On 14 June, the International Conference Centre of the Joint Institute for Nuclear Research hosted the conference “Science cities of Russia: current objectives”, dedicated to the Day of Science Cities of the Moscow region. Representatives of 13 Russian science cities participated in the event. JINR Director Grigory Trubnikov presented the project of the International Innovation Park of Science and Technology, which is planned to be built in Dubna.

Head of the Dubna City District Maxim Tikhomirov opened the event. He congratulated all the representatives of science cities present and thanked the Joint Institute for their help in organizing the event. “The tasks set by Dubna and the Institute are consistently accomplished with high proficiency. We know exactly in which way we should progress. We have many common ambitious large-scale goals, and it’s only through joint efforts that we will be able to achieve high results,” Maxim Tikhomirov stressed.

“A science city is not just a place for the development of science, but also a place that should be as comfortable as possible. We are very honoured by the attention of representatives of the Ministry of Science and Higher Education of the Russian Federation, the State Duma, and the Federation Council, who work together to develop the infrastructure of science cities, creating the most comfortable urban environment not only for the residents, but also for the scientists,” Minister of Territorial Policy of the Moscow Region Yulia Gubanova noted about the role of the state in shaping modern science cities.

President of the Union for the Development of Science Cities Viktor Sidnev noted in his speech that despite the continuous development of science cities, there are not only new opportunities, but also new risks arising. In his opinion, such events provide a unique opportunity for participants to exchange valuable experiences that will help solve many difficult tasks of organizing a favourable environment for people to work and live in.

Member of the State Duma of the Russian Federation Irina Rodnina gave an introductory speech, expressing support to science cities. She noted that she is always open and ready to support the initiatives of science cities and cities in the north Moscow region aimed at their advancement.

Welcoming the audience as the moderator of the Plenary Session, JINR Director, RAS Academician Grigory Trubnikov stressed that this meeting is an excellent opportunity to discuss useful and effective practices for urban development, including the issues of science city development policy. “How to develop the urban environment, how to effectively organize work with personnel, what main tasks the work of city-forming enterprises should be focused on; the answers to all these and many other questions are incredibly important not only for our urban districts, but also for Russia as a whole. Through such events, we contribute to the creation of an effective state policy for the development of territories with high scientific and technical potential,” Grigory Trubnikov said.

Presenting the project of the International Innovation Park of Science and Technology, Grigory Trubnikov outlined Dubna’s key projects in the field of science and technology, which included the Dubna SEZ, JINR, Kronstadt Group, YADRO FAB DUBNA, Medical and Technical Cluster, etc. These organizations form the city’s high investment potential. He also highlighted the problem of personnel shortage that enterprises face. To address the issue of training qualified specialists, the project of the International Innovation Park of Science and Technology was developed, which includes the construction of a modern university campus.

The project implies the comprehensive development of adjacent territories and will be implemented jointly by JINR, Dubna SEZ, Dubna State University, as well as local governments, regional and federal executive authorities. At the moment, the technical projects of the new dormitories of the future campus have already been reviewed. Projects for the development of the urban social environment, such as sports and cultural infrastructure facilities and a convenient modern transport system, are under development. A list of majors and educational programmes that the city’s enterprises need today was presented. The most popular areas were “Artificial intelligence and big data”, “Nuclear physics methods and life sciences”, “Engineering sciences and materials science”.

According to Grigory Trubnikov, the new modern research university, in addition to training personnel, should provide the opportunity to study new majors, such as “Creation and organization of projects of the megascience class”, “Distributed computing and big data”, “Urbanism of science cities”, “Scientific journalism”, etc.

It was proposed that the project will be managed by a supervisory board, which will include representatives of the largest scientific and technological enterprises of Dubna, investors, federal ministries, and the government of the region.

According to preliminary estimates, the international innovation park of science and technology should boost the region’s economy in the future, providing more than 8000 new jobs in science and high-tech industries, attracting more than 40 billion roubles of private investment, and increasing the volume of hi-tech production to 30 billion roubles per year.

In the second part of the plenary session, a speech was delivered by Director of the Union for the Development of Science Cities Mikhail Kuznetsov. Reports on the development of science cities were presented by the heads of the urban districts of Fryazino, Chernogolovka, Koltsovo, and Obninsk.

In addition, a ceremony took place to award researchers from science cities of the Moscow region for their outstanding achievements in science. The celebratory events were attended by representatives from Dubna, Zhukovsky, Korolev, Protvino, Pushchino, Reutov, Troitsk, Fryazino, Chernogolovka, Biysk, Obninsk, Michurinsk, and Koltsovo.