The main issue on the agenda was the report of the Rector of the Southern Federal University Inna Shevchenko on the university's activities in 2025. In her speech, the Rector elaborated on the key results of educational, scientific, international and youth policy, noting that the past year has been a time of qualitative breakthrough for the university in all areas.

The total number of students was 27,119, and 7,662 students, including 194 graduate students, entered the university as part of the admission campaign. The quality of the enrollment confirmed SFedU's leadership in the region: the university entered the top 10 universities in Russia in terms of the average USE score for budget places in such areas as design, history, mathematics, chemistry, philology. The share of honours degrees in the master's degree has reached 45.7%, which indicates a high standard of the educational process.

The volume of research and development work (R&D) reached 4 billion rubles for the first time, an increase of 30% compared to the previous year. The financial indicators of the university also showed steady growth: the total revenue amounted to 11.1 billion rubles, of which 5.7 billion were funds from income–generating activities (an increase of 43.2%).

 "Southern Federal University is a leader in 48 scientific fields, which means that SFedU scientists are in the top 3% in terms of citations in these fields. By 2036, we plan to increase this number to about 100 destinations. To achieve this goal, we need to annually increase the number of leading areas by five. The experience of recent years shows that this is possible, and thanks to a multidisciplinary approach, our university can maintain a high rate of development. SFedU is a university focused on solving large—scale tasks, and its key characteristics include scale, openness, autonomy, competitiveness, international cooperation, interdisciplinarity, a full cycle of technological chains, investment logic, and a deep understanding of complex tasks," Inna Shevchenko noted in her report.

Indeed, in 2025, SFedU made an impressive leap in the Priority 2030 program for strategic academic leadership, rising from eighth to fourth place among all participating universities. The experts highly appreciated the three strategic projects of the university: "Biohybrid systems", "Soil Bioengineering" and "Technologies of accelerated micro- and low-tonnage production". Thanks to this, the university will receive additional funding in the amount of about 830 million rubles for 2026.

 Scientific achievements have also received international recognition: 14 SFedU scientists have been included in the list of the 2% most cited researchers in the world (according to Stanford University). 145 intellectual property results were obtained, including 33 patents. The Russian Science Foundation has supported a megagrant led by leading scientist Sudip Tanwar with annual funding of 50 million rubles to create a digital twin of soils using artificial intelligence.

 The university's international activity has gained a new dimension: in April 2025, the SFedU branch was opened in Havana (Cuba), where Russian language classes have already begun. The total number of foreign students reached 3,134 from 89 countries, which is 11.6% of the total number. 416 foreign citizens enrolled in the Master's degree programs in English – three times more than a year earlier.

The jubilee year for the university – the 110th anniversary of SFedU – has become a powerful impetus for the development of corporate culture and student activity. The key events were the anniversary Rector's ball dedicated to the Pushkin era, the Interregional student Rally "The Future of the Azov Region" with the participation of representatives of the federal government and new regions, as well as a solemn concert at the Rostov Musical Theater, where the song "SFedU is our home!" written by students was performed for the first time.

 In 2026, SFedU celebrates the 20th anniversary of the merger of four universities in the Rostov region into a federal university, one of the first in the country. In her report, the rector relied on the goals and objectives set by the country for the university at that time, as well as on the logic of continuity from the first development program to the modern one. Inna Konstantinovna also recalled several defining quotes from Vladislav Zakharevich, the first rector of SFedU.

Inna Shevchenko also outlined strategic priorities for 2026 and the next five years:

"This year, fundamental changes await our university. We have entered the pilot for the modernization of the higher education model. We all have a lot of hard work ahead of us in terms of transforming training programs, revising teaching methods and relationships with representatives of the real sector of the economy. Our task is to preserve and enhance what we have achieved by integrating education, science and the real economy. We will continue to develop professional schools, strengthen support for young researchers, and expand our network of partnerships with the industry. The country's technological leadership requires us not only to make fundamental discoveries, but also to quickly implement developments. SFedU is ready for this responsible mission."

The discussion of the report was attended by members of the SFedU Academic Council, heads of structural divisions, representatives of student government and honorary invited guests: Vladimir Gurba, Deputy Plenipotentiary Representative of the President of the Russian Federation in the Southern Federal District, Professor at SFedU, and Andrey Fateev, Deputy Governor of the Rostov Region in charge of education.

 In addition, decisions were made at the meeting of the Academic Council on a number of other issues in the field of administrative, educational activities, scholarship and award policy.