation and signing of acceptance certificates for the fulfillment of obligations under the third stage, and on September 15, 2015, he instructed the chief accountant, on the basis of these acts containing deliberately unreliable information about the volume of work performed, to transfer funds in the amount of more than 20 million rubles from the settlement account of the university to the settlement account of the contractor, ”the press service of the Investigation Department of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation reports.
Alexey Tskhe and Viktor Atamanyuk. Photo: IA Data.ru
It is noteworthy that attention to this purchase of the university has been riveted for a long time: the Primorsky OFAS discovered serious violations during the competition, which had only one participant and, accordingly, the winner - LLC "Modern University" (in 2011 - LLC "Vintegra-Projects", held the position of executive director of the company Roman Kalina, son of the Deputy Minister of Education of the Russian Federation Issac Kalina) The anti-monopolists considered that the conditions of the tender limited, if not completely excluded, the possibility of competitors appearing. However, the image of the university then helped to defend the Arbitration Court, which found no violations during the competition.
But the activities of the rector of FEFU have long been raising many questions, although so far they have been asked by members of the public, and not by law enforcement agencies. For example, the personnel policy of the new university leadership, which did not suit many teachers who gave pedagogical work decades of his life. Many were convinced that the new rector was getting rid of practical teachers, replacing them with theorists, which could significantly reduce the level of knowledge gained at some faculties.
There were more obvious particular examples. So, Doctor of Technical Sciences, Corresponding Member Russian Academy natural sciences and head of the department "Materials Science and Technology of Materials" School of Engineering FEFU Yulbars Mansurov blamed the leadership Far Eastern University in an attempt to “survive” him from his place of work. The first reason for unkind suspicions was the sudden arrest at Sheremetyevo Airport: then, not only Primorye, but also federal media wrote about the fact that FEFU professors did not want to be allowed into the territory of Russia. Yulbars Mansurov himself suggested that the unexpected arrest and deportation to his homeland in Tashkent were provoked by the university leadership. However, the scientist had no evidence, and the rector of the Far Eastern Federal University, Sergei Ivanets, stopped any suspicions. At least officially.
According to Yulbars Mansurov, the inexplicable decisions of the FEFU leadership began to really seriously interfere with the work of the department later, in mid-2015, when most of the staff went on vacation. It was then, as the head said, that all the laboratories and premises for the educational process on the campus on about. Russian, transferring them to the Oriental Institute - the School of Regional and International Studies.
So, according to the results of 2017, an effective manager Nikita Anisimov earned 439,082 rubles per month. The average salary of a vice-rector is 350 thousand per month. Outraged parents believe that tuition fees are growing precisely because of the immodest financial appetites of the management team.
From July 10 to July 21, 2018, with the participation and support of the Agency for Strategic Initiatives, the educational experiment "Island 10-21" will be held in Vladivostok. This project is a unique opportunity to get involved in the Digital Economy program and the National Technology Initiative, as well as join the team of the pilot launch of federal programs of the NTI University "20.35". A press conference dedicated to this event was held at TASS. The magazine "Rare Earths" talked about this in a previous publication. At the end of the press conference, we interviewed the Rector of the Far Eastern Federal University Nikita Anisimov.Primorsky TV presenter was the first to tell about it in her social networks Elena Shteynikova. According to her, the university, contrary to all agreements, decided to significantly increase the cost of studying at the gymnasium. The price went up by 50%. Outraged parents intend to go to the rally on July 13.
Far Eastern Federal University is a huge structure that includes, in addition to higher education, and institutions of pre-university education. The university includes a gymnasium, a choreographic school, a college, a lyceum and even Kindergarten.
Children Elena Shteynikova receive secondary education at the FEFU gymnasium. Elena said that the cost of education in the fifth grade rose immediately by fifty percent. The FEFU leadership promised Elena and other worried parents that there would not be a significant increase in tuition prices if they removed negative posts from social networks. Parents deleted the posts, but the prices still went up.
Previously, rector of FEFU Nikita Anisimov. So, in 2017, the rector earned 6,344,257 rubles. In addition, it became known how much the directors of the university branches earned. The richest was the director of the Arseniev branch Yuri Ognev- 2,448,177 rubles. Head of the FEFU branch in Ussuriysk Sergey Pishun thanks to 2,249,281 rubles, he became the second in terms of security. The top three was closed by the director of the FEFU branch in Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky - Vladimir Kaukh reported on 2,147,128 rubles.
Rare Earths Magazine: Today we learned about an interesting technology initiative called Island 10-21. Nikita Yurievich, do you have a vision of what these efforts will lead to?
Nikita Anisimov, rector of FEFU:
- If you have noticed, most of the questions at today's press conference on the National Technology Initiative "Island - 21" were from the "Boiling Points", created at the initiative of the Agency for Strategic Initiatives ("Boiling Point" - a space for collective work, for the implementation of projects , Note by the author), were asked from universities. This is no coincidence.
As a member of the Russian Union of Rectors, who recently took part in the congress of the Russian Union of Rectors, I can speak for the university community as a whole. It is precisely in the universities of Russia that the young people who will be 30-35 years old in 2035 are probably registered.
Average age those who took part in the press conference today are already forty years old. That is, in fact, we are now working with those who will govern not in 2035, but in 2045. This must be understood correctly. And we cannot predict what reality they will work with in 2045, when they will be forty years old.
Therefore, the action that will take place in the 10-21 Island format is a drop in the ocean for the changes that should take place in relation to the optimization of universities and the youth who study there. The goal is not to bring in the best representatives from the youth and do something drastic with them. It's like a high performance sport.
It is important that the very attitude towards how universities are built educational activities with youth, so that universities do not replace the need that they should do with young people with the actions that will take place under the program of the National Technology Initiative "Island 10-21" or "University 20.35".
“University-20.35” is a response to the fact that universities do not always have time to respond to the need to shape the educational trajectory, the educational program for students in a different way, for example, the culture of its thinking. Now we are often faced with the fact that the winners of complex technological Olympiads - schoolchildren, getting into the university, do not find further continuation of their team endeavors, for example, in the high-tech sphere.
They cannot find the "landing" of their activities. Universities do not have time to respond to the needs of today's requests. Therefore, the "University 20.35" appeared. But of course, the changes that are taking place are just an example of how the technology of attitudes towards people, attitudes towards shaping the future can “land” at universities. Otherwise, this thousand people who will take part in the technology initiative "Island 10-21" will not be able to sufficiently change the country as a whole.
RZ: Will they just leave?
- Even if they do not leave, they simply will not be enough to participate in the most powerful race between states. There should be more such people. There must be a generation.
RZ: maybe it is necessary to make such referrals for more than one thousand people?
Of course, that's why I say that this is the flow of guys that should be further scaled at a tremendous speed, through all existing networks, including the network of the Russian Rectors' Union, through the university network in the country.
Rector of the Far Eastern Federal University (FEFU) Nikita Anisimov spoke about the modular education system, the role of the university and its interaction with schoolchildren, the Russky technopark, the national technology initiative and economic preferences for startups on the island in an interview with Interfax.
- Nikita Yuryevich, at FEFU teachers work according to a new educational model, the entire educational process has been transferred to a modular principle. What are its main differences and main advantages?
The modular principle cannot be called new; it is used in many leading universities in the world. The bottom line is that both the student and the teacher have the opportunity to flexibly build their life and professional trajectories. It's like in the game "Tetris": the more comfortable the design of the cubes from which you build lines, the easier it is for you to vary them when passing levels.
One of the main advantages of the modular education system is a more intensive learning process, each module is a specific intensive. At the same time, students can harmoniously build their development trajectory, especially in cooperation with employers who offer two-three-month internships at work. The enterprises are not located on the island where the university is located, but on the mainland, so the person must leave the campus for two months. In the Soviet system of education, with its strict semesters and sessions, this was possible only during the period of practice - in the summer.
The same applies to teachers, one of whose key missions is the combination of education and science. The more clear the teacher's schedule is, the more comfortable it is for him to distribute his working time: plan trips to conferences, organize scientific events at your university. Moreover, we live in the 21st century, and modern means of communication allow us to check control tasks on outsourcing. In the modular system, the teacher knows exactly when he has intensives, and when there is time to participate in conferences or write scientific books and articles. Thus, the modular system allows them to manage their working time more freely.
The third obvious plus is that it is much easier for us to synchronize the educational process with the arrival of outside lecturers. In the traditional education system, we had to invite external lecturers for a semester to give their course. Now teachers from most of the world's leading universities with which we cooperate are happy to come to the 2-3-week module. Being in the Asia-Pacific Region (APR), when it is a 2-hour flight to the leading capitals - Beijing, Tokyo, Seoul, it is a very good practice to invite teachers from these cities.
I want to emphasize that we are a special university. Our academic year does not start on September 1, like everyone else. This year we start the academic year on September 21, because the university annually hosts the Eastern Economic Forum (EEF), and this imposes certain obligations on us. For example, from September 11 to 13, the President of Russia will work on the territory of the university. It will have many guests, top leaders, and therefore the academic year in 2018 will begin on September 21. We must finish the school year at the same time as everyone else. state universities, because further begins admission campaign, to which there are formal requirements. The modular system allows us to abandon the traditional winter session. Students will take exams immediately after completing the training module. This will save us time. The guys, having started studying later than others, will graduate at the same time as their peers from other universities in Russia.
- FEFU is one of the largest universities in the Russian Far East, and you, as a leader, face ambitious tasks for its development. By what criteria do you select people and form a team?
Here the question is rather how the team chooses me. I do not form people, but they can influence me. There is no single recipe here. One thing can be said for sure: every person who works at the university is sure that this project is designed to become one of the largest educational victories of Russia in the Far East vector of development. Even the president, speaking during a direct line with the citizens of Russia, emphasized that FEFU is a long-term project, and its mission is to deploy education in Far East facing each person. Perhaps this is the main competence of those who work with me in the administrative and pedagogical team - to see the people for whom they work. This is the main principle, following which people gather around me. Someone changes inside for this, someone specially comes to work in this ideology. There are many such people. I expect that from the wave of young people who have been trained under the Global Education program, guys who have studied abroad and who want to share their skills with our students will join our team.
- Why, in your opinion, is the program of the National Technology Initiative (NTI), which is being implemented, among other things, on the basis of FEFU, so important for society?
I will try, as a citizen occupying one of the prominent managerial positions, to formulate simple, philistine goals pursued by the program proclaimed by the president. The 21st century is the century of global competition, and not only between states, but also the century of competition between states and transnational corporations. The capitalization of a number of large companies exceeds the economies of some countries. In fact, corporations become states, they begin to influence international politics, the fate of people. Sometimes these companies are led by people with certain ideas. For example, someone wants to promote the Internet worldwide. Where this will lead is the big question. Will it be total control over what people do online, or will it really be a boon for everyone?
There are a lot of such ideas. The technological world is changing at a tremendous speed. The one who manages the technologies of the 21st century and creates new ones will ultimately create the most comfortable conditions for citizens. For this reason, there is a huge competition for talent all over the world. For the same reason, the NTI program appeared in Russia. It should support ideas and projects that will provide our country with technological leadership in the next 20-30 years. This is a difficult task, not easy to even articulate, because we cannot fully predict which technology will give you the greatest advantage in the world in 15 years.
The most classic example is mobile phones. This technology was not a priority for most companies 15 years ago. Kodak made film cameras and film in the mid-1990s, had about 150,000 employees, and an extensive network of offices. Now Kodak is bankrupt. This is how the economy works, this is how life works. Anyone who does not calculate the technological future can lose. If the state allows itself to openly express its political and financial agenda, as Russia does, then we simply must have a system for designing a technological future, and related support for young people who will live in this future. The guys who are now studying at universities should make a technological breakthrough in the next 8-10 years. They need to speak the same language, implement projects based on a common technological agenda. We must remove the administrative and organizational barriers that exist in the existing bureaucratic system in order to help them.
To this end, from July 10 to July 21, together with the NTI University "20.35", we will hold the first intensive on the island, designed for 1 thousand participants - leaders in Russia's technological development. We invited young scientists and geeks, especially those specializing in Data Science, advanced high school students and young talents, entrepreneurs and organizers of technological change and Chief Data Officers, officials in charge of digital transformation in their region. They are waiting for a serious pumping of specific competencies, including new strategies and tactics for making decisions based on data. Participants will be connected in different teams, and they will be able to work on several tasks at once. All their steps and activities will constitute a new digital footprint that will certify their new competencies in place of the standard diploma.
- According to the development concept of the Russky Island, by 2022 a territory of advanced development (TOR) should be created in FEFU. What is the attractiveness of this territory for business and scientists?
The development of the Far East is one of the tasks set by the President of Russia. A large number of preferential norms have been created in the region. The best practices will then be implemented throughout Russia. To this end, a number of federal laws, a special post of Deputy Prime Minister of the Russian Federation, Plenipotentiary Representative of the President of the Russian Federation in the Far Eastern Federal District (FEFD) was introduced. The person holding this position, Yuri Petrovich Trutnev, is the chairman of the Supervisory Board of our university. In addition, a Ministry for the Development of the Far East and several institutions for the development of the region appeared: the Agency for Attracting Investments to the Far East, the Far East Development Fund, the Agency for the Development of Human Capital in the Far East.
Every year, the WEF is held on the territory of our university, where the heads of the Asia-Pacific states meet, discuss the economic agenda, and sign important agreements. The work is going very intensively and in different directions. So the agenda announced by the head of state is being successfully implemented. According to Yuri Trutnev, 30% of foreign investment in Russia is already in the Far East. One resident of the Far East accounts for 6 times more investments than the average for a resident of Russia. The second phase of the implementation of the development of the Far East is now beginning - this is the development of its social infrastructure and security. More than 150 billion rubles are centrally allocated by the president for the development of social infrastructure: the construction of new schools, hospitals, roads, infrastructure facilities for people who will live in the Far East.
One of the advantages of the region is the e-visa for foreigners. This is a simplified system, according to which lecturers come to us at FEFU and read their courses according to the same modular system that we talked about. Now they do not need to obtain a regular visa, even if they are from Japan. They just get an e-visa, come for 8 days, read their module and leave. This is a powerful system of interaction in the educational sphere.
In Russia, there has not yet been the practice of creating a science-intensive ASEZ. All economic preferences that used to be for TOPs are preferences for small and large businesses, mainly in the field of capital construction. Now it's time to create TOPs to provide economic support for science-intensive industries, high technologies and small businesses. To this end, a scientific and educational center is being created on Russky Island to promote high technologies and develop start-ups. Scientists and business will interact with each other and receive tax benefits. A new set of tax preferences is being created specifically for scientists who will distribute their products through a network of companies and promote them to the Asia-Pacific markets.
- And at what stage is the implementation of the Technopark "Russian" project? What difficulties did you encounter in the process of its implementation?
Technopark is a globally accepted mechanism for the interaction of business, education, science, government agencies and consumers of new technologies. In the world, technoparks are created precisely at universities. Research offices of large companies are opened there, startups created by students and scientists are located there. Technoparks ensure their interaction with various funds, development institutions and external counterparties, and help new companies enter the global market.
- That is, in fact, the work is already in full swing?
During the Eastern Economic Forum 2017, Viktor Feliksovich Vekselberg, who heads the Skolkovo Foundation, and I agreed on joint establishment technopark. In the future - the construction of new buildings. On June 4, Yury Petrovich Trutnev met with the residents of our technopark, of which there are already more than 50. Applications are already coming to us from outside the Primorsky Territory. Companies are ready to come to the island and enter the business using TOP mechanisms. Our residents have already ceased to fit in at the university, so the entrepreneurs asked Yuri Petrovich to help build the technopark building. This is what happens in Skolkovo and many of the world's leading technology parks - in Beijing, Singapore, Tokyo. Separate buildings are being built everywhere near the university, where young entrepreneurs can realize their business. These are office premises, research and development sites, testing grounds. The plenipotentiary promised to help in this matter. We are waiting for the order to design the technopark, although we understand that the construction will take several years. Until then, we will provide premises within the university. By the new year, we expect that more than 2.5 thousand square meters. m of the university will be filled with technology companies: start-ups and research offices of large corporations, which are now opening in the Far East.
- Let's turn to the topic of international cooperation. You often interact with Asian countries - China, Korea, Singapore, Japan. How do you think technology is developing in these countries compared to Russia? What are the areas of partnership?
This year China hosted the World Student Programming Championship. The first place was taken by the Russian team - the team of Moscow State University. Lomonosov, solving 8 problems. The second place was taken by the guys from Peking University, having solved only 7 problems. It turns out that our Russian students in programming are the best in the world. This brings us back to what I said about talent hunting. Modern world is so devoid of borders, especially for young people, that it is not necessary for the citizens of this particular country to develop technologies in a country. For these purposes, you can invite specialists from other states. In most neighboring countries, the development of technology proceeds according to a cross-border scenario: international scientific groups work there, in which students - Japanese, Chinese or Koreans participate ... Historically, rather difficult relationships have developed between these nations. For the last 100 years, they have literally destroyed each other, and the genetic memory of this lives on in them. It is much more comfortable for them to gather at the EEF and negotiate with us, and not on the territory of one of these states. We build interaction with them at the level of equal partnership. They have great respect for Russia, which 50 years ago contributed to the development of higher education in China, and was the first to launch a man into space. Our partners remember this very well. Understanding can be traced in our interaction, they also have their own NTI programs and their own vision of the technological future.
Our university provides them with ample opportunities for joint research and development. Totally agree Last year we have agreed to open more than 10 joint educational programs with partner universities from Asia-Pacific countries. Some of them are in the field of science and high technology, some are in ocean research and biomedicine, which are priority research areas at FEFU.
Vladivostok is probably the most human-oriented point in Russia. More than 400 million people live within a radius of 1,000 km, and the world's leading capitals and high-tech centers are within a few hours of flying. It is difficult to say which city is more high-tech: Shenzhen or Singapore. Not everyone has heard the word Shenzhen in Russia, and it is in the top 5 cities in the world in terms of population growth.
- How many foreign students do you study? How do you attract them?
At what point can the number of international students be described by the word "many"? Sometimes one foreign student is enough, who then turns the whole world upside down. We have certain restrictions on the places we can provide, so we have a strict selection process. Last year, we received students from 67 countries of the world not only in the areas of Rossotrudnichestvo, but also under contracts. For them, we have paid educational programs at English language. Many students still study Russian at home in order to get an education in Russia later. It is considered prestigious. We have a Russian language center that helps children get comfortable and get a good education. Now about 3 thousand foreign students study at FEFU, despite the fact that there are about 23 thousand students in total. The percentage is quite high, but it is a lot or a little - depending on what to compare.
- How do you work with schools?
The mission of each university is to involve schoolchildren as tightly as possible in their work. Perhaps that is why the Festival of Science, which is held annually throughout Russia, is so popular. At one time, it was initiated by Moscow State University. Lomonosov. I was one of the organizers of the first festival when I worked at Moscow State University. the president supported our initiative, and it became more ambitious.
The university simultaneously works with schoolchildren who will graduate only in 10 years, and with employers who, due to rapid technological progress, see their future only 5-6 years ahead. Who else will support school education, if not university professors, who see both the future in technology and the state of school education? Now about 80% of the students of our university are students of the Far East. We do not share here - Primorsky Krai, Khabarovsk or Sakhalin - it does not matter. FEFU was created as a center of attraction for all the youth of the Far East, and we are trying to comply with this format, creating a modern, interesting and technological education.
The education management system in our country is divided: school education has its own leader - the Minister of Education, higher education has its own leader - the Minister of Science and Higher Education. Leaders can change, positions can be called differently, but schoolchildren have always come and will come to the university. They attend courses, participate in joint projects with students, listen to lectures by leading teachers in areas that interest them. For example, in the structure of our university there are several general education schools for 2.5 thousand students. We even have our own kindergarten. All these are the mechanisms of interaction between the school and the university that have always existed, and no administrative changes can affect this.
The new vice-governor of the region by education, Irina Manuylova, used to work in the team of Olga Yuryevna Vasilyeva. We place great hopes on cooperation in this direction. For example, on the initiative of the governor, it is on the territory of our university that this year there is a situational USE center, the largest in the country - more than 120 jobs. On June 6, the Unified State Examination in the Russian language was held here. It was a real beehive at the university: students, public observers actively participated in conducting the exam. Strengthening quality control always improves the result, it's a fact. In the medium term - interaction along the line of the Unified State Examination along the administrative vertical. We expect that this will also give positive results.
In 2017, the Technological Entrepreneurship Support Fund was established at FEFU to support start-ups. How do you support them? I know that you can defend a diploma in the form of a startup, such an experiment.
This is not even an experiment, this is the very form of entrepreneurship support. A startup is a form of implementation of an initiative person when he creates his own enterprise. The task of the university is to help its students, wherever they are, and at whatever point in time they ask for help. When a university is capable of fulfilling this task, it can be proud that it is called a university.
The Tech Entrepreneurship Support Fund is one of the measures the university has taken on to support young entrepreneurs. At the same time, at the St. Petersburg Economic Forum (SPIEF), the Russian Venture Company (RVC), Rosnano and the Far East Development Fund established the High Technology Development Fund in the Far East. It will support "grown up" startups, ready to move from prototyping to implementation. However, in order for them to grow up to the moment when the fund gives them money, small funds are needed. We have built cooperation with foundations that support start-ups on a regular basis, such as, for example, the Foundation for Assistance to the Development of Small Forms of Enterprises in the Scientific and Technical Sphere (Bortnik Foundation). At the same time, we created our own fund, which is now attracting funds from sponsors to finance specific start-ups that arise in our technopark. This fund is a guarantee that all administrative barriers will fade into the background, and it will provide priority interaction with small businesses. Unfortunately, the bureaucratic machine is capable of strangling a startup without even noticing it. Therefore, the task of our fund is to accumulate around itself young entrepreneurs and act as a buffer between them and the bureaucratic machine. In the end, it is they who should become real residents of the ASEZ and form new high tech, providing the country with technological leadership in the framework of the NTI program.
Where do your graduates find jobs? Do they continue to work in the Far East?
The employment trajectory of our graduates is challenging. Vladivostok is not a metropolis, the number of specialists we produce is excessive for the local labor market. This year, 4.1 thousand new specialists will leave the walls of FEFU, and so - every year. Some of them find work in companies in Vladivostok, some, we hope, will become residents of the technopark. Some - especially orientalists, specialists in international relations and political scientists - find opportunities for themselves in the countries closest to us, and ensure our cooperation through the diplomatic line. Young scientists work within the walls of the local Academy of Sciences and its other divisions. A number of guys work in cooperation with Novosibirsk, Skoltech, and the Moscow part of the Russian Academy of Sciences. This year we are celebrating the 100th anniversary of engineering education by gathering past graduates at the university. Our engineering graduates are mainly focused on the existing technology business that exists in the Far East.
Employers are concentrated around the university, most of which are themselves graduates of one of the universities on the basis of which FEFU was created. They prefer to hire guys who have received the same engineering education as themselves. The history of the Alumni Association, the relationship of alumni who support each other, does not go anywhere either. Guys-journalists go to work in local and federal media, adding to the galaxy of existing stars. The issue of cross-border interaction in the field of journalism with Chinese, Japanese and Korean publications, which was actively discussed at the recent Media Summit, is also relevant.
Each graduate has his own vector of development, the university provides a base, if not for everyone, then for many.
- The next question is related to ratings. You can be congratulated - in the latest QS ranking, FEFU has noticeably improved its position. What do you think made it possible?
We consistently enter the top 20 Russian universities It's a sign of sustainability for me. In international rankings, a lot depends on the scientific component. The culture of English-language publications has not yet developed everywhere in Russia, although the international citation system has fully taken root. I believe that the main factor in our success was the systematic changes in the scientific policy of the university, the improvement of the culture scientific work teachers. But we still have work to do. I expect that when we give teachers more time for scientific practice through a modular system, this will give a quantum leap.
We have focused on international interaction, recognition, collaboration of professors in scientific networks. Now we are opening representative offices in Japan, China and Vietnam. Different ratings evaluate all these actions in different ways, but they all take into account both recognition and the degree of interaction with a particular university.
The innovations that have been initiated at the university over the past 5 years have proved to be effective, though not controversial. Now these transformations are being completed, and we are ready to move on to new program development over the next 10-15 years. All this one way or another, but is reflected in all formal indicators. We are growing in the rankings, and I expect that this will continue in the future.
Recently, the Security Council of the Russian Federation discussed recommendations for training personnel within the framework of the national project "Digital Economy of Russia". In particular, they spoke about the need to improve the practice-oriented competencies of students in the field of information technologies. At the "Business Breakfast" in " Russian newspaper"We asked the rector of the Far Eastern Federal University (FEFU) Nikita Anisimov, for whom the university trains specialists in the digital economy and how it solves the personnel problem in the Far East.
Nikita Yuryevich, the first school of digital economy in Russia operates on the basis of your university. What do you mean by "digital economy"?
Nikita Anisimov: The digital economy is an economy based on data that is already permeating all areas of our lives: smart cities, artificial intelligence, Earth remote sensing technologies, even art is already becoming digital. Big data, blockchain, virtual and augmented reality, the Internet of things - all this requires special knowledge and skills to create new competitive solutions and products. This means that in the near future, headhunters will start a real hunt for specialists with digital competencies, and our graduates will be the most in demand in new markets.
Don't you think that in recent times Is there a lot of talk about digitalisation? You have no fears that we can simply "chatter" this topic ...
Nikita Anisimov: I think, on the contrary, we talk too little about it. We run the risk of irreparably lagging behind if we do not talk about it, but only think and keep silent.
When a technopark appears only in the 20s of the 21st century in the Far East, this can be called a lag. We babbled the word "innovation", the real challenge, which is not to build a building, but to create a set of tools to support youth. When they are just trying to enter the complex Asian market, which is oversaturated with offers. They need strong support, as is done, for example, in the central regions of Russia. These are development funds, and Skolkovo with its benefits, and many instruments of financial support. In the technopark we have created, which is already operating, we provide support to our guys in all ways available to us.
Headhunters will soon start a real hunt for specialists with digital competencies, and our graduates will be the most sought after in new markets
How will digitalization be taught at your university, are there already any standards?
Nikita Anisimov: The opening of the School of Digital Economy at FEFU meets one of the key tasks of the federal agenda - training personnel for the digital transformation of the regional and national economy. We started with five unique master's programs nationwide. These are Cyber Security, Virtual and Augmented Reality Technologies, Artificial Intelligence and Big Data, Territory Development Management Based on Earth Remote Sensing Technologies and Data, and Digital Art. All programs have been put together in partnership with technology leaders and leading research centers. In many ways, this is still an experiment, and programs may undergo changes during the run-in process, but the fact that the school will become a point where high-tech business, science and education converge is a fact. With regard to standards, the training model will be based on project activities and development of digital projects together with leading companies.
How do they work with talented children at FEFU? Coming soon to Primorye scientific centers similar to the Sochi "Sirius"?
Nikita Anisimov: Such tasks are solved by the sense of responsibility of leaders for the young people who live in their regions. If a person understands why Sirius is needed in the region, then it will appear tomorrow. We look forward to the fact that the new leadership of the region will implement the task outlined in the presidential order. In the meantime, we are working with guys who strive for knowledge, in anticipation of the opening of their Far Eastern "Sirius". Over the past two years, more than 20 intensives and project schools have been held on foreign language, mathematics, natural sciences for young people not only in Primorsky Krai, but also in the entire Far East. The results were not long in coming: in less than a year and a half, our children went to the finals of the All-Russian Olympiad for schoolchildren. This has not happened in Primorsky Krai for several years.
Maxim Ilyasov, graduate student of the school in the village of Bobrovsky Sverdlovsk region, asks you: I am very interested in everything related to programming, digital technologies. My parents and I are moving to the Far East, how developed is this direction at your university?
Nikita Anisimov: There is a huge shortage of programmers in the market right now. This year, the passing score in a number of areas in the field of informatics and computer security was from 72 to 75, depending on the field of study. Programmers did not reach the record numbers shown by international studies, where the passing score was more than 80. But in Primorsky Krai, where not many guys take the Unified State Examination in computer science, the great demand for areas related to programming is dictated by the fact that guys come to us from all over the country. Next year the number budget places, for example, for applied computer science - 50, for applied mathematics and computer science - 66, in total - more than 300 budget places for various IT specialties. Try your hand...
And where is the biggest competition today? What do they want to learn?
Nikita Anisimov: A huge flow of applicants to the School of Biomedicine. This young faculty has been open since 2012 and works in close cooperation with the FEFU Medical Center. It hosts about 7,000 high-tech surgeries a year and employs many professionals, including those from abroad. Students and residents have the opportunity to train without leaving the building! So there is a lot of competition here...
This year, FEFU entered the so-called green zone for the first time. USE score from those who entered the budget department. Which faculties hold the record for high scores?
Nikita Anisimov: The 2018 admission campaign confirmed that FEFU has become more likely to choose talented applicants. 41 people with 100-point results in the Unified State Examination, almost 800 high-scorers who scored 230/320+ points in three/four exams (for comparison, a year ago there were just over 600 of them). The average USE score for the year has increased by 3 points. Highest GPA was among journalists - 92.3, among lawyers - 87.4, among international specialists - 86.7, among orientalists - 85.5, among doctors in the "medical business" - 81, in robotics - 78 points. Moreover, as I said, guys from all over Russia come with such high scores. Only from Moscow came to study 30 people. For those who entered with high scores (230+), we launched a special program to support talented students of Academic Excellence and Honors Education, which includes a system of tutor support and individual grant support. This will allow talented first-year students of FEFU to build individual educational trajectories to maximize their potential.
Newcomers study and leave for their homes, while locals risk being left without a higher education. Is it possible to allocate special quotas for local graduates?
Nikita Anisimov: I see no risk for the guys who live in Primorye to enter any university they like based on the results of the Unified State Examination, which is an objective mechanism for controlling the quality of knowledge. It is, perhaps, difficult for me to assess the quality of school education in Vladivostok. Although, when I see statistics that the average USE score in mathematics in Primorye is less than 42 points, then there is reason to worry. But I am not ready to take away the right from the guys from the Sverdlovsk region to enter the leading universities of the country based on the results of the Unified State Examination. More than 2.5 thousand students study at our schools at the university, and they pass an average of 60 points. We have a girl who got two hundred-point marks on the exam. And now she is a student of FEFU. Therefore, you should not be shy to study, wherever you live, and then the doors of any university in the country will be opened. A teenager needs to think as early as possible what will happen to him in 10-15 years.
At one time, many people spoke of me as a boy who is deprived of childhood. At the age of 15 I entered the Mekhmat of Moscow State University, at the age of 23 I defended my PhD thesis. At the age of 38, I became the rector of FEFU. Yes, in some ways I was deprived of my childhood, but believe me, I do not regret anything.
Do you train specialists for ongoing projects in the Far East?
Nikita Anisimov: At the last Eastern Economic Forum, our university signed agreements on training specialists for Avrora Airlines, the Far Eastern Shipping Company, SIBUR, etc. -partners with the prospect of employment. In addition, we have launched a new model of educational partnership with employers in the Far East. The University is ready to be involved in the development of personnel strategies for enterprises that come or are already working in the Far East, to open joint educational modules in the interests of partners in order to provide the region with qualified personnel.
A year ago, the Ministry of Industry and Trade and FSUE NAMI announced that the FEFU campus could become a testing area for unmanned vehicles. Happened?
Nikita Anisimov: We appealed to all authorities with a request to launch an unmanned vehicle testing area on Russky Island. But, unfortunately, the bureaucratic machine has defeated us so far. To launch unmanned vehicles in our country, as it turned out, too many conditions must be met. And this is possible only in closed areas, such as Sirius and Skolkovo, where the first test launches of unmanned vehicles have already taken place. We have about 15,000 people on campus at the same time. This is a high-risk area that requires a large number of approvals and control over what is happening. There is still a very tough debate between departments on this issue, but with the opening of a legal reserve on the island, I think the hour is not far off when we will gladly launch a drone. We have already made a laboratory, it remains to decide on the platform and industrial partners. Now Yandex is becoming the leader in unmanned vehicles, with which we are negotiating and hope to find mutual language in this matter.
Egor, a first-year student of FEFU, asks you: is the university going to solve the transport issue together with the city? Municipal buses go to the island through the stump and are overcrowded. Getting there is a big problem.
Nikita Anisimov: I perfectly understand Yegor and share his indignation. Believe me, when it is minus 20 outside, there is a crowd at the bus stop, and the bus runs once every 20 minutes ... there is no laughing matter. And so twice a day. But due to the troubles that are taking place in our city and region management system, it is quite difficult for us to get those responsible for transport accessibility to resolve this issue. So far, it has been announced that another bus with 100 seats is starting to run on the city-island route. We managed to agree that more buses will run during peak hours. Of course, we are fighting, and writing, and meeting with the leadership of the region, but the situation is still being resolved slowly.
One of the hot topics of autumn is the transition of university lectures to online courses. graduate School The economy is ready to make all lectures virtual in a couple of years. How do you like the idea?
Nikita Anisimov: This academic year, more than 12,000 of our students will attend online courses from the country's leading universities: Phystech, Moscow State University, Higher School of Economics, St. Petersburg Polytechnic University, etc. Moscow State University. Our teachers will accompany the development of this course "in the field", to help if the student does not understand something in the lecture. I see only advantages in this. Yes, teachers are afraid that they will be left out of work. This is not true. The teacher is the same key capital of the university as the students, this is its base. Therefore, I will advocate the interaction of two modes: online and offline.
FEFU on Russky Island is one of the largest universities in the Russian Far East, and its campus is considered one of the best in the world. The size of the university is equal to a small town that grew up in the middle of the wild. A photo: Yuri Smityuk/ TASS
The young scientist-economist Nadezhda Chasova asks: what measures of material support for young scientists are there in your university?
Nikita Anisimov: Every year we hold grant competitions for young scientists together with the FEFU Endowment Fund. Scientists receive targeted grants in the amount of 2 million rubles a year for priority areas of development. This year, for example, such priorities for us are virtual (VR) and augmented (AR) reality, oriental studies and the resources of the oceans. In addition, we have a program of financial support for graduate and doctoral students. On average, monthly supplements for graduate students amount to 40 thousand rubles, for doctoral students - 50 thousand. The program "Motivation" provides additional payments for articles published in scientific journals. For example, for the publication of materials in Science and Nature relies up to one million rubles.
The USE is not the only way to control the quality of knowledge. There are guys who can show their abilities in the natural sciences without giving high results in exams.
This year, the list of Olympiads for schoolchildren, which provide benefits for admission to universities, has been decently reduced. Many guys could not confirm their "Olympic" result with high USE scores. Do you think reduction is necessary? How many Olympiads have you accepted this year?
Nikita Anisimov: FEFU enrolled 18 winners and prize-winners All-Russian Olympiads. In 2007-2009, I was the executive secretary of the Russian Council of School Olympiads. And already then there were discussions about whether the results of the Olympiads should be correlated with the results of the Unified State Examination? In what subjects should the Olympiad be held? You know that for a long time the Olympiads were held exclusively in traditional subjects. So far, the presidential project "National Technical Initiative" and the NTI Olympiad in 19 interdisciplinary areas, such as "Agrobiotechnologies" or "Intelligent Robotics" have not appeared. Today, participation and victory in this Olympiad is counted when entering universities.
I am convinced that the USE is not the only way to control the quality of knowledge. There are guys who can show their abilities in the natural sciences without giving out high USE results. And the Olympiads, of course, have the right to exist. I am sure that the current leadership of the Ministry of Education and Science will objectively evaluate not only their quantity, but also their quality.
Rosobrnadzor is going to change the system of state accreditation and licensing of universities. Perhaps there will be three levels of accreditation. Are you ready for change?
Nikita Anisimov: The reform is indeed overdue. Now the issue is not so much the fight against violators, but the issue of improving the quality of education. Only here it is important not to link two processes: bureaucratic and substantive. Of course, there should be responsibility for what happens in education. I will say this: we do not trust too much those people to whom we have given to teach our children. In my opinion, this is a huge problem for the entire higher education system. Will there be levels of accreditation or not… Either we teach well, and any expert will confirm this, or we teach poorly, and then there will definitely be those who will check it.
key question
We will train foreigners in specialties not in demand in Russia
Education of foreigners - important direction for your university. How to attract a foreign student to Russia - is there a secret?
Nikita Anisimov: The secret is simple: you need to create educational programs that will compete with the top programs of the world's leading universities. This is just in time for the issue of quality control: focus not on documents, but on competitiveness in the global educational market. It is difficult to achieve this at once throughout the university, but for specific educational programs it is quite an uplifting story. For example, we are now launching a joint two-degree educational program with MGIMO in English. Two training groups have been formed for her - for Russian students and foreign students. More to the point, all double-degree programs that we are now launching with Russian universities, will be programs adapted for foreigners. In addition to the fact that foreigners are interested in studying with us, they feel comfortable in the comfortable conditions of the FEFU campus.
You said that the university needs a replacement system Russian students on foreign in those areas of training, the need for which is temporarily no longer in Russia. As it will be?
Nikita Anisimov: We are talking about the need for a clear mechanism for replacing students with educational programs in the event of a fall in the order for graduates in our country. Annually, the target figures for admission to the university are distributed according to the competition. For example, it is already known that for the 2019/2020 academic year, the budget enrollment for the machine-building area of training has greatly decreased. But this is not a reason to close the entire specialty. It is impossible to close machine building in the Far East, even if the state order was reduced for one reason or another. This means that we must provide replacement, albeit temporary, and train foreigners from those countries where there is a demand for the development of mechanical engineering. This is how we preserve specialties that are less popular due to the transition to the digital age, and at the same time promote the Russian educational system and culture.
