During the two days of the eventful program, a representative of the Kurchatov Institute got acquainted with the advanced developments of SFedU scientists, discussed the prospects for cooperation and gave a lecture dedicated to the launch of a new national project. On December 31, 2025, the Presidium of the Presidential Council for Strategic Development and National Projects approved the national project "Technological Support for the Bioeconomy", and in January 2026, the government officially announced its launch. The project is designed until 2030 and is aimed at achieving the country's technological independence in this area, as well as consolidating the efforts of the state, science and business. Southern Federal University is actively included in the agenda of this national project.

On May 19, Maxim Patrushev visited two key scientific departments of the SFedU. The first was the Center for Micro- and Low-Tonnage Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, where he was shown unique developments in the field of microfluidic technologies, accelerated synthesis of critical materials, as well as the embodiment of the concept of a "self-managed laboratory" — a platform that allows you to shorten the path from a laboratory idea to an industrial design. It also has machine vision systems for product quality control. The center was created as part of the national project "New Materials and Chemistry".

"After visiting the scientific centers of SFedU, I was pleasantly surprised. This is the first time I've heard such an expression as “self-managed laboratory.” This is extremely important today for the development of biotechnologies. I talk about this myself in lectures, but I saw the physical embodiment only at the Southern Federal University. I was impressed by the level of aspirations and vision of local scientists.: They don't just repeat the world's technologies, but they understand where science is heading and know where they can outrun it. And they are doing it successfully. Microfluidic technologies are at the center of low—tonnage chemistry, and the entire cycle is underway from the creation of the chips themselves to the development of methods. From my point of view, it's just fantastic, it's the most modern level of technology," Maxim Patrushev shared his impressions.

The second point of the route was the Competence Center "Bioengineering of Soils", created for the implementation of the strategic project of the Southern Federal University "Technologies of Bioengineering of soils" within the framework of the program "Priority 2030" (national project "Youth and Children"). The head of the department, Professor Tatiana Minkina, presented the results of many years of research on the creation of synthetic soil substrates capable of restoring the fertility of degraded lands. SFedU scientists have already received working samples of artificial soils, which are close to natural chernozems in their effectiveness. According to the expert, this technology is of critical importance for agriculture in the context of a reduction in areas suitable for agriculture.

The culmination of the visit was an open lecture by Maxim Patrushev at the SFedU Academy of Biology and Medicine, which brought together students, teachers and researchers of the university. The speaker did not just define bioeconomics, but together with the audience analyzed this phenomenon itself: why it arose right now, which biotechnologies will become drivers of development in the coming decades, and how the transition to an economy based on renewable biological resources will change everyone's life.

Later that day, Maxim Patrushev visited the Scientific Research and Technological Center of Neurotechnology of the Southern Federal University. The head of the center, Professor Valery Kiroi, told the guest about the developments. Among them is the brain—computer neural interface, which recognizes mentally pronounced command words based on brain activity, as well as biohybrid olfactory systems capable of detecting socially significant diseases and potentially dangerous substances in the air based on the analysis of bioelectric potentials. Another unique development is a test system for bioprognosis of seismic activity. It records the bioelectric activity of the brain and ECG of small laboratory animals and has already been tested in a region with increased seismic activity. In addition, the prospects of using artificial intelligence and machine learning were discussed: these technologies can help in analyzing the psycho-emotional state of a person and in creating intelligent learning systems.

Commenting on the long-standing cooperation between the Kurchatov Institute and the Southern Federal University, Maxim Patrushev emphasized: "Our most ambitious ideas for the training and education of specialists in the field of genetic technologies and biotechnologies are being implemented and will be implemented at the Southern Federal University. There are a huge number of horizontal relationships across different projects and studies. Scientists from the Southern Federal University often use the Kurchatov Institute's facilities, including the synchrotron, to conduct their research. We are working together on soil engineering. This is one of the activities of the Kurchatov Genomic Center, and there is a whole center for this critically important technology in the SFedU."

The program of the visit ended with an excursion to the SFedU campus in Taganrog, where the guest was introduced to the scientific and educational infrastructure of the Advanced Engineering School of the Southern Federal University: the "smart" factory of microelectronics and photonics, the optical spectroscopy sector of the Laboratory of Epitaxial Technologies, the Scientific and Educational Center "Nanotechnology", the laboratory of "Neuroelectronics and Memristive Nanomaterials (Neuromena)".

The Southern Federal University, being a participant of the strategic academic leadership program "Priority 2030" and the federal project "Advanced Engineering Schools" (national project "Youth and Children"), concentrates efforts on solving the tasks of scientific and technological development of the country. As part of this work, the university creates full-cycle production and technological chains based on the network architecture of interaction to respond to "big challenges". The key areas of development cover a number of critical and end-to-end technologies that underlie three key strategic technological projects of the university: "Technologies of soil bioengineering", "Technologies of multifunctional microelectronics and intelligent sensors for biohybrid and cyberphysical systems" and "Technologies for accelerated development and transfer of strategically important materials in micro and low-tonnage production".

The Priority 2030 program allows the university to develop interdisciplinary projects, involve major scientific organizations in cooperation, and train personnel capable of solving national-scale tasks. It is precisely such horizontal connections and the training of a new generation of specialists that are key to achieving the goals of the national project "Technological Support for Bioeconomics", aimed at creating competitive enterprises and ensuring Russia's technological sovereignty.