President of the Russian Academy of Sciences Aleksandr Sergeyev visited St Petersburg University’s Research Park

The well-known Russian physicist, Professor Aleksandr Sergeyev, who became the head of the Academy of Science in September 2017, and his colleague, the Vice-President of the Russian Academy of Sciences Nikolay Makarov, met with the leadership of St Petersburg University in the University's Research Park.

The academicians visited the St Petersburg University Biobank, a unique specialised cryogenic storage of biological materials for Russia, as well as the resource centres "Magnetic Resonance Research Methods", "X-ray Diffraction Research Methods" and "Methods for Analysing the Composition of Matter."

The main principles guiding the work of the St Petersburg University Research Park are a fully transparent electronic application system and free access to equipment for both university students and researchers from outside organisations.

Aleksandr Sergeyev was interested in how the work of the Research Park was organised asking how much the equipment was utilised, whether external users had the right to use this equipment and on what conditions and whether the University made any money by giving external users access to its research facilities. The Rector of St Petersburg University said that  employees of other organisations made up about half of the total number of equipment users.

"Thanks to this, the equipment works for 16-20 hours a day. It is very important as modern technology becomes completely obsolete in a few years. Our university has achieved great success in this respect, but countrywide, the figure is several times lower," noted Nikolay Kropachev.

"I am convinced that the full and effective use of the equipment is one of the most important tasks for the development of Russian science, which the Academy of Sciences and universities could jointly solve," said the Rector of St Petersburg University.

Ilya Dementyev, the Senior Vice-Rector of St Petersburg University, added, "The main revenue from this activity is intellectual property, which is the result of the use of our equipment. The results of this work are shared by the users with the University, and such joint activities lead to new inventions and breakthrough scientific discoveries."

Today, there are 26 resource centres in the Research Park, the cost of equipment exceeds 7 billion roubles. The total area of the park is more than 30 thousand square meters. Over 280 highly qualified engineers ensure that the facilities are fully available to their users. St Petersburg University covers the cost of all the consumables needed for the operation of the Research Park.

Kirill Volkov, Acting Director of the St Petersburg University Biobank , told the guests about the work of one of the 26 resource centres of the Research Park, which provide biomedical and genetic research. The President of the Russian Academy of Sciences wanted to hear more about the University Medical Clinic.

"The Pirogov Clinic of High Medical Technologies  finally joined St Petersburg University last January. It is difficult to overestimate the significance of this event, because the clinic will become the true heart of the university. Health management, medical law, medical environment management, and many more medical areas will only develop within traditional universities. For a long time the development of scientific research has been determined by the needs of the military-industrial complex in this country, but now the focus should be on medicine and human health. And for this purpose, traditional universities should have their own medical clinics," said Nikolay Kropachev.