"Even if you’re on the right track, you’ll get run over if you just sit there."
Author Unknown

"No one can play a symphony alone. It takes an entire orchestra."
H.E. Luccock

Eduard Galazhinskiy, Rector of Tomsk State University, discusses refining the university’s target model within the framework of the federal program Priority 2030, a topic addressed during the recent three-day project-analytical session hosted at TSU with participation fr om experts fr om Sociocenter.

— Professor Galazhinskiy, last time we spoke about the educational goals and ambitions of our university tied to pilot projects. Now it’s time to revisit TSU’s target model for 2030, especially since a new project-analytical session was recently held on this topic. These events involve many participants, but not all TSU staff can attend. The wider university audience is likely curious about how the session unfolded and what decisions were reached, as these will inevitably impact every employee’s work.

— It’s worth noting that terms like "project-analytical session" or "strategy session" have become as familiar to us as "pilot programs." Our university community is no longer surprised by such large-scale events. Similar initiatives were held in the past, such as when TSU competed for its place under the "Project 5-100" umbrella.

This time, the adjustment to three days of intensive, reflective work happened quickly—within the first hour or two of the plenary session. The main goal of the strategy session was to conduct an objective analysis of TSU’s policies and ongoing strategic projects under the state Priority 2030 program. This was aimed at timely adjustments and alignment with the university’s overarching target model.

Participants included leaders of TSU’s structural units, the university’s leading scientists responsible for implementing strategic projects, representatives from the Tomsk Oblast Administration, other Tomsk universities, major regional organizations, and Sberbank. The session was moderated by three experts from Sociocenter, a key operator of major state programs in science and higher education in Russia, including Priority 2030.

These experts are professionals from the academic sphere with extensive practical experience. Their role was not to conduct audits, produce reports, or deliver “golden solutions” to every question raised during the session. Instead, they facilitated problem-oriented communication. Their goal was to help us reflect on challenges and bottlenecks, ask uncomfortable questions that push us out of our comfort zone, and encourage us to view our priorities and tasks from a fresh perspective. This approach helps us reshape TSU’s strategic projects and policies as outlined in its development program.

It’s clear that only the university’s collective — familiar with TSU’s unique characteristics and the specifics of the region — can decide why, wh ere, and how to move forward. Achieving a truly relevant solution requires dynamic, problem-oriented communication.

On the other hand, the experts themselves needed a specific “briefing” to help them understand TSU’s unique features, the larger Big University of Tomsk concept, and the region as a whole. The plenary session presentations were designed to provide this context.

Thus, Lyudmila Ogorodova, Deputy Governor of Tomsk Oblast for Scientific and Technological Development, set the regional framework for the project-analytical session. She emphasized that since 2012, the region's research and educational environment has operated under the Big University model, essentially an alliance of all scientific and educational organizations in Tomsk Oblast.

At a certain stage, Tomsk universities required alignment with both state and regional objectives—a scale that can only be achieved through collective efforts. On the other hand, state corporations find it convenient to have a single “entry point.” Currently, the strategic vision of the Big University of Tomsk includes educating 80,000 to 100,000 students in the city and managing a consolidated budget of approximately 100 billion rubles. These figures and resources have already been presented to the Government of the Russian Federation.

The government, enterprises, and the region’s scientific and educational complex have found a way to align their agendas. Tomsk's research and educational sector addresses challenges at both the regional and national levels within its strategic focus areas, based on existing competencies. These include chemistry and new materials, engineering biology, agrobiotechnology, electronics, future energy, big data analytics, artificial intelligence, and data science. This approach has already secured funding for the creation of advanced engineering schools in Tomsk.

Lyudmila Ogotodova emphasized that the Big University and Tomsk’s scientific and technological sector as a whole address not only regional but also federal priorities. Enterprises in the region are predominantly state corporations, which scale up university-developed innovations. Federal priorities, she explained, entail responsibility for technological leadership in specific areas, which also means accountability for economic indicators and infrastructure development. By 2030, the region plans to establish ten major infrastructure projects, including several engineering centers and industrial clusters. Additionally, over 30 new technologies are expected to be developed and implemented.

In closing, Lyudmila Ogorodova optimistically noted that, in some ways, times are changing for the better. Previously, Tomsk science and education did not receive such significant attention, despite their longstanding presence in the region. This momentum underscores the need for everyone involved to rise to the challenge.

— If we say that Tomsk is a unique region because it implements both regional and federal agendas, what does this mean specifically for TSU?

— For us, it has two implications. First, we are preparing specialists not just for the region but for entire industries. Second, we are developing technologies and products that are essential both locally and nationally. For example, just recently, TSU and the Tomsk Engineering Chemical Technology Center signed an agreement with the Ministry of Industry and Trade of the Russian Federation to develop a strategy for the chemical industry through 2035. This strategy will be created in collaboration with partners.

Additional Information:

A critical component of preparing the chemical industry’s development strategy is analyzing modern methods and effective approaches to training specialists at universities. According to the Russian Union of Chemists, the industry currently faces a shortage of 180,000 specialists—a figure projected to grow to 285,000 by 2030. Educational institutions in Tomsk Oblast annually train up to 10% of all young professionals entering the field.

By Interfax.

— You’ve mentioned several times that the target model of Tomsk State University must be constantly refined and adjusted in response to changes in both external and internal environments. What adjustments are currently being made to the target model?

— It’s not just the university’s target model that is continuously upd ated; the Priority 2030 program as a whole undergoes regular adjustments. These changes are driven by shifts in political and economic contexts, feedback fr om universities, and evolving communication with industry leaders and within the academic community. All of this necessitates updates to various program indicators and its overall recalibration.

Currently, the focus in our university’s target model is on addressing challenges related to the new technological paradigm and the need for Russia to achieve full technological sovereignty. We observe that new technologies fundamentally transform all four key domains: the environment, humanity, society, and the technological sphere. These four areas originally defined the university’s strategic projects.

What we are seeing now is essentially the second iteration of refining these projects. The theme of technological sovereignty has been a part of our development program since 2013, during our entry into the Project 5-100 initiative. Even then, it was clear that success in this technological shift could only be achieved by large systems capable of integrating a complete technology stack. In the global competition with the United States and China, Russia is perhaps the only other country with the potential to assemble such technological stacks.

At that time, experts from the TSU International Council convinced us that competition between TSU and TPU was counterproductive, as neither university was well-known internationally among the 30,000 higher education institutions worldwide. They argued that these universities could only gain recognition on the global educational map through cooperation.

It was through such discussions that the concept of the Big University of Tomsk emerged, aimed at carving out a distinct place in the international educational landscape. This is a prime example of when scale truly matters. We proposed this ideology to the members of the Big University Consortium in 2014, and subsequent events have validated this approach.

Today, we consistently se t tasks for the Big University, each of which surpasses the capabilities of any single member institution in the Tomsk university consortium. There is an ongoing effort to align priorities. In 2019, we conducted the first alignment session, a three-day discussion on the potential development strategy for the Big University.

As a result, we won all the key grants and projects available in Russia at the time. To this day, we maintain the diversity and autonomy of individual universities while integrating their infrastructure. This approach has enabled the establishment of three engineering schools in Tomsk—an impressive achievement considering that there are only four such schools beyond the Urals. These include schools in microelectronics, new energy, and agrobiotechnology.

— In addition to its ecosystem-based approach, our development program as a breakthrough university is built on the principle of focusing on technological leadership in specific fields, aligned with Russia’s goal of achieving technological sovereignty. Those who are at the forefront of developing cutting-edge technologies—quantum, AI-driven, biotech—are vying for global leadership. World-class universities are structured as megamachines for generating knowledge, science, and technology.

TSU is a classical university wh ere about one-third of the educational disciplines fall under the socio-humanitarian block. Another third covers natural sciences, while the final third includes "unnatural" disciplines, such as physical and mathematical sciences, four engineering faculties, and a substantial IT block. Our strength lies in combining diverse research bases.

One of the focuses of TSU’s development program has also been the issue of quality of life, as the Fourth Technological Revolution fundamentally reshapes this concept. It alters habitats, human nature, technological environments, and society itself. We are witnessing the emergence of hybrid realities and the transformation of human nature. A leading university must not only respond to these challenges and new trends but also strive to stay ahead of them by anticipating changes and adjusting its development programs accordingly.

— What can help students truly feel that they are studying at an ecosystem-based and leading university?

— For example, the fact that Tomsk is perhaps one of the few, if not the only, regions wh ere a first-year student can receive a campus card and use it to access any university. Or take the Big University Library, which combines the library resources of all Tomsk universities. Achieving this required a year and a half of collaborative work with other institutions to address data privacy and many other issues.

A student, master’s candidate, or postgraduate arriving in Tomsk gains access to the entire educational complex's infrastructure, making their studies more appealing. This includes 19 postgraduate schools, dissertation councils, and a networked program for professional development.

The Tomsk Big University Campus project emerged as the next step in creating a unified environment based on the Tomsk Innovation Zone. While this process is currently progressing with some difficulty, we remain optimistic.

We aim to make Tomsk one of the key hubs for generating knowledge and technologies in the new technological paradigm. This vision will naturally give rise to the necessary infrastructure solutions.

— How many teams participated in the November project-analytical session? What specific tasks were assigned to them?

— Initially, there were six teams, each tasked with working on a target model of our university, focusing on what it might look like by 2030 based on today’s perspective. However, each team concentrated on a specific area, a unique lens through which they viewed and built this model. These focus areas were:

1. Managing the evolution of TSU as an ecosystem university.
2. TSU’s educational policy.
3. TSU’s research policy in the fields of innovation and commercialization of developments.
4. Managing TSU’s human capital.
5. Strategic Project No. 1 on engineering biology.
6. The remaining three strategic projects: addressing global Earth changes (climate, ecology, and quality of life), security technologies, and socio-humanitarian sciences.

According to the guidance provided by the experts, all teams were required to operate within a four-step matrix of tasks:

1. Diagnose the current state of their focus area.
2. Identify existing resources.
3. Determine the "deficits" in their area.
4. Pinpoint the causes of these deficits.

This approach aimed to enable the teams to answer critical questions: what they envision TSU will look like in 2030, given its current "baggage," and what criteria must be met to achieve this future state. Unfortunately, it’s impossible to detail the entire process of the project-analytical session within this blog. It makes sense to highlight only the key conclusions from the teams, emphasizing their vision of TSU’s target model for 2030 and the deficits that need to be overcome in each context to achieve this vision.

— Then perhaps we should start with the broadest context and focus on the team that addressed the evolution of the ecosystem?

— That’s a good idea, especially since this group was the first to present during the session’s closing phase. The group made the following observations:

The Big University of Tomsk, whose creation was largely initiated by TSU, will remain a structure that influences both the region’s development and the advancement of our university. One of the group’s ambitions is for BUT to become the third university of federal significance by 2030, managed under a special decree by the President of the Russian Federation, similar to Moscow State University and Saint Petersburg State University.

Substantively, this means that the Tomsk region, with its ecosystem, should become one of the top 50 global centers for generating scientific knowledge and new technologies, akin to the Western European triangle of Eindhoven – Leuven – Aachen. The Tomsk ecosystem is not just an independent initiative but a framework for implementing three comprehensive focus areas:

1. Sovereign technologies (biotech, chemistry and new materials, socio-humanitarian technologies).
2. Education (training future specialists in collaboration with industry leaders, new educational technologies, adaptive technologies).
3. Innovation (commercialization and technology transfer, managing knowledge assets).

Another ambition articulated by the group is the creation of a unified doctoral and postgraduate school for BUT.

However, the group also identified several key deficits:

• Lack of synchronization between management mechanisms and decisions both within the university and across the ecosystem.
• The need for new regulatory mechanisms (e.g., for the transfer of financial and material assets).
• Challenges in integrating activities among ecosystem participants with different departmental affiliations and corporate cultures.
• Talent drain, as young professionals migrate to central regions.
• A gap between faculty competencies and the needs of industry leaders.

— What will TSU’s educational policy look like in 2030?

— The educational structure envisioned for 2030 consists of three levels: pre-university training, core education, and professional orientation. At each stage, both educational and professional outcomes will be considered. Upon graduation, students should be prepared for either a research-focused or professional master’s program. The emphasis will be placed on interdisciplinarity and the integration of new technologies into the educational process, such as digital tools and artificial intelligence. These, along with skills in research commercialization, will help students better adapt to the demands of the modern market.

The implementation of these new strategies will require active involvement from industry partners and the training of new teaching staff. Experience shows that collaboration between universities and partners allows for the creation of programs that genuinely meet the needs of the time.

In terms of key targets, by 2030:

• 30% of programs are planned to be new.
• 40% of students will study on a fee-paying basis.
• All graduates of new programs will undergo external evaluation.

Educational outcomes will be assessed not only in terms of competencies but also through the lens of values. Additionally, these outcomes will reflect the unique "codes" of our region and country.

It’s worth noting that the development of TSU’s 2030 educational model has already begun with pilot programs. A tool for designing new programs and rebooting existing ones, known as the League of Academic Program Heads, has been created.

At the same time, a significant issue has emerged: the conflict between the new norms—new standards and educational culture—and the older system under which most of the university's current programs still operate. This challenge will need to be addressed.

The new norms will also extend to training researchers. Previously, TSU recruited students only after the major research universities in Moscow and St. Petersburg had selected theirs. Today, however, the expectations for TSU as a research university are much higher. Consequently, TSU’s educational programs must meet these higher expectations by focusing on developing students’ research competencies.

The traditional model of research training is being expanded with new tracks—professional and entrepreneurial. These tracks aim to develop students’ soft skills and offer experimental formats that still need to be scaled.

Another critical aspect is that educational programs must not only provide theoretical knowledge but also deliver concrete preparation outcomes valued by employers. This requires an external assessment of student readiness. However, the group working on TSU’s educational policy believes that only industry leaders who are genuinely invested in preparing future professionals should conduct these evaluations.

In addition to the issues already mentioned, challenges remain in addressing faculty shortages, overcoming the old educational paradigm, and securing new strategic partners.

— How do TSU’s scientific and innovation policies appear today as they are envisioned for 2030?

— By 2030, TSU aims to fully establish itself as a university of scientific and technological frontiers—one of the key centers for scientific, educational, technological, and innovative development in Eurasia. During the session, three main principles were outlined as the foundation for these ambitious policies:

1. The Principle of Science-Education Integration
   This principle envisions TSU operating with an adequate number of youth laboratories, research-oriented master’s programs, industrial doctoral programs, grant and scholarship support for student and young researcher projects, student research societies, digital departments, and a "PI School" designed to prepare leading researchers to head advanced laboratories in the future.
2. The Principle of Network Collaboration
   This principle will be reflected in the next phase of Big University of Tomsk’s development, more coordinated work by TSU’s Committee on Scientific and Innovation Policy, and the Consortium of Strategic Projects, as well as an expansion of TSU’s network of strategic partners.
3. The Principle of Product Diversity
   This principle is to be implemented through the activities of existing and future Tomsk engineering centers, research laboratories, small innovative enterprises, and a regional technology transfer center.

By 2030, TSU aims to maintain its leadership in scientific publications and remain in the top 10 universities in Russia. TSU’s innovations will be used by national companies to create knowledge-intensive and mass-market products within the framework of import substitution and import advancement.

TSU’s breakthrough areas are expected to include:

• Defense technologies.
• Chemistry and new materials.
• Microelectronics.
• Quantum technologies.
• Biotechnology.
• Advanced socio-humanitarian technologies.

The proportion of researchers within TSU’s total academic staff is projected to reach at least 50%, with 75% of these researchers under the age of 39.

However, the following challenges and deficits were identified:

• Aging leaders of scientific schools.
• Insufficient numbers of high-potential researchers and entrepreneurs.
• Overburdened staff and systemic inertia.
• Limited access to mega-science-class equipment.

— Eduard Vladimirovich, the information has been very dense, yet we haven’t even touched on the strategic projects discussed during the session. Perhaps we should dedicate a separate conversation to them to allow readers to reflect more deeply on this material?

— Agreed. And it would be helpful not only to reflect but also to envision one’s own professional activities within the contexts of the TSU policies we’ve discussed here.

To be continued

Eduard Galazhinskiy, Rector of Tomsk State University,
Member of the Presidential Council for Science and Education,
Vice President of the Russian Academy of Education,
Vice President of the Russian Union of Rector

Interview and materials compiled by:
Irina Kuzheleva-Sagan