Vladimir Putin Met with Young Scientists and Specialists of the Russian Federal University Nuclear Center at Sarov's All-Russian Research Institute Experimental Physics (RFNC – VNIIEF)

Yet more on the nexus between the State, State-Owned Enterprises and Russia's Education System

Do note the number of females at the table—six.

This is a unique but not so unique story about Russia’s transition back to the scientific-engineering master it was during Soviet times. Here you’ll discover Putin’s further involvement in the resurrection of Russian Academia and its institutions through the stories told by the young Academians at this meeting. And you’ll learn of new ideas, like using pulsars as navigational beacons. One observation made by one of the participants is key, “We have celebrated science, but high science cannot live without high culture. We hope that the development of logistics of the NCFM will allow attracting not only scientists, but also cultural, art, and sports figures.” In other words, as you’ll discover this is a budding institution that will add more branches and nodes. And if you’re a science-junkie, you’ll want to be part of this adventure. One note, You’ll see Alexey Likhachev referred to often; he’s Rosatom’s Director General. But enough from me, let the young scientists and their mentors tell this outstanding story:

Vladimir Putin: Dear friends, good evening!

About nine years ago, we probably met here with employees of our leading nuclear center. A large team – the largest scientific and technological center in the country, 20 thousand people work.

We were exactly nine years ago-(addressing A. Likhachev), in my opinion, in February, Alexey Yevgenyevich? September? – we met here in September 2014. I hope there are some of those who were there then, right? Very glad.

First of all, I would like to thank you, your colleagues and managers for the contribution that your center makes to the development of science, the strengthening of the country's defense, the country's nuclear shield, and the development of many sectors of the economy. I hope that this will continue, and we will even increase this pace.

I would like to note that when we spoke in 2014, it was only our detractors who took the first steps in trying to limit our technological sovereignty and hinder our development. At that time, we talked about the need to take energetic steps in order to ensure our technological sovereignty.

And I must say that, first of all, our forecasts have been confirmed, everything is as it was said: it will be like this-and so it all happened. They also provoked this conflict in Ukraine and took advantage of it. I think that all this was done purposefully in order to create additional conditions for limiting our economic growth and curbing Russia's development.

At that time, we were still thinking about what to do to ensure sovereignty. Much has been done, but much, of course, remains to be done.

I know that Sarov is also developing quite rapidly. It is recognized for improvement (referring to G. Nikitin), Gleb Sergeevich, in my opinion, Sarov is recognized as the best city [in the region]?

Portion of Planned Sarov Facility

G. Nikitin : By income, by income level.

Vladimir Putin: No, not just in terms of income.

G. Nikitin: And landscaping services. By the level of quality of the urban environment.

Vladimir Putin: In terms of the quality of the urban environment, it ranks first in the Nizhny Novgorod region. This is a good indicator.

As a matter of fact, there are mostly young people here, and one of the key indicators, in my opinion, is that a record number of marriages have been registered here over the past 9-10 years. And this is very good. It's true. This is very good, it shows that people plan their lives and expand the horizons of this planning. This is a good indicator.

We have slightly expanded the free part, created a territory of advanced development and a well-known Physics and Mathematics Center on the basis of a branch of Moscow State University together with Kurchatnik. I hope that everything is developing actively. Maybe you can tell us about it today.

Perhaps that's all, I'll finish this quasi-offensive word and pass this word on to you.

Please don't ask any complicated questions or special questions. It would be interesting, of course, to hear your assessment of how the industry is developing, how the city is developing, and, most importantly, what you think needs to be done in addition to ensure that everything goes even faster and we move confidently towards our goals.

You are welcome.

Alexander : Mr President, can I add one word to your opening remarks?

Vladimir Putin: Please, Alexey Yevgenyevich.

Alexander Likhachev: There are three generations here: 20-year-olds are students and graduates of MSU Sarov; these are the guys who were then 20-year-olds, nine years ago, and now they are already the backbone of young scientists who have settled down; well, current academicians, members of the faculty, doctors of sciences. So all three generations met here.

Second. If I may remind you of one more visit, this is the end of November 2020, the height of the pandemic, and there are a lot of uncertainties. But you decide here to create the National Center for Physics and Mathematics and the branch of MSU Sarov.

Vladimir Putin: Under your pressure. (Laughter.)

A. Likhachev: We suggested it, Valentin Yefimovich [Kostyukov] reported, and we all supported him.

I must say that then, of course, there were few allies in this decision. It was just such a busy time – everyone was busy with turnover. It was a part of life for us, and we really needed it.

But I would like to mention two other people who made this their personal agenda. These are Viktor Antonovich Sadovnichy, Rector of Moscow State University, and Alexander Mikhailovich Sergeev, then president of the Academy of Sciences.

Now it is impossible to imagine Sarov without the NCFM, without a branch, although we have only two years passed, the first issue this year.

What is important to us? First of all, the NCFM has perfectly integrated itself into Rosatom's life in all this big ladder – from kindergarten to the work of already serious scientific supervisors, when people are happy to open up and reveal their talents as they move up the stairs.

Second. NCFM and MSU Sarov fit in well with the federal system. Everything that is currently being done through the Znanie Society, the Russia – Land of Opportunities platform and the Mashuk Center – we are very active participants in all this, we share and contribute to it. Colleagues will tell you about it.

Once again, I want to emphasize that for all of us, our life is impossible without this phenomenon – NCFM, [a branch of] Moscow State University.

When we went to recruit the first students in 2021, there was nothing here, there was also a technology park, dormitories that were still being renovated, some were being designed, and it was necessary to collect the best. My colleagues and I just came to the students, started talking to them, telling them, and, of course, they believed, but not really. There was a very, I would say, uncooperative student among them, a graduate who asks a lot of questions. I promised myself then: I will do everything to make this guy come. He arrived, he is now sitting at the table, already a graduate, is entering graduate school – Maxim Vyalkov. I would like to give him the floor.

Vladimir Putin: Please, Maxim.

Mikhail Vyalkov: Hello, Mr President!

As Alexey Yevgenyevich [Likhachev] introduced me, I am a graduate of the first set of "MSU Sarov", now I am entering graduate school.

When I was graduating from the Faculty of Physics and found out that Rosatom was planning to create a new akademgorodok, I was attracted by the romance, the feeling of a pioneer, something that I had previously read only in books – about our great Soviet scientists from the Novosibirsk akademgorodok.

It so happened that Rosatom fulfilled my dream and, let's just say, when I came here to see what was just beginning at that time, a big story was beginning, I realized that this place "calls" me, and I really went – and never regretted it. Because when I got here, I found myself in a team of, excuse me, still young students like me, bachelor's degree graduates, and such personalities as Alexey Yevgenyevich [Likhachev], Viktor Antonovich [Sadovnichy], Alexander Mikhailovich [Sergeev].

We were united by one complex but simple idea – to create a truly academgorodok of the future, something that Russian science will be proud of. This idea made us not just a team, but, I'm not afraid of the word, a family.

Viktor Antonovich paid a lot of attention. I especially want to mention that he sent us mead for Tatiana's Day – special thanks to him.

Vladimir Putin: Did you go well?"

Mikhail Vyalkov: Very good.

Alexey Yevgenyevich met us with cakes – without liqueur, but very tasty.

Separately, I want to say that not only were we greeted with cakes, but Alexey Yevgenyevich also came to us literally every month, raised us like a father, mentored and made us the Russian elite, I'm not afraid of this word.

Like many, or rather, like most of those who came here, they came for the sake of science, in order to build the foundation for future Nobel prizes. Here I take off my hat and want to say a huge thank you to Alexander Mikhailovich Sergeev. As President of the Russian Academy of Sciences, he managed to find time to teach us a whole big course on laser physics. It was amazing. Separately, I would like to thank Alexander Mikhailovich for those conversations over a cup of coffee about the fate of Russian science and the Academy of Sciences. It was amazing.

I would like to thank Valentin Yefimovich [Kostyukov] for the fact that the RFNC took unprecedented measures to provide us with equipment and really complex tasks.

The National Center for Physics and Mathematics gave us even more fundamental problems. There were only 50 of us here. But the tasks that have been assigned to us by the Government and, let's say, by humanity, they require the best of the best. But, as they say, if you are surrounded, you can attack in any direction, and we decided to create a student scientific society. But our ambitions matched those of the people who invited us here, and we decided that we should become a point of national interest, and we literally started contacting all student scientific societies from the Far East to Kaliningrad and Donetsk. And I'll tell you what we did. We offer an interesting agenda, and this year we will present our first joint projects among student scientific societies at the Congress of Young Scientists.

And here, since we are talking about science, I want to say that I am engaged in neutrino physics. Neutrinos are an amazing particle, yes, absolutely, you probably know better than I do.

Vladimir Putin: No. (Laughter.) This is too much.

Mikhail Vyalkov: 10 neutrinos pass through us in the thirty-fifth [degree], we don't feel them. And if you want to know in detail and well, I am at your service, at any time I will tell you.

And now it's very short. In fact, neutrinos, what is interesting about them? It does not obey the laws that we currently know. The standard model is like Newton's law in particle physics, and it does not obey these laws. This means that by learning about neutrinos, we can look at our universe from a different angle and understand how it really works, understand what principles it is based on and how it can be used for the benefit of humanity.

And here at the NCFM, under the strict guidance of my MSU supervisor Alexander Ivanovich Studenikin and my RFNC supervisor Arkady Arkadyevich Yukhimchuk, we are implementing a project to study coherent neutrino scattering on an atom and set a record limit on the magnetic moment. It sounds complicated, but it is extremely interesting, and it will bring new fundamental results to the world and, most importantly, to Russia.

And as a result, in addition to limiting the magnetic moment and studying the electromagnetic properties of neutrinos, we will get a whole "zoo" of various low-energy neutrino detectors, which we-well, humanity can then use in other areas,including the search for dark matter, and this is if not a Nobel Prize, then about.

Mikhail Vladimirovich [Mishustin] came to us in the summer and inspected the construction stages. And we want to say that thanks to the family atmosphere that we have formed, we managed to take, excuse me, a frenzied pace of development in two years. Well, maybe my colleagues won't agree. But we are growing very fast.

And on behalf of all of you, I ask you not to slow down, we will work, work and work, learn, learn and learn. But the main thing is not to slow down.

And since our branch is a truly unique place, the density of academicians per square meter is off the scale, so in order for us to really focus on something new, on something great, we believe that we need to fix the special status of the branch so that our development goes on and does not stumble.

Vladimir Putin: What does this mean? What does it mean to record its special status?

M. Vyalkov: This means that, for example, an average university has a regulatory act that specifies how many students should be in groups, and how many teachers should be present. But the branch, due to the fact that we are faced with truly unique tasks compared to a regular university, should also attract a larger number of teachers per student, because…

Vladimir Putin: I understood not to be restricted by these standards.

Mikhail Vyalkov: Yes.

Vladimir Putin: I agree. So let's do it.

Mikhail Vyalkov: Thank you.

Vladimir Putin: I'll tell you right away: we'll do just that. I don't see any problems here. All these restrictions are of a standard nature, related to financing. But when it comes to some unique institutions, such as yours, of course, this common Procrustean bed should not extend to you, I understand.

Mikhail Vyalkov: Thank you.

Vladimir Putin: I understand.

Where will we look for dark matter - in the universe or closer?

Mikhail Vyalkov: It's everywhere. There is so much of it, more of it than visible matter. I hope that the teachers of cosmology will not say later that I said something wrong, but we will look here.

Vladimir Putin: If we find it, what will we do about it?

Mikhail Vyalkov: We will get new riddles, and then we will watch…

Vladimir Putin: Increase the number of employees.

Mikhail Vyalkov: First I will get the Nobel Prize, and then I will win it.…

Vladimir Putin: All right, that's settled.

Alexey Yevgenyevich, please mark it. Consider it settled.

Mikhail Vyalkov: Thank you.

Vladimir Putin: We created this institution as a unique one. I remember our conversation with the rector of Moscow State University, Valentin Yefimovich [Kostyukov]. Everyone said that it should be a unique institution.

If we succeed at the first steps, then, of course, we need to support this trend. Of course, the general pattern, of course, is inappropriate here, I agree. Agreed.

Mikhail Vyalkov: Thank you, Mr President.

Vladimir Putin: I wish you every success in studying neutrinos.

Mikhail Vyalkov: And looking for a wife.

Vladimir Putin: We don't know what is more important. I'm not joking: if you meet a girl who isn't very interested in science, what will you do? You'll forget about neutrinos.

Mikhail Vyalkov: I may have found a formula: there should be an architect wife.

Vladimir Putin: Why not?

Mikhail Vyalkov: You can spend a very long time here. I'm afraid we're going overboard now. It's like a man of art. You know, the building has a soul, and it is laid by the architect, it should feel the beauty of the Universe. Similarly, the physicist and mathematician feel this beauty of the universe. That is, you can find…

Vladimir Putin: He must think in images.

Mikhail Vyalkov: Yes.

Vladimir Putin: I see.

You know, just as your institution should not be limited by certain stereotypes, you should not be limited by these stereotypes either. Be sure to be an "architect" – and that's it, and then you'll run into some wall. Select a person who thinks in images, and this can be a person of various professions.

Mikhail Vyalkov: All right, Mr Putin, I'll take it into account and write it down.

Vladimir Putin: No,no, it's your choice.

You are welcome.

V. Kuleshova: Good evening!

Vladimir Putin: Good.

V. Kuleshova: My name is Vitaliya Kuleshova, I am also a student of MSU Sarov and a participant of the 10th direction of the NCFM.

Vladimir Putin: The 10th direction?

V. Kuleshova: Yes.

Vladimir Putin: What is it?

V. Kuleshova: The 10th direction is experimental astrophysics and geophysics.

Vladimir Vladimirovich, I have already introduced myself to you once, though in a letter, as a student of the eighth grade of the Nizhny Novgorod lyceum.

Then a letter came to our lyceum saying that we would be merged with the secondary school. For a girl who was just discovering the world of physics, it was like death, and you were the only person who seemed like you could help.

And you helped. Today we see a whole galaxy of physicists and mathematicians who come from this lyceum. I hope that Alexander Mikhailovich [Sergeev] will confirm that the 40th lyceum will become one of the basic lyceums of the NCFM. I believed that I would be able to thank you for saving my lyceum.

But in addition, I would like to thank you for giving me one of the most important factors influencing the formation of a young scientist – involvement in the Motherland. It's different for everyone. Back then, it was a sense of being protected. For example, many people envy the residents of Sarov, because they are already born in the Federal Nuclear Center-the name alone gives this feeling.

A young specialist who comes to VNIIEF is doubly lucky, because he is met by Valentin Yefimovich [Kostyukov], who is personally involved in the patriotic education of the young shift, and sometimes just one look from him is enough to make all questions about who we are, what we are and why we are here at all disappear. This is not the case in all research teams.

I feel that the National Center for Physics and Mathematics has given many people this sense of belonging – young scientists and others. For me, the National Center for Physics and Mathematics is a center that is able to unite research institutes in world-class projects, and this decisive step towards unification and joint work could not have happened without your participation.

It provides a platform for the realization of talent, young strength and, most importantly, participation in state programs that push science forward. I completely agree with Maxim [Vyalkov] that we have a lot to do to make a step into science, to realize ourselves in it. This is very important for an ambitious young scientist.

But now every project participant from different parts of the country is waiting for the construction of modern and new installations. We know that the construction of these facilities was supported by you, and this is our guarantee that each of us will have the opportunity to touch the great, big, fundamental new science.

I'm a theoretical physicist. Nevertheless, I am very much looking forward to the construction of astrophysics laboratories to continue my research on pulsars. Of course, my objects aren't nearly as small as Maxim's. A pulsar is a unique astrophysical object, a distant neutron star that rotates in a super-strong magnetic field and periodically emits radiation. For many years, pulsars were a purely theoretical topic, but today we have the opportunity to give them an applied value. Knowing where the pulsar is in the sky, and using its exceptionally high stability, this periodic radiation, we can use it as a reference point for building a new navigation system. It will differ significantly from modern GPS or GLONASS systems in one single and simple fact-this is a natural object, far away, which no one can disable.

This project is being developed in the NCFM together with the Space Research Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences. We hope that we will be able to make this technology transfer and turn it from a theoretical task into a practical one.

Still, I probably can't help but touch on the issue of personnel. I think it will go up today. But I want to say from the student's side. For us, human resources are also the most important task, because they form our environment. As soon as the construction of the facilities starts, the credibility of young talented scientists will increase dramatically.

Please give the start construction command. We are ready for concrete work, we are ready to meet your expectations for domestic science and, of course, for the Russian nuclear shield.

Vladimir Putin: As for the fact that when you come here, you feel that you are involved in the tasks that the country is facing, and that you are responsible for the country, I think this is a natural thing, because this is the structure or structures that have been engaged and are still engaged in this nuclear shield for the country, ensuring its strategic security. Understanding this very situation, of course, can not fail to educate any person internally. This is an obvious thing.

I have already mentioned the fact that we have created such a physics and mathematics center, and I want to repeat it once again: we all believe that your senior colleagues believed that some kind of technical assistance was needed.… Our mathematical school and physics are developing, the Moscow Institute and the main one are showing good results, but still your older comrades thought that we still need some new breath, a new step forward, and the creation of something on a completely new basis.

Indeed, it was hard not to support it. The fact that this is working out is very good, and I am very pleased to hear it. And of course, we need to move on, without any doubts, because only by laying the foundation, the foundation, you can not wait for the final results that the country needs.

So, of course, we will do all this. As far as I remember, Valentin Yefimovich [Kostyukov] will tell me if this is not the case, in my opinion, we planned three megasayence installations, but all this is done in stages. The total amount of funding for various laboratories in this area, in my opinion, is somewhere around 77 billion.

Vladimir Kostyukov: Yes.

Vladimir Putin: Yes. There are three [projects].

Vladimir Kostyukov: That's right.

Vladimir Putin: But at the first stage, our colleagues divided everything into stages of this work. How many laboratories are there, seven?

V. Kuleshova: Seven.

Vladimir Putin: Seven laboratories with a total funding of $ 9.7 billion. We should do this by 2029, in my opinion, and then move on. So we will strive for this.

V. Kuleshova: Thank you.

Vladimir Putin: You're welcome. Thank you very much.

Sergey Koshechkin: Mr President, may I continue my thought?

Vladimir Putin: Yes, of course.

S. Koshechkin: You have already mentioned megasayence installations as well.

My name is Sergey Koshechkin, I am an employee of the VNIIEF Institute for Laser Physics Research.

Continuing the topic of installations that Vitalia has already mentioned, and you mentioned megasayence installations, I would also like to say a few words.

Indeed, modern facilities that allow us to obtain unique results are of key importance for modern science. I must say that quite a lot of work has been done here. We have concrete proposals, and there is a good groundwork that has emerged, among other things, due to the attention of the country's leadership to the development of the RFNC – VIIEF experimental base.

In the project of the National Center for Physics and Mathematics, these very plans for creating a number of megascience installations, that is, installations that simply have no analogues in the modern scientific landscape, have now received a fairly detailed study. These installations are aimed at obtaining new results that are fundamentally impossible to implement at any of the existing installations, either in the country or abroad.

The implementation horizon of these projects is 2030. As you correctly said, of the three megasience projects, I would like to highlight, perhaps, as I think, the most important one – this is the Compton source. The very idea of a Compton source seems to be at the intersection of two topics – an accelerator topic and a laser topic. That is, if we have a beam or bunch of accelerated particles and have a classical laser beam of laser quanta, we can organize their interaction in such a way that, thanks to the Compton effect, we get a gamma quantum with very high energy, an energy of the order of hundreds of millions of electron volts.

These energies already allow gamma-ray quanta to penetrate the nuclei of atoms. This is a new tool, in fact, for probing nuclear matter, opens up opportunities for studying intra-nuclear processes, studying the nature of isomers, and so on.

As I have already said, there is a symbiosis of two topics – laser and accelerator, that is, nuclear and radiation physics. I think it is important to keep in mind that these two topics are traditionally at a fairly high level in Russia.

I also wanted to mention that we have formed the concept of creating those mid-science installations of the middle class, which, as you correctly say, number seven.

In principle, these facilities will be ready to show new physical results within three to five years, and they will really serve as the first step to these mega-science installations, to a big new science.

Thank you.

Vladimir Putin: First of all, we should do what you suggest, right?

Sergey Koshechkin: Pay attention to mid-science as well.

Vladimir Putin: Then our colleagues should come out with these proposals.

A. Likhachev: When we talked about the difficulties of financing, we were ready to take and did so – the first two years were actually funded by Rosatom, and this is how we worked.

It should be noted that, despite all the difficulties, the Ministry of Finance is now favorable to us: somewhere up to 9 billion for the next three years is pledged under various articles. We provide, of course, for mixed funding in the development of medium-sized laboratories. And such a scale, when we are already talking about tens of billions of rubles, cannot be sustained without serious federal support.

There is one big, important topic. It is important that MSU and its branch also develop together with us. This is a slightly different budget line, a slightly different approach. When Mikhail Vladimirovich , came, he was together with , and the Minister promised to support us, to be honest. Let's hope that this will be implemented.

Vladimir Putin: You know, if we build nuclear power facilities abroad, we can find decent money… In Egypt, we almost fully finance the project, which costs $ 25 billion. In Turkey, how much, 17 billion?

Alexander Likhachev: No, it will be 23-24 in Turkey.

Vladimir Putin: 23-24. 100% Russian financing, generally 100% – $ 23-24 billion. This is where we need to find funds for our own development together with the corporation. We will search and move in this direction.

Vladimir Putin: Please, Boris Gennadyevich.

Boris Zimalin: Let me continue my colleague's thoughts on the project of creating mega-installations and the participation of modern scientific schools in them.

My name is Boris G. Zimalin, and I also work at the Institute of Laser Physics Research. In parallel with my main work, I give lectures to students of the MSU branch on high-power laser installations and their applications. In my lectures, I try to convey to future scientists all the beauty and complexity of the subject, which, in fact, I have devoted my professional life to studying.

The Russian Federal Nuclear Center has been operating a unique physics school for high-power laser installations for more than half a century. The achievements of this school have found worldwide recognition.

Our lasers in laboratories already allow us to reproduce conditions that in nature exist only in the bowels of huge planets and in stars. This gives us ample opportunities to discover new properties of matter, as well as to model processes that allow, for example, to study how the universe developed, that is, to track the evolution of the Universe.

Many modern technologies are based on lasers, and continuing research in this direction will allow us to discover new and perhaps even unexpected applications for these unique devices.

The laser field is no longer a young field of physics, but it continues to develop dynamically. It is very gratifying that the modern, young generation is interested in this issue. For example, this year more than ten graduates joined our laser department from the MSU branch alone.

Vladimir Putin: From here, from Sarov?

Boris Zimalin: Yes, there are ten people from the MSU branch, even more.

Vladimir Putin: That's great.

Boris Zimalin: Our nuclear center is currently working on a project that will lead Russia to a leading position in the field of high-energy density physics and laser fusion. This, in fact, will allow us to compete with the West in real terms.

Last year, we successfully completed the first stage of creating a multichannel laser system with a megajoule energy level. At present, together with scientists of the Russian Academy of Sciences, this facility has begun research on the behavior of matter in extreme states, the generation of strong shock waves, fast electrons, and hard X-ray radiation. In addition, of course, a number of programs are being implemented to develop fundamental and various applied areas in science.

The installation is very popular, as it has already become a kind of collective use center at the first stage of its creation. What do I think is most important? This facility is a modern scientific training ground for educating a young and, I would even say, very young, very young generation of scientists.

Vladimir Putin: I can only congratulate you and wish you further success.

Boris Zimalin: Thank you.

Vladimir Putin: I understand how important this is - both for the economy, for the national economy, and for improving the country's defense capability. I am familiar with some of the achievements in this area.

And I wish you further success.

Boris Zimalin: Thank you.

Vladimir Putin: And what I'm familiar with is impressive. It's just some kind of fantasy, but it's becoming a reality, and it's great.

You are welcome.

Dmitry Vshivkov: Hello, Mr President!

Let me continue. I am just the graduate who ended up on this mega-science installation.

My name is Dmitry Vshivkov, and since childhood I have dreamed of finding new sources of alternative energy. I graduated from the Ural Federal University in Yekaterinburg, but, unfortunately, there was no opportunity to study at such high-level facilities as there are in Sarov, so I ended up at MSU Sarov. I graduated from it this year, I am a first-year graduate and now I am going to enter graduate school on the basis of the NCFM.

At the moment, I am a junior researcher at the Institute of Laser Physics Research of the RFNC-VNIIEF on the topic of laser thermonuclear fusion. I study the equation of state of matter to obtain databases of materials that cover the shell with a deuterium-tritium mixture.

We talked about basic and applied science, but it is important to note that science can only be open. That is why the NCFM was created as a city of science, where both scientific and cultural life develops simultaneously.

During my studies at MSU Sarov, more than 50 scientific organizations and scientific communities have joined the NCFM program. Students establish connections with other universities, conduct summer student schools, and organize joint programs with Sirius University in Sochi.

But for the further development of scientific relations and educational programs, logistics is becoming a key issue. We are very grateful to you for opening the first section of the M-12 highway, which will allow even me to get to Yekaterinburg in the near future twice as fast as I do now.

We really appreciate your attention to the logistics issue, but we want the development of Sarov and NCFM not to stop there. We want the city to open an airport with regular flights, which will allow the NCFM to become a point of attraction for great scientists, academicians of the Russian Academy of Sciences, talented schoolchildren and students.

We have celebrated science, but high science cannot live without high culture. We hope that the development of logistics of the NCFM will allow attracting not only scientists, but also cultural, art, and sports figures.

I would like to mention the possibility of placing a cultural entertainment center in open areas to [the village] Satis, which will allow the NCFM to become not only the scientific capital of Russia, but also an important point on the cultural map of our country.

Vladimir Putin: I totally agree with you. There should be a full-fledged life for people who live here, work here and want to connect their destiny, their life with this land. Of course, it must be full-fledged, otherwise it will be uninteresting. We need to be able to engage in sports, develop cultural institutions here,and develop logistics. Of course, we will do so.

You just mentioned an open area. Gleb Sergeevich, you have already established several institutions there, haven't you?

G. Nikitin: There, a technopark exists nearby, is developing, and is a territory of socio-economic development. But we are talking about the fact that the airport is now a closed territory, and it is necessary to get the opportunity to use it, including for students and teachers of the NCFM.

Vladimir Putin: To use this airport?

Dmitry Vshivkov: Yes, so that flights to Moscow can be operated on a regular basis.

Alexey Likhachev: Mr President, this is a historically important issue. We are very much supported by the diocese and the Russian Orthodox Church in general.

Vladimir Putin: Is the airport located in a closed area?

Alexander Likhachev: Yes. But we will try to work out with the relevant authorized organizations the possibility of, roughly speaking, a "green corridor" - leaving the airport immediately outside the territory of Sarov with all documents issued outside the control zone.

Vladimir Putin: It seems to me that you can do this, of course.

A. Likhachev: We very much hope that such permission will be obtained. Then just here is the south of the Nizhny Novgorod region and all the church shrines that exist-Boldino, other surroundings-they are, of course…

Vladimir Putin: How many kilometers is it from here to Nizhny Novgorod?

Alexey Likhachev: It takes two and a half to three hours by car.

Replica: 180 kilometers.

Alexander Likhachev: Yes. And you need to go through Arzamas, through all the villages that are on the way to Arzamas.

Vladimir Putin: And the loading capacity of the airport in Nizhny Novgorod will immediately fall.

A. Likhachev: In Nizhny Novgorod? Gleb Sergeevich, how many flights are there? There are probably five flights a day to Moscow.

G. Nikitin: In fact, if you really want to, you can get there in two hours.

A. Likhachev: Smigalkoy.

G. Nikitin: Naturally, the accessibility of the territories mentioned by Alexey Yevgenyevich, Diveyevo, by the way, and even Arzamas... If you take the air service, Arzamas is closer here [to Sarov], of course, than to Nizhny Novgorod. I don't see any damage to the download. Especially since we have Moscow flights… We are talking about primarily Moscow flights. A Interregional transportation…

Vladimir Putin: The fact that they will fall is not to go to the grandmother, you don't even need to deal with pulsars to understand that the number of flights that go from Moscow to here is partially loaded by those who go to this region. But if it will be closer to fly here, so why…

G. Nikitin: Now there is a very large load, with tickets…

Vladimir Putin: I'm not the Minister of Transport, but I want to help you. I think that the aviation authorities, of course, should calculate everything.

As for the regulatory organizations that deal with various admissions, I have reason to believe that we can reach an agreement with them.

The question is what? It's not difficult to make a corridor, as you said. What's so complicated about it? We have some countries where our trains run across the country, just a certain regime is introduced, and everything goes without customs and border control. Here, inside the country, what won't we do? We'll do it, of course.

But I think that the issue will also be in the download. Our aviation companies, of course, must count. And Nizhny Novgorod airport, of course, will definitely suffer. Just how serious this will be for Nizhny Novgorod, I do not know. The question is not even in the airlines, they do not care where to fly, the question is in the loading of the air harbor itself, the airport itself. There is also a number of people who work, receive a salary, and their income will be less.

Nevertheless, in my opinion, this is a solvable issue. If this is important for Sarov, and Sarov is important for the country as a whole, you need to think about how to solve it. I think we'll decide.

A. Georgievskaya: Can I add two words?

Vladimir Putin: Yes, please.

A. Georgievskaya: Alla Borisovna Georgievskaya, I am an employee of the Institute of Explosion Physics, I teach at the MEPhI Nuclear University, and I also manage master's and postgraduate programs at the Moscow State University, which has just been established.

I have to constantly communicate with the younger generation. There are some problems-holding just this cell is 17-27 years, and they are the most important cell, because they create a push. If they do something useful in the first five years after the institute, it is one hundred percent then a talented scientist will develop.

Sarov has to compete not with the same cities with a population of 100 thousand, but with Moscow, St. Petersburg, Nizhny Novgorod-those cities that really create not only the scientific sphere, but also the cultural and leisure ones, we just talked about this. Accordingly, the involvement of teachers and doctors is an important issue. They are the future residents of this city, future husbands and wives. Cultural life is needed, after all.

Of course, a serious reduction in logistics is important for us, I can see that. I was born in this center, I am already the third generation, as Vita [Kuleshova] said, I was lucky, I was born in a Nuclear center. The problem of leisure was always there. I have the first generation of grandparents who came from St. Petersburg. So we have some of the same roots. Of course, the founding fathers of that time understood that it was necessary to develop infrastructure here. And then it was created according to the needs of those young people. Now young people probably have slightly different needs: wake parks and so on and so forth. We have brought MEPhI here, we have brought MSU here, and we need to bring shopping centers and new cultural centers here.

Vladimir Putin: Without logistics, this is difficult.

A. Georgievskaya: It is very difficult without logistics.

Vladimir Putin: We will do it.

Anna Georgievskaya: Thank you.

(To D. Vshivkov.) Vladimir Putin: Dmitry Andreevich, we will work on this, and I think that we will come to the right decision. I understand-thank you for adding-that what Dmitry Andreevich said is important, so that we can feel how important it is. I got it, okay.

Please, Anna Alekseevna.

A. Kalinina: Hello, Vladimir Vladimirovich!

I would like to continue the idea of Alla Borisovna that our city needs to be developed.

I would like to address the first stage of becoming a scientist-school, because we all know that it is in school that a child's love for science is laid. But, unfortunately, we are now seeing a decline in students ' interest in studying natural sciences.

Vladimir Putin:It has become a bit smaller. Last year, the year before last, the number of applicants who put physics and mathematics in the Unified State Exam slightly decreased.

A. Kalinina: I just help students with chemistry. And when I ask: "What do you want to do next?" – I'm told: "I want to be an IT guy, I want to be a blogger." But fewer and fewer students want to study physics, chemistry, and natural sciences. Now there are a lot of different programs that are aimed at attracting children to study such subjects.

I would also like to appeal to the teachers and do something for them. The FMTC could help with this issue. Because there is an idea to create continuous professional development courses for school teachers in mathematics and physics. The essence and purpose of these courses is to introduce teachers to new discoveries, new achievements that are currently taking place, so that they can transmit the acquired knowledge to students directly in the classroom, without waiting for these discoveries to be written in textbooks. I think this is a very good idea. We ask you to support it, because it would be great if a teacher, even a young teacher, when coming to school, understood that they can develop their competencies as a teacher, visit the Mashuk knowledge Center, which is also supported by our industry, and come to the NCFM, get acquainted with the leading scientists of our country, and they would in his subject, they just helped to learn something new.

But there is another problem.

Vladimir Putin: Just a second. What should I do?

A. Kalinina: To support the idea of creating advanced training courses based on the NCFM.

Vladimir Putin: Are you here?

A. Kalinina: Yes.

Vladimir Putin: In "Sirius" this is done. Why don't you do it? What do you need from me?

A. Kalinina: Blessings.

Vladimir Putin: Please.

A. Likhachev: We'll work with the Ministry of Education.

Vladimir Putin: I don't see any insurmountable obstacles here.

A. Kalinina: But there is another problem that we are very concerned about. In order for teachers to come to the NCFM, to Mashuk, it is necessary to solve the problem of teacher shortage. Unfortunately, this problem is very serious. Yes, it should be solved in a comprehensive manner, taking into account the provision of housing, improving medicine.

We know that the state is working on this issue, and there are programs in place. I really like it, and everyone probably also likes the Zemsky Uchitel program. But this program is aimed at helping attract teachers to cities with fewer than 50 thousand people. We have a larger number of teachers in the ZATO, but we are also very much short of teachers, despite the fact that there are leading enterprises here, the Center for Physics and Mathematics, a branch of the Moscow State University are opening, but there are critically, catastrophically not enough teachers.

Therefore, we ask you to extend the Zemsky Uchitel program to ZATO as well. It would greatly help our schools and our future generation to start teaching scientists here from the very beginning.

Vladimir Putin: I think that it is quite possible to make an exception for Sarov, bearing in mind its special significance.

Anna Kalinina: Thank you.

(To A. Likhachev) VLADIMIR Putin:Please mark it.

Alexander Likhachev: And you can also add Snezhinsk to it, otherwise they will be offended. (Laughter.)

Let's conclude?

(Introducing R.The Queen.) This is the same young man who was Roman, and now the whole Roman Alexandrovich in these nine years.

R. Korolev: In 2014, I was lucky enough to report to you about our areas of activity and ask for support in terms of developing and implementing application software and computer technologies in general.

So, in nine years, we have achieved quite serious success with the support of the state corporation Rosatom, with the support of the Ministry of Industry and Trade of Russia. In general, we can note with satisfaction that the Logos software package is already used in more than 90 industrial organizations, it is equipped with 1.5 thousand jobs. It is used to design 40 high-tech products, 30 of which, Mr Putin – are products of the military-industrial complex.

Vladimir Putin: That's great.

R. Korolev: The Logos team has grown more than three times in three years.

Vladimir Putin: How many people are there now?

R. Korolev: It varies from 300 to 400, this is only here, not counting co-ops. This growth is also due to the fact that we are opening co-development units at leading universities in the country.

So, Lobachevsky University of Nizhny Novgorod already has one division, and next year we are opening the same one at Kazan Federal University in the Republic of Tatarstan. In general, we are working with universities, so far, Mr Putin, but only on a point-by-point basis, with each university separately, but at the same time we are introducing disciplines, training in its use [of software], and thus we have already reached about 28 universities.

Vladimir Putin: In higher education, right?

R. Korolev: Yes.

Vladimir Putin: You create a market for yourself, for your product.

R. Korolev: The future.

Vladimir Putin: Yes, of course.

R. Korolev: Absolutely.

By and large, I would like to note that the whole movement that attracts young people to this process, when they feel part of one big task, one big team, it would be impossible without the knowledge and competencies that we have accumulated – as the RFNC-VNIIEF, as the Rosatom State Corporation, as the nuclear weapons Institute complex – in these areas, in which we are currently implementing.

We look with confidence at the results of the projects that we are already implementing. Now we are creating a national project, a platform that will combine all developments in this area in order to increase the functionality for the industry, thereby ensuring competitiveness.

Together with the Ministry of Industry and Trade, we develop and implement computer testing technologies based on the Logos software package for the military-industrial complex. We are trying to reduce and will continue to reduce the number of field experiments, thereby reducing the time and cost of products and increasing competitiveness.

All this in general suggests that the technological transfer from the defense industry to the civilian sector should not only be supported, but also expanded. Rosatom is now organizing this at a fairly systematic level. In addition to implementing the Logos software package and our technologies in general, we also find applications for other products for the market. This is the well-known [device] "Tianox", this is [the device]" Lithotriptor", which will allow you to get rid of external influences without surgical intervention.

In general, this whole ecosystem of technology transfer from the defense industry to the civilian sector, and vice versa, allows not only to feed young people in this direction, but also to provide the industry with advanced technologies and products in general.

Vladimir Putin: First of all, I congratulate you. This is a really good result. First.

Second. As you probably know, we have been working on this issue since 2025…

R. Korolev: Yes.

Vladimir Putin: ... it will be forbidden for state institutions and some companies to use foreign software. That's why we help you administratively expand it.

R. Korolev: We feel this and strive to fully cover everything.

Vladimir Putin: And we will continue to help.

The fact that you also do this at universities – as far as I understand, you do everything there for free, right?

R. Korolev: Yes, for implementation in the educational process, we send them to universities for free.

Vladimir Putin: That's right.

And we will continue to do everything possible to ensure the success of your work and that of your colleagues, those who will take up work, perhaps in other places and in other [areas].

R. Korolev: We will not let you down.

Vladimir Putin: I see. You're really very good at it. I want to thank you for this sincerely, from the bottom of my heart, because this is one of the most difficult – what to say, you know, I will not go into details – and extremely necessary, one of the most, perhaps, necessary areas of work in today's conditions.

Thank you. Good luck. We will help you in every possible way.

Alexey Yevgenyevich will tell you what to do.

Alexey Likhachev: Mr President, our colleagues are moving forward very confidently. Logos is a system of mathematical calculations and mathematical modeling. The government has also instructed us to create a product lifecycle management system – the so-called PLM, if you use the English abbreviation. We have developed a serious construction management system on our own initiative-a BIM model called Multi-D, which was also born in the depths of our nuclear construction complex. Our goal is to completely replace Ansys, Siemens, and other products in 2025. There is simply no other way.

Two or three years ago, somewhere, I remember, there was the first meeting. You "tortured" me about what Ansys is and how it all works. I am very glad that we did not let you down and [we are] getting closer and closer to 100% import substitution in the most complex industrial software. This is the most difficult part.

Vladimir Putin: Please, Alexander Mikhailovich.

: Thank you, Vladimir Vladimirovich.

As a research supervisor, I would like to comment on the guys ' performances. But I want to start with the fact that a year and a half ago you recommended me for this position as a research supervisor, and, in general, I am very happy about it now. We're really working really well together here.

First of all, we have more than 50 scientific organizations and universities in the country in cooperation with the NCFM, and science is done, of course, first of all in the Federal Nuclear Center – we are currently building our infrastructure here. But these 50 institutions of the country also make a very serious contribution to the scientific program.

In total, about two thousand scientists work under the scientific program, more than half of them are young, up to 39 years old. In fact, a very powerful cooperation has been created.

When we talked about the relationship of the older generation with the younger, just an example is the megasayence installation. The older generation, which, of course, represents the situation better, which during its life "endured" the idea of these attitudes, it formulates. These three mega-installations that we will build here are absolutely unique installations by world standards with parameters several orders of magnitude higher than what is available abroad. Young people see that this is really a very interesting, super business.

This kind of building relationships between senior colleagues who see life, with the understanding that they [young specialists] will come and build and operate these installations, is just a very important feature of our brotherhood, which is being created here.

Vladimir Putin: This is what we assumed when we "blessed" this project.

Alexey Sergeev: In other words, we will actually anchor the guys through this, and they will realize themselves here. Such a simple idea.

Of course, we believe that we will be able to cope with this task. It will be a scientific mecca, and the guys also want it to be a truly international center in the future, so that scientists from all over the world would like to move here and work.

It is very important – the guys didn't talk about this, but I think I should say this – that we are well aware that the fundamental tasks that we will solve are, of course, future science, but also future groundwork that will then return to the nuclear weapons complex. And when the guys say "Compton source", "super-powerful laser" - there we just see the program of work and already see how we can be useful through such a fundamental science. This is very important, because there will be unique solutions that will then be accepted in the nuclear weapons complex, and thus we will solve the second problem of such a transfer of our knowledge from basic science to the nuclear weapons complex.

When we talk about the reverse transfer, i.e. the solutions that exist in the nuclear weapons complex, and in fact in the cooperation that we have now created, we understand that the NCFM will soon be judged not only by fundamental science, but also by what it provides for technological sovereignty and security. national security of the country. We understand this very well.

Therefore, we have a number of very interesting technology transfer projects. This is an example that is already 10 years old, meaning [the software package] "Logos", which Roman [Korolev] was just telling. But we also have new projects that were actually formulated by the cooperation of our organizations here. They were proposed to the leadership of the Federal Nuclear Center, Alexey E. [Likhachev]. And they were accepted, and now they are becoming our flagship technology transfer projects.

First of all, this is an X-ray lithograph, which we are now starting to make with Rosatom's investment money. In five years, we will have our own domestic 28-nanometer X-ray lithograph. And we are absolutely confident that we will complete this project. And a significant part of the work will be carried out here by the Federal Nuclear Center.

We have very interesting technology transfer projects related to photonic technologies and quantum technologies. For example, the task of transferring quantum keys from space to earth – something that was also discussed at the Future Technologies Forum that you hosted. This is a task that we are also taking on.

And in general, the fact that this is a new fundamental science, understood in the sense of transferring new ideas to the nuclear weapons complex, and, on the contrary, transferring from the nuclear weapons complex to our practice to ensure technological sovereignty and national security – this is such a triune task that we are doing here.

Finally, I'd like to say something. In general, of course, we are very happy to work with these young people, they are really extremely motivated, they want to benefit the country as soon as possible, benefit both Russian science and world science. I must say that since I have come from a somewhat different system, Rosatom has an exceptionally correct and efficient education ecosystem. This is something that works perfectly, and I want to take part in it.

As for the main problems that we have, Mr Putin, these are, of course, infrastructure problems. What we are ready to do now, young people are ready to take on and do… We also have projects and all the justifications that have been submitted to the Government. That is, first of all, it is a new campus building and installations of midi laboratories.

We have a very big request to help, so that together we can really make the NCFM a business card of the country as soon as possible. We very much hope for your appropriate decisions and instructions in this matter.

Thank you.

Vladimir Putin: Good. I'm glad to hear it. Thank you.

Someone else, do you have a wish? No, that's it?

Alexey Likhachev: Thank you very much.

Vladimir Putin: Thank you.

Once again, I want to thank you – all those who started the project of the MSU branch, and it is growing, acquiring its own sound. I am sure that it will develop positively, in the same way that you just mentioned. I heard what Alexander Mikhailovich [Sergeev] said. We will also try to resolve these household issues, logistics issues, and other issues related to the work of the center.

I want to once again express my hope that the beginning that was laid will continue to develop. What do I mean? When both schoolchildren, students, and researchers "cook in the same porridge", an ecosystem is created that absolutely promises to produce very good results.

There are such examples in our country, and they are very good. Even Academician Alferov created such a school in St. Petersburg, when both schoolchildren and researchers worked together. I do not know what is happening there now, I haven't been there for a long time. But this is an absolutely positive synergy, and we just need to support it.

Of course, I want to thank you again, to finish what I started with: to thank our Federal Nuclear Center for the robots that are being conducted. We have now taken a very close look at the military sphere, in which the Federal Nuclear Center has no equal, one might say. I want to thank you for this, of course.

And I would like to conclude by saying that the future of the country will certainly depend on the results of your work in the field of fundamental science and the speed of implementation of your achievements in real life. This will be reflected both in new systems and in the speed of information processing, which will mean receiving new materials, achievements in all areas, will bring real results and help strengthen our country.

Without any doubt, "Dmitry Andreevich [Vshivkov] also said this just now –" not only logistics, but also cultural institutions should develop here. You have the spiritual center of the country nearby. Despite your achievements in the field of science, it is very important for us to preserve the soul of the country, the soul of Russia, which is multi-ethnic and multi-religious, and to support our traditional values. The combination of all these elements will certainly have a powerful synergistic effect and help the country move forward.

Thank you again very much and good luck. Good luck.

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