The Ministry of Education and Science has selected 22 regional universities, which will receive the status of anchor and funding for the implementation of the development program. The Ministry selected the first 11 flagship universities last year

Photo: Mikhail Japaridze / TASS

The Expert Council under the Ministry of Education and Science selected 22 universities that won the second stage of the competition to create flagship universities, Kommersant reports.

As the publication clarifies, the selected universities are divided into two categories according to the level of funding. The first group includes eight educational institutions that will receive co-financing of the development program both at the federal and regional levels. This is Vladimirsky State University named after Stoletovs (VlSU), Murmansk Arctic State University (MASU), Nizhny Novgorod State Technical University named after Alekseev, Novosibirsk State Technical University (NSTU), Siberian State medical University Ministry of Health of Russia (SibGMU), Tula State University (TulGU), Cherepovets State University (ChSU) and Yaroslavl Demidov State University (YarSU).

The second group includes 14 universities: Altai State University (AltSU), Shukhov Belgorod State Technological University (BSTU), Gorodovikov Kalmyk State University (KalmGU), Kemerovo State University (KemGU), Nosov Magnitogorsk State Technical University, Mari State University ( MarSU), Novgorod State University named after Yaroslav the Wise (NovGU), Petrozavodsk State University (PetrSU), Pskov State University (PskovGU), Saratov State Technical University named after Gagarin (SGTU), Sochi State University (SSU), Syktyvkar State University named after Sorokin, Togliatti State University (TSU) and Ulyanovsk State University (UlGU). They will receive audit and expert support from the federal center, and subsidies from regional budgets.

The winners were selected based on the results of consideration of 80 applications. In the next three months, they will have to submit to the Ministry of Education and Science a five-year development program, for the implementation of which each university will receive an additional subsidy annually for three years. In 2016, its size reached 200 million rubles. The publication notes that it is not yet known how universities will be funded this year. This will determine the program board for each university individually.

“The members of the council were faced with the task of selecting best projects capable of bringing significant development to their region. We considered each application individually, taking into account in detail the development program of each university, as well as the region’s position on its relevance and further support,” Olga Vasilyeva, head of the Ministry of Education and Science, told the newspaper.

In 2016, 11 universities received the status of anchor universities. These included Kostroma State Technological University (KSTU), Tyumen State Oil and Gas University (Tyumen State Oil and Gas University), Ufa State Petroleum Technological University (UGNTU), Siberian State Aerospace University named after Academician Reshetnev (SibGAU), Don State Technical University (DSTU), Volgograd State Technical University (VolgSTU), Voronezh State Technical University (VGTU), Omsk State Technical University (OmSTU), Samara State Technical University (SamSTU), Vyatka State University (Vyatka State University) and Turgenev Oryol State University (OSU).

Under the terms of the program, universities in Moscow and St. Petersburg, universities participating in the 5-100 state program to improve international competitiveness, educational institutions from the federal category, as well as universities located in municipalities where there are already flagship universities cannot apply for the status of a pivot . Another condition for participation in the program, according to Kommersant, is reorganization, that is, two or more regional universities must merge into one.

At the end of February, the government for state support of the leading Russian universities in 2017. Instead of the planned 14.5 billion rubles. they decided to allocate 10.3 billion rubles. Subsidies will be received by 21 Russian universities (there are three groups of leading universities with seven universities each).

Now there are more than 1000 higher educational institutions in the country. Some of them have a "special" status. We understand what types of universities are and what is behind it.

Federal University

They are created in order to form large universities in the regions that can provide a high level of education, research and technical development. To do this, they work closely with the leadership of the federal districts. Their main goal is to provide the regions of Russia with qualified specialists and scientific developments. The first such university appeared in 2006 in Krasnoyarsk (SibFU). On this moment there are only 10 of them.

National Research University

Unlike the federal one, a metropolitan university can also become one. This status is assigned to the university for 10 years after passing the competition. The main condition is that the educational institution must combine scientific research with the educational process. As a rule, such universities have a good technical base, carry out real scientific developments and participate in international student exchange programs. If you want to advance in science - better option can not found. Today there are 29 such universities.

"Special status"

There are two universities in Russia that stand apart from the others. This is Moscow State University. Lomonosov and St. Petersburg State University, which have a special status. Especially for them, a federal law was issued that regulates their activities. They can set their own entrance tests and have greater discretion in the choice of training programs. No wonder they are invariably on the first lines of the ranking of Russian universities.

Flagship Universities

These universities will be created for the socio-economic development of the regions. But first they need to pass the competition: prepare a development program for five years and unite with local universities. In return, such an institution will receive an additional funding of 200 million for the first three years and an increased number of budget place. What this threatens is already clear: the number of regional universities will noticeably decrease, and the competition for flagship universities will become higher. In 2016, 11 universities won the competition, and this year their number will increase to 30.

State University

An ordinary university that does not have large subsidies and did not win (or did not participate) in the competition for another status. Apparently their number will only decrease. The policy of Rosobrnadzor to withdraw accreditations and close local universities speaks of this. Therefore, when choosing a university, carefully weigh all the pros and cons. And you can choose a specific university in ours.

Recently, the Ministry of Education and Science announced the start of the next stage of reforms in regional higher education, the first step of which is to unite flagship universities in the regions into multidisciplinary universities, which will reduce their number by almost a quarter. The pros and cons of this decision are very widely discussed throughout the country.

Statement

At a regular meeting held by the Russian Union of Rectors, Minister D. Livanov said that the Ministry of Education and Science is beginning to unite the flagship universities in the regions into multidisciplinary universities, which will contribute to the consolidation of higher education. The first stage - the creation of federal universities - has almost been completed. The start of the program for the second stage of reforms is scheduled for the very near future.

Financing, he said, will accompany the progress of innovations until 2020. The merger will affect subordinated to the Ministry education and science universities, and all education subordinate to the Ministries of Health, Culture and other departments. Multidisciplinary educational institutions will be financed under a five-year program.

Reason for the reforms

D. Livanov also noted that more than twenty universities are potentially ready for merger. They will be supported in every possible way both financially and organizationally, since this step is responsible and important for the country. Nevertheless, the academic councils of universities should make their own decisions about consolidation, because in any case it is voluntary.

This process is forced only because it is dictated by the demographic situation in the country. The number of 11th-graders is declining sharply and steadily, so universities with a small contingent of students will be forced to either merge with strong and large ones, or cease to exist.

The meaning of the reforms

Ten years ago, an education reform was developed, in which the Ministry of Education and Science was supposed to consolidate Russian universities, that is, to unite all small regional universities into a flagship university. There is no exact timeline for the reform, but its meaning was outlined back in March 2015 in Vedomosti. In the article, D. Livanov and A. Volkov, a professor at the Skolkovo business school, explained to the country why and for what it was started.

The main thing in the structural policy of higher education, they see the creation of anchor universities, which will merge narrow-profile research institutes and small universities, since only a few universities that can survive in the current circumstances will be able to compete in world rankings. In addition to them, a group of one hundred or one hundred and twenty higher educational institutions will be organized throughout the country, where all research, innovation and education will be concentrated.

Contrasting opinions

Rector Ya. Kuzminov believes that the result of the program announced by the Minister will be a reduction in the number of regional universities by 25 percent. Y. Kuzminov approves of the reforms, because he agrees that a university with a small number of students will not be able to exist, it will not even be able to keep a staff of full-time teachers, especially high-class teachers. In his opinion, even if each region has its own flagship university, their number will not exceed one hundred.

The opinion of the rector of Lomonosov Moscow State University is very different from the opinion of the rector of the Higher School of Economics. He believes that it is necessary to be more careful with the consolidation of such a plan, since consolidation, if it solves problems, is far from all. And practice shows that in the world there are quite a few universities, although not large, but extremely strong, for example, Harvard, where there are only ten thousand students.

United universities

The associations began long before the above-mentioned statement by Minister D. Livanov. One has only to look at what the famous MIREA Institute consists of today: MIREA plus MGUPI plus MITHT plus VNIITE plus RosNII ITiAP plus IPK of the Ministry of Education and Science of the Russian Federation. And at least four different stories of the development of the university. Will this monstrous fusion ever end? In 2015, several more associations were announced. Moscow State Pedagogical University is consolidating with Moscow State Pedagogical University - with the humanities, both universities - with their glorious history, with their path, their accomplishments. MATI unites with MAI - aviation with aviation technical. Both universities, it would seem, are among the strongest, and are not offended by the attention of the entrants. Then why?

In addition, DGGU and TSU (Pacific State University), Orenburg University of Management (OSUM) and State University (OSU) have merged. In Krasnoyarsk, the flagship university is the first federal university in the country - Siberian. Back in 2006, three of the largest higher educational institutions of the region joined the Krasnoyarsk State University. At the moment, ten such federal universities have already been created. The youngest one is in Crimea, where seven universities of the peninsula have been consolidated into one. The Minister of Education is confident that these actions will help create attractive conditions for retaining students in the region.

Key regional universities of the Russian Federation

In October 2015, D. Livanov signed an order regarding the competitive selection of regional universities in order to financially support their development programs and the subsequent creation of a base educational organizations. A participant in this competition will be any state university of federal significance, where a joint decision has been made in favor of reorganization by joining one or more universities to it. This decision must be confirmed by the academic councils of all involved educational institutions. Universities in the process of consolidation can also take part in the competition if the reorganization order was issued later than June 2015.

Out of competition

Flagship universities of the Russian Federation (ten have already been created), as well as those located in St. Petersburg and Moscow, cannot participate in the competition. Also participants of "Project 5-100" cannot participate in this competition. According to this project, by 2020, five Russian higher education institutions should take places in the top hundred. In each individual case, a flagship university program is being developed.

In 2015, the legendary nuclear MEPhI left the 95th line of the world ranking (only in teaching physics, not in general) and jumped to 36th place, overtaking even Lomonosov Moscow State University. Nevertheless, so far the experts of the Accounts Chamber have not established the effectiveness of the invested funds, not a single Russian university from the subsidized ones (including MEPhI) has become more competitive.

Irkutsk history

The governor of the region, S. Levchenko, called the flagship universities of the Russian Federation a harmful undertaking, urged the Ministry of Education and Science to do everything possible to evade participation in this competition. He is sure that without serious consequences it is in no way possible to carry out a purely mechanical merger into a flagship university: both students and the regional scientific elite will certainly suffer.

S. Levchenko considers such an experimental division of educational institutions "according to grades", an ill-conceived and clearly violent consolidation in the name of some mythical seven indicators that are supposedly capable of determining quality in the most complex process of education, to be wrong and harmful.

Counter offers

In his opinion, all specialized and sectoral universities in the regions should retain their independence and the identity that they currently have. S. Levchenko proposes instead of a mechanical merger a softer option - a corporate association with autonomous management, in which it will be possible to avoid a conflict of interest.

Competitive conditions should be reviewed, according to the Deputy Governor V. Ignatenko. There should be the possibility of sole participation so that any individual university can become a reference one, even if there is no need to merge, but it fulfills more than half of the indicators included in the conditions of the competition.

Financing

Budget funding will support only three types of higher education institutions. The first type is those ten federal universities that have been created in the regions of the Russian Federation. The second is national research institutes, of which only 29 have been approved so far in the country. These include IrNITU, MEPhI and others. The third type is the very flagship universities in Russia that began to be created in 2015. Until the end of 2016, the plans include the final determination of those hundred universities that will be authorized to become pivotal. To obtain such a status, a strategic development program is required, which must be submitted for the competition, as well as a regional concept for the development of the territory in the field of staffing.

However, the main condition is the unification of the educational base of the entire region within the framework of one university. The state will heavily subsidize the flagship university for the first three years - at least two hundred million rubles a year. Plus, the local government will finance what is provided for by the program of personnel development of the region. Further, the anchor university will finance itself, but the quotas for state-funded education and foreign students will be increased - at the expense of other educational institutions that do not have the status of anchor. In five years, the program of the flagship university must be completed in all respects:

• At least ten thousand students.
• Training in at least twenty disciplines.
• At least eight teachers with advanced degrees per hundred students.
• Each researcher must spend at least 150,000 rubles on research.
• The income of the university is at least 2 billion rubles.

Flagship universities are considered the future of Russian higher education. Tyumen Industrial University was one of the first in the country to receive this status.

Figures and facts

Tyumen Industrial University was established in 2016 as a result of the merger of two leading technical universities in the region - oil and gas and architecture and construction.

The formation of a flagship university on the basis of a united higher educational institution takes place with the direct participation of the governor of the Tyumen region Vladimir Yakushev and his first deputy Natalia Shevchik.

The governor called the university's victory in the competitive selection of flagship universities in Russia "a significant breakthrough in the field of higher education." According to him, this is the requirement of the time, aimed at training highly qualified personnel.

“From the point of view of logistics, the availability of raw materials in Western Siberia, as well as the history and capabilities of the basic scientific school, Tyumen remains an intellectual and scientific and educational center of petrochemistry, oil and gas production,” says Vladimir Yakushev. “Work in this direction continues.” To solve the problems of the next stage of the industrialization of the region, engineering personnel of a new formation, new technological and technical breakthroughs are needed.

Recall that the competition for the creation of flagship universities in the regions involved the evaluation of modernization programs in five areas - educational, scientific, personnel, managerial and social. These five elements are prescribed as guidelines for the leading university in the Russian Federation.

Education and production - a single link

Vladimir Yakushev noted the need for close cooperation manufacturing enterprises and universities: “It is important that experienced production workers come to higher education, then educational process moves from theory to practice. Linking a strong academic base of the university with the experience of large enterprises is essential for success.”

Today, the interest of oil and gas service and mining companies in the engineering and technical profile of training is growing, profile classes are being created in the areas of their activity. Physics has become the second most popular subject for passing the exam school graduates.

“Historical transformations are taking place in the higher education system. The region, together with the Tyumen Industrial University, enters into a very serious, on the one hand, and very demanding, on the other hand, program of the federal ministry to form a flagship engineering university on our territory, - notes Alexey Rider, Director of the Department of Education and Science of the Tyumen Region. - Interaction between government, education and business, joint implementation educational programs become the norm. We have moved from slogans to concrete actions.”

Flagship university: expert opinions

“The creation of a flagship regional university is not just a mechanical union of two universities, a new quality, new knowledge, new training must appear. We are convinced that in the oil and gas sector, especially in the field of drilling, there are already groundwork on a Russian and international scale,” comments Denis Konanchuk, Director of the Center for Educational Development at the SKOLKOVO Business School. — The flagship university has an important role related to the development of the region and its future. There is a lot of work to be done to build this connection. We saw the laboratory base of the university, and actually admired the simulators that are available for drilling. So far, I have not personally seen such simulators even in foreign universities. That is, it is obvious that the training of specialists is carried out on the most modern equipment. The activities of the university should become noticeable not only in the region, but also for other universities in Russia, in order to best practics copied and accepted at other universities in the country.

“For the last ten years, only the lazy have not scolded the system of higher education,” Oleg Danilov, First Vice-Rector of TIU, comments on the current situation. - Business insultingly calls graduates "unfinished engineers", the authorities do not understand where they are investing subsidies, because the target tasks are not being met, the society has the impression that many universities are acting incorrectly, putting education "on stream". Indeed, today Russia does not need a huge number of universities, it needs a pool of leading universities that would make it possible to bring the higher education system into a competitive environment.”

Tyumen Industrial University: tasks and experience

Tyumen Industrial University will receive in 2016 a federal subsidy for the implementation of the development program in the amount of 100 million rubles. Subsidies will be allocated annually for three years, their size in 2017 and 2018. will depend on the effectiveness of the implementation of program activities in previous years.

“We must create a new engineering university. The most important thing in the implementation of this project is to improve the quality of education and research work. These are not just patents, dissertations, technologies, graduates, but a complex result: the creation of new high-tech oilfield services and engineering companies around our university, saturated with technologies created at the university, with personnel support from our university and, of course, having certain won positions in the market. Such a result should meet the requirements of the regional economy, large corporations. The work ahead is quite capacious, big. It is important that the entire university shares these goals and objectives, and we move together, then everything will work out. Students should also take part in this process,” said TIU Rector Oleg Novoselov.

Transformations and perspectives

In connection with the new status of the Tyumen industrial university transformations will affect all spheres and, first of all, scientific, educational and international activities.

In educational activities, it is planned to reach a fundamentally new level of quality, which will become possible due to the implementation of the educational model for preparing a bachelor in practical-modular training, which will be carried out within the framework of network interaction. Today, business is dissatisfied with the fact that graduates who come to production do not know technology, are poorly versed in equipment design, and do not understand the pragmatic tasks that are set before them. New system undergraduate education (4 years) involves two years of academic study, when the guys study mathematics, physics, chemistry in classrooms, theoretical mechanics, sopromat ... - all traditional disciplines. And, the next two years, when they work practically in production, and study various modules. This is practice, this is direct work in which business takes part.

An experiment has already begun at the industrial university; since last year, such a cycle of modular training has been going on at the university. Students fly by helicopters to the fields, actually participate in the drilling process, learn new technologies at the enterprises of university partners, study various modules: one module, for example, is drilling fluids, the other is the study of horizontal directional drilling technologies, and so on ... Thus, after completing their bachelor's degree, they will be well prepared for work in production. For modular training, the flagship university uses the latest teaching methods. The results are optimistic. Rosneft and Surgutneftegaz conducted testing among senior students of all specialized universities in the field of "oil and gas business". The students of the Tyumen Industrial University showed the best result, eighty percent of them could be hired by these companies right now.

As for the magistracy, the management plans to create two - technological (to recruit from "profile" students) and management (where project managers will be trained from economists, lawyers and bachelors of other specialties). Postgraduate study, which used to be a form of preparing a PhD thesis, today is left without a social order. According to the leadership of the university, teachers-researchers of the university, representatives of research institutes, industry institutes and Academies of Sciences, as well as individuals interested in doing science for corporations. As for additional training, the order for it today is formed as follows: 1% - federal order, 1% - regional, 15% - corporations, 83% - individuals. The university plans to have orders from corporations up to 70% by 2020.

The program for the creation of flagship universities, announced almost a year ago by the Ministry of Education and Science of the Russian Federation, began its work in the constituent entities of the Federation. Quite serious requirements are imposed on candidate universities, however, participation in the program can benefit both the university itself and the entire region where it is located, experts say.

In the summer of 2015, the Minister of Education and Science of the Russian Federation Dmitry Livanov announced the launch of a large-scale reform of higher education. It is planned that small regional universities will be united into multidisciplinary flagship universities, which will receive additional financial support from the state.

By the end of 2016, it is planned to create 20 such universities in Russia, a year later - about thirty more. Gradually total number flagship universities in the country should reach 150. It is assumed that they will strengthen higher education in the regions. The competition for the creation of flagship universities began in October 2015. Three months later, after several stages of selection, the expert council of the Ministry of Education and Science of the Russian Federation approved the list of the first 11 flagship universities. To date, work has begun on their formation in the regions.

Strengthen higher education in the regions

In 2016, the Russian Ministry of Education and Science approved development programs for the first 11 flagship universities. In the new infographics, the site shows how universities with the status of a pivot differ from other universities in the country.

The current reform of higher education has become the fourth in the past few years, Ivan Nikitin, executive secretary of the Eurasian Association for the Assessment of Educational Quality (EAOKO), told RIA Novosti. “First, federal universities were created, then national research universities. After them, universities stood out that took part in the 5-100 program. In all cases, it was about leadership either in the international arena or in federal level. Today, flagship universities are being created to support regional development", he noted.

Today, high-quality education in Russia can be obtained not only in the universities of Moscow and St. Petersburg, which is why the Ministry of Education and Science wants to strengthen basic universities in the regions, says Oleg Baulin, vice-rector for educational and methodological work of the Ufa State Oil Technical University (UGNTU). "The flagship universities are faced with the task of closer integration with the region and specialized enterprises in all main areas of activity - educational, research and innovation, educational and social. Flagship universities are the center of attraction. Here, applicants and students want to get an education, employees want to work And partner organizations and government bodies people come here to solve production and other problems," he told RIA Novosti.

The status of a flagship university is, first of all, important for the university itself. But it also matters for the region, because each flagship university should become a kind of communication platform, a place where decisions are discussed and made, Ivan Nikitin believes. "On the basis of flagship universities, in a number of cases, professional self-regulatory organizations who will develop industry standards and public and professional accreditation. In addition, the creation of flagship universities will help the regions retain strong applicants who today prefer to go to study in capital cities," he explained.

Portrait of the ideal candidate

In order to qualify for the status of a flagship university and financial support from the state, the university must be in the process of reorganization by merging two or more universities into one. If such a reorganization has not yet taken place, the university must submit documents to the competition commission stating that it will be carried out in the near future. This is a key condition, experts say. There is another requirement related to finances. The regulation on the competitive selection states that the state will annually, over a period of 1 to 3 years, allocate up to 200 million rubles to the university.

“But this money is not the only funds that should be included in the development program of the flagship university. Co-financing from the university itself is also provided. As a rule, this is money that is allocated by the regional partners of the university. The university itself must find and indicate in the documents the source these funds," Ivan Nikitin said.

Experts will also assess how the development program proposed by the university will allow it to achieve the target targets. Among them are the size of the university (at least 10,000 students must study at it), the number of programs under which educational activities(at least 20), and so on. There are also requirements regarding the scientific potential of the university. "In a word, the university should be large, diversified and conduct research and innovative activity on a commercial basis," the EAOKO Executive Secretary stressed.

The experience of the Ufa oil

One of the first universities selected by the ministry as a base was the Ufa State Oil Technical University (UGNTU), which today trains specialists in key areas of the economy of Bashkiria and has a reputation as the most sought-after university in the republic. The university also has experience of reorganization through a merger educational institutions, and other necessary competencies, said Oleg Baulin. “For more than 50 years, the Institute of Architecture and Construction has been functioning at our university, a separate structural subdivision of the university. In addition, USPTU has the status of Gazprom’s flagship university, which offers a similar design-targeted approach and program activities,” he explained.

According to the USPTU development program, which was approved by the ministry, the university should become, on the one hand, the backbone of the region, and on the other hand, the backbone of specialized industries and services. "By the word 'support' we mean not only the provision of the region and industry with personnel, not only the fulfillment scientific research and the provision of services, but also the generation of innovations that can develop the region and industry," the vice-rector emphasized.

Hopes and fears

The students who will study in them will primarily benefit from the formation of flagship universities, experts believe. New opportunities and advantages will appear in all areas of the university - from education and science to sports. Opportunities to choose individual learning paths, academic mobility will increase significantly, and the circle of partners in "double" degree programs and networking will expand. The scientific material and technical base will be improved, hostels and sports facilities will be developed, and so on.

"Due to the enlargement of the university, we will increase the number of educational programs with in-depth study foreign languages, in the format of networking, programs of applied engineering training. Many of them will be implemented using remote educational technologies", - said Oleg Baulin.

He expressed hope that teachers and staff will also feel the positive effect of the reorganization of the university, as the material base of the departments will be strengthened, opportunities for organizing internships, mobility, and scientific publications will increase. When two universities merge, as a rule, their employees begin to worry about whether they are waiting for a layoff. According to Ivan Nikitin, their fears are often exaggerated.

“Indeed, when merging, some of the managerial positions turn out to be duplicative and they are optimized. But not a single development program talks about reducing the teaching staff. Most likely, the mergers of universities will occur quite painlessly,” he said.

Today it is difficult to say whether the program for creating flagship universities will achieve the goal of regional development, believes scientific adviser Institute of Education NRU "Higher School of Economics" Isak Frumin.

“As they say, chickens are counted in the fall. But the very task of strengthening regional universities, improving the quality of their education and their connection with the regional economy and social development is extremely important. The program itself is arranged, it seems to me, reasonably. Another question is that the current the economic situation is not the best for her, but there are chances,” the expert concluded.