Vladimir Putin held a meeting of the Presidential Council for Science and Education via videoconference. The updated version of the Strategy for Scientific and Technological Development of the Russian Federation, issues of financial support for domestic science, and the development of the activities of the Russian Science Foundation were discussed.

The President congratulated the academic community on their professional holiday and on the 300th anniversary of the Academy of Sciences. He stressed that science is literally the basis of development and progress. The entire scientific and technological sphere is of key importance for achieving Russia's national goals, for improving the quality of life of people, for the security of the country, its sovereignty and self-sufficiency.

"Today, taking into account new challenges and tasks, we will have to determine current approaches, principles, and directions of work in the field of fundamental research and applied developments for the future, for years to come. It is obvious that the priorities of scientific and technological development should be closely linked to the key challenges and tasks in the economy, in the social sphere, in the field of security, aimed at achieving our sovereignty in the broadest sense of the word: state, value, industrial and, of course, technological. In key areas – the most important for the development of the country, to improve the quality of life of citizens – we need to provide ourselves with our own technologies, key components, materials and means of production, to launch the production of the entire line of necessary products, and where we have or may have unique competencies, we need to set the task to take leading positions in global markets markets," Vladimir Putin stressed.

The President recalled that at the last meeting of the Council it was decided to make changes to the Strategy of Scientific and Technological Development and invited the council to discuss its updated version.

Dmitry Chernyshenko, Deputy Prime Minister of the Russian Federation, moved to the agenda. He said that the strategy of scientific and technological development was approved back in 2016 and proved its effectiveness by timely identifying the global challenges facing science. This made it possible to correctly set scientific priorities and focus efforts on critically important areas.

Taking into account the increased role of the Russian Academy of Sciences, the government proposes to create a scientific and technical council under the leadership of the President of the Russian Academy of Sciences Gennady Krasnikov, which will provide expert and scientific support. In addition, the strategy proposes to consolidate the institution of deputies and heads of departments who are personally responsible for scientific and technological development in their fields of supervision and activity.

The Minister of Science and Higher Education of Russia, Valery Falkov, spoke about the actual expenditures of the federal budget to support research and development. Over the past few years, they have increased by 68 percent – from 355 to 597 billion rubles, and competitive support – from 32 to 146 billion rubles. Its share of science spending has increased from 9 percent to 24 percent. This indicates that, along with government assignments and procurement, grant support is one of the main popular ways to finance science. The range of competitive financing instruments has also been constantly expanding – from 6 instruments in 2017 to 29 instruments in 2024. The total amount of financing this year will amount to 166 billion.

The meeting of the Council was attended by the rector of the Southern Federal University Inna Shevchenko. In April 2023, by decree of the President of the Russian Federation, Inna Konstantinovna joined the updated Council.