Before the meeting began, Vladimir Putin inspected the facility and highly praised the results:

“Everything worked out, everything has been completed. Today, this is one of the most powerful particle accelerators in the world and, in terms of some characteristics, a unique one. It allows researchers to explore the world of atoms and molecules. I hope that by the end of the year, the first research stations will be launched.”

The president emphasized that the speed of innovation implementation determines the future of the country, including its sovereignty. Russia has strengthened its position despite a number of countries refusing to supply equipment for the SKIF. The project’s first research stations are planned to be put into operation by the end of this year.

The key issue at the meeting was the modernization of Russia’s scientific infrastructure. Vladimir Putin emphasized the need to create strong universities and research centers in the regions, as well as to unite the efforts of scientific and educational institutions to address common challenges. This should improve the quality of education, enhance working conditions for teachers and students, and strengthen support for talented researchers, leading departments, and laboratories.

The president noted that the development of such centers would require additional funding and instructed the government to allocate these funds in the budget for the next three years. The regions should also actively participate in supporting these initiatives, viewing them as catalysts for regional development and opportunities for the self‑realization of young people, teachers, and researchers.

Mikhail Kovalchuk, President of the National Research Center “Kurchatov Institute,” emphasized the importance of consolidating efforts in the development of scientific infrastructure and preserving the scientific heritage of the USSR.

According to him, for effective work, it is necessary to unite all resources and create a single scientific program, aligning it with the strategy of technological development. A unified plan for the development of mega‑infrastructure, its operation, and modernization is also needed. A single access point is needed for scientists, teachers, students, and universities from different regions, as well as to support research in the interests of industry. It is also important to create a common database for data storage and processing. These measures need to be formalized at the state level.

RAS Academician Gennady Krasnikov proposed developing digital infrastructure for science, including the creation of a national supercomputer center. The Academy of Sciences is actively working on a digital platform based on the Center for Scientific Information, which uses machine learning and artificial intelligence methods. The platform must be reliable, accessible, and secure. The Institute of System Programming is engaged in developing an analytical center for federated learning of models without the need for centralized storage of large data sets. This requires powerful computing resources, and it is proposed to create a national supercomputer center with the participation of academic institutions.

Minister of Science and Higher Education Valery Falkov supported his colleagues’ initiatives and put forward proposals for training personnel to work on mega‑facilities and for developing the “megascience” class.

“We now have a whole huge infrastructure, and it requires a special type of people who can design, then build, and then work on these installations in various positions. Here, we will rely on universities such as Southern Federal University and other universities that are participating in the ‘pilot’ — they have more freedom.”

Valery Falkov also proposed formalizing a special class of “megascience” facilities, establishing the criteria for classifying them as scientific mega‑projects in modern conditions — this will enable proactive institutions, including those from Krasnoyarsk and Rostov‑on‑Don, to more actively propose such projects. Separately, the minister emphasized the importance of verifying and validating knowledge when using artificial intelligence, so that AI does not learn from imperfect data and does not reinforce erroneous practices:

“It’s time to formalize a special class of megascience facilities.” In 2011, the government approved the criteria for classifying research facilities as scientific mega‑projects — this played a colossal role. Now these criteria need to be updated to reflect current conditions, so that proactive institutions in Krasnoyarsk and Rostov‑on‑Don can propose such projects.”

Elena Shmelyova, Chair of the Council of the Sirius Federal Territory and head of the Talent and Success Foundation, proposed a number of initiatives to train personnel and develop research infrastructure. She noted that launching new stations at mega‑facilities, such as SKIF, will create more than three hundred high‑tech jobs and lead to a personnel shortage. To address this problem, Elena Shmelyova proposed creating a seamless “school — university — research infrastructure” system, including nationwide school programs at mega‑facilities and the merger of the Specialized educational and scientific centers, the “Kurchatov Classes,” and the associated schools of Sirius. Access to such facilities should become a criterion for classifying universities as research‑type institutions, and it is also necessary to create a unified model for accessing experimental time and a national collection of genetic constructs. In addition, Shmelyova proposed using Sirius to train AI models using data from state information systems. These measures will help strengthen Russia’s position as an international scientific center.

For the Southern Federal University, these topics are at the core of its strategic development. The university is developing a model of a research testing ground where not only technologies are tested, but also the approaches to their development — from fundamental research to personnel training — with subsequent scaling up in the industry. Together with the Research Center “Kurchatov Institute,” SFedU is creating the world’s first smart station for synchrotron sources, managed by artificial intelligence; the developed AI agents “Digital Researcher” and “Digital Technologist” make it possible to reduce the research cycle from months to hours.

SFedU Rector Inna Shevchenko, commenting on the recent meeting, noted: “The university can and should be a testing ground where the country can afford to work out not only technologies but also the models for creating them. Preemptive training is the depth of a person’s involvement in the technology creation cycle from the very first steps — from the Specialized Scientific and Educational Center and the first exploratory experiment to industrial implementation. This is how we train not apprentices for someone else’s technologies, but masters who will ensure Russia’s technological leadership.”