Institutes of the Tomsk Scientific Center of the SB RAS signed the Charter of the Tomsk Big University

On November 19, during the meeting of the Tomsk Consortium of Scientific and Educational Organizations, Tomsk research institutes, universities, and MEPhI signed the Charter of the Big University. This document included the main principles of joint work and academic freedom as fundamental values of each partner.

The charter includes the most important scientific, educational, and organizational tasks, the solution of which will contribute to the formation and promotion of the international brand of the Tomsk Big University and Tomsk as the first city-university in Russia.

In his greeting to the participants of the signing, Minister of Science and Higher Education of the Russian Federation Valery Falkov noted:

“We consider the vector set by Tomsk to unite the efforts of research institutes and universities very important and necessary to achieve global goals in the modern world. The actions of the scientific-educational complex within the framework of the Tomsk Big University is a unique and demonstrative example. We can see the results of such consolidation. Tomsk universities have proven themselves worthy in the Priority 2030 project and have already received support from the government to build an inter-university campus and implement other projects”.

We have been creating the Tomsk Big University project together for several years, said Eduard Galazhinsky, TSU Rector and Chairman of the Board of the Tomsk Consortium of Scientific and Educational Organizations, at the charter signing ceremony. We started to work together, and this already gave a result. This year, the members of the Big University have won several major projects with a total budget of more than three and a half billion rubles. Moving forward together, we can put together large-scale stories useful for the Region and the country.

Among the heads of scientific institutions of the Tomsk scientific center of the SB RAS, the signing of the charter was attended by Alexander Vosmerikov, Director of the Institute of Petroleum Chemistry of the SB RAS, and Ilya Romanchenko, Director of the Institute of High Current Electronics of the SB RAS.

This event is a landmark not only for the Tomsk region but for Russia. All Tomsk universities and research institutes, as well as the Seversk Technological Institute (a branch of the National Research Nuclear University "MEPhI") have combined their competencies to implement major national and international projects at a qualitatively new level, said Alexander Vosmerikov.

Priority 2030 was one of the first breakthrough results of the Big University. The signing of the charter will coordinate the actions of all participants more successfully, giving their activities a competitive spirit because each institution wants to bring something meaningful and significant to the Big University. Undoubtedly, cooperation between universities and institutes will become even more intense, said Alexey Markov, Acting Director of the Tomsk Scientific Center of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences.

According to the signed charter, the participants are committed to consolidating their efforts to form an ecosystem of the city-university and ensure the quality of education in Tomsk at the world level. In particular, universities and academic institutions that are part of the Big University intend to create and implement joint educational programs at all levels (undergraduate, graduate and residency) and interdisciplinary programs for future professions.

The partners will work together to improve the comfort and safety of the infrastructure for studying, working, living, and leisure of students, graduate students, and young scientists. One of the largest joint projects not only for Siberia but also for Russia will be the construction of a new campus (a unique scientific, educational, and technological innovation platform). The signatories of the charter will coordinate strategic decisions affecting the development of the entire Tomsk scientific and educational complex, which acts as a development driver of the Region.

The Charter is a very important step on the way to creating the Tomsk Big University, said Governor of the Tomsk Region Sergey Zhvachkin. This global integration project united all our universities and academic institutions. It is symbolic that this historic document was signed on the Day of Higher Education Teacher, which is celebrated in Russia for the first time today. Today we think about the future of the Region, and this day is related to the development of the scientific and educational complex.

Today Tomsk is recognized as one of the 100 most comfortable cities in the world for students. The universities and research institutes of the Big University, which have sealed their cooperation intentions by charter, will work to improve this status so that Tomsk will become one of the world s best cities for higher education.