On January 14, NES Rector Ruben Enikolopov took part in the expert discussion “University in Time of Change: Contribution to the Development of the City, Region, Country”, held within XII Gaidar Forum. The session was moderated by Sergey Zuev, Rector of Moscow School of Social and Economic Sciences. The participants included: Dmitry Afanasiev, Deputy Minister of Science and Higher Education of the Russian Federation; Vadim Volkov, Rector of the European University at Saint-Petersburg, and Alexander Kuleshov, President of the Skolkovo Institute of Science and Technology (Skoltech).
The first part of the discussion was dedicated to the significance of a modern university for the socio-economic and cultural processes. “With the development of society, the role of universities becomes more and more complex. Modern universities are more than just education institutions. They generate new knowledge through research and foster application of this knowledge in the economy via patent registration and launch of startups. Universities provide for an increase in labor productivity by improving the quality of human capital. And their social role is associated with the development of local and global communities, establishment of social ties,“ Ruben Enikolopov noted.
While talking about universities' contribution to the economic and social development, Alexander Kuleshov mentioned the project realised by NES and aimed to assess the impact of Skoltech on the country's economy. He also noted that most such research looks at the "direct" economic results, while in assessing systemic and long-term consequences of economic and socio-cultural nature, experts have not yet come to a single formula.
Partnerships between universities became another topic of the discussion. "Interactions between universities, particularly small and unique ones, are based on the common DNA which is academic freedom, and the goal of such collaborations is to expand professional and life opportunities for students, who will be well-versed in technological innovations and at the same time possess a great understanding of a human and society," NES Rector said.
Experts agreed that partnerships between universities can have a great effect, when participants can complement each other in different areas in order not only to give students academic freedom, but also to implement large network projects, including projects with private companies and at the interregional level. According to Dmitry Afanasyev, such partnerships will enrich the students' experience, give them the opportunity to dive into different areas, and more consciously build their educational tracks.
The video of the discussion is available here.
