What is a flagship university? What does a flagship university of the region mean?

What is it and who will go there?

Many parents and their children graduating from school, when choosing a university, consider not only institutions located in their locality, but also in other cities. As a rule, these are large universities in Moscow, St. Petersburg and regional centers. Which of these universities are the most promising? Many people believe that Russia’s flagship universities should be chosen.

What is this program?

For several years now, the education system in our country has been in the process of serious reform. A significant place in this direction is occupied by a number of comprehensive measures to reorganize the activities of higher educational institutions. At the same time, the Ministry of Education and Science does its best to promote the creation of regional flagship universities, which are an association of educational organizations in order to form common training programs. According to representatives of the Ministry, this process is taking place voluntarily and is already bearing fruit.

Officials cite the reason for the merger of universities (sometimes of completely different profiles) as a decrease in the number of eleventh-graders, as well as the need to increase the authority of Russian higher education abroad. It is planned to form about 100-150 largest universities, where the best of modern innovations in the field of student education and the development of science will be concentrated.

What is a flagship university? According to the leadership of the Ministry of Education and Science, this is a regional state university, organized on the basis of the most successful organization through the merger with it of other educational institutions located in this region of the country. It is expected that such large institutions will become educational centers in which teaching, innovation, research and social activities will develop. Students will have the opportunity to study well, researchers will have the opportunity to work successfully, and partners and government agencies will have the opportunity to solve production and other problems.

To participate in the project of forming flagship educational institutions, universities of federal subordination are required to draw up an application in which the following points should be indicated:

• note your decision to reorganize the educational institution;
• outline the directions of work until 2020 and ways to achieve the goals;
• formulate a conceptual plan according to which interaction with a team of researchers and teachers will develop.

However, not all universities received the right to participate in the project. For example, Lomonosov Moscow State University and St. Petersburg State University cannot become flagship universities, and other large educational institutions that had already been consolidated before the new process of merging universities started were also left out.

There are currently 11 participants working within the program.

These are state technical universities: Ufa, Samara, Omsk, Kostroma, Donskoy, Voronezh, Volgograd.

And also State Universities: Tyumen, Siberian, Oryol, Vyatka.

According to experts, these largest universities will become the basis for the powerful development of the higher education system in the regions. They will also prevent the outflow of successful applicants to prestigious universities in St. Petersburg, Moscow, and Novosibirsk.

Also, the development of the regions will be facilitated by the fact that universities will be provided with an additional budget - 200 million annually during the project, that is, from one to three years. So far, the decision on such amounts of funding has been made regarding Vyatka State University, Kostroma Technological University and Orel Turgenev University.

At the end of the additional funding period, flagship universities will report on achieving their goals and switch to their own budget.

What goals must be achieved?

• For every hundred students, at least eight teachers with an academic degree are required.
• At least 100 thousand students must study at the flagship university.
• The annual income should be approximately two billion rubles.
• Students must be trained in at least 20 specialties.
• All scientific projects should receive funding of about 150,000 rubles.

Many experts actively support the idea of ​​​​forming flagship universities, but there are also opponents. For example, Levchenko, head of the administration of the Irkutsk region. In his opinion, such a reorganization should be available to any successful university.

Eleventh-graders and parents of today's graduates should decide for themselves which university to choose, taking into account all the prospects offered by current and planned reforms and reorganizations.

Among our readers there are probably applicants, students or their parents. You need to know - now universities differ not only in the level of teaching. But also a chance to receive one or another level of education in them - and maybe even complete education.

What is a flagship university?

In 2016, by order of the Ministry of Education and Science of the Russian Federation, “core universities” appeared in the regions. The new round of reform is intended to highlight “special universities” and improve the level of education outside Moscow.

To obtain the status, universities were required to submit a development program to the competition and meet the following conditions:

• budget - at least 2 billion rubles per year,
• the number of full-time students is at least 10 thousand people,
• a specific development strategy,
• increased requirements for scientific activity,
• promoting “socio-economic development of the subject of the federation”
• unification of two or more universities under one banner.

A total of 80 applications were received, of which only 31 were approved. A complete list of supporting higher education institutions can be found. All of them are already working on a new program for training personnel for the development of their own region.

What other universities are there?

The creation of flagship universities became the second step in the allocation of key higher-level educational institutions. In the mid-2000s, federal universities appeared in Russia.

Such a university should have been obtained from the union of all existing ones in the city: a huge cluster ensuring the development of the region. Such educational institutions exist entirely at the expense of the federal budget.

The next level is national research universities, which included Moscow State University and St. Petersburg State University. Now the latter have received funding separate from the entire education system.

Federal universities and national universities were unable to achieve the desired result: to increase the prestige of Russian education, its quality, and to improve the position of Russian science.

Therefore, universities have emerged with federal funding to get into the top 100 of the world's leading rankings (the so-called “5-100 Program”) by 2020. Those same flagship universities.

Federal, core, or?

The status of a flagship university implies promoting the “socio-economic development of a subject of the federation,” that is, training personnel for regional enterprises, so that talented applicants do not leave for Moscow and St. Petersburg,

However, everything is not so good. The existing 29 federal universities will receive billions of dollars in funding. Supporters will receive significantly less - they will receive about 100–150 million rubles for all programs. This is bad? This is better than nothing - the rest will receive exactly the same amount.

The modest funding of flagship universities was enough to create 40 basic departments and employ 2.5 thousand students in their specialty. Funny numbers. Despite this, it is planned that by 2022, 25% of undergraduates and 40% of undergraduates from the relevant regions will study at universities participating in the project.


Of course, no one will deny funding to the remaining state universities. But from the municipal budget.

“There are poor regions where support from the authorities is rather moral, and universities grumble that they have been given status, which means they will need to achieve certain goals and indicators, and whether the region will have the money for this is still unknown,” Deputy Minister of Education and science Lyudmila Ogorodova

Why is this really?

It turns out to be a rather interesting situation. Some universities received funding and the status of a federal university. Part of it is only approval to exist as part of an association of several universities under one banner.

At the same time, the role of the support institution is not very clear - they are assigned the same goals as federal universities. If there are both types of educational institutions in the city, you will have to organize races and divide development niches. Who will win is clear now.

Impossible tasks are already being set for flagship universities: research work per employee must be doubled. The number of publications in reputable journals has tripled. No budget increase, no funding. If you failed, you lost your status.


I think there is no need to remind about the shameful salaries of teachers, their meager numbers and the useless grant system. Merging universities will not improve the situation. In the case of similar specialties in the merged ones, it will even worsen, due to a reduction in the number of students (who bring the main income).

“We need to decide. Either we go for it (university merger), or we die quietly and proudly. There is no need to go out into the cold and frostbite your ears to spite everyone. We risk putting the entire education system on its side,” Governor of the Omsk Region Viktor Nazarov.

Where to go to avoid ending up in a closed university?

Thus, we can already talk about the impending death of most state universities. Only federal ones will remain afloat. The support ones will flounder for some time - and perhaps some of them will be able to survive.

According to the Ministry of Education and Science, there should be about 100–120 flagship universities in Russia. Other universities should turn into good colleges with a level of training, as a rule, no higher than a bachelor's degree.

What else: there will be clearly not enough funding for other things, but the numbers say that the main scientific work will be carried out in educational institutions with federal funding.


Readers may appeal to the existence of commercial educational institutions. However, among them there are not many worthy ones. And, remembering the stories of the recent closures of universities and the problems of pilots who received certificates in private schools, it’s worth thinking about.

Residents of the capital should hurry up - in a few years almost all applicants will be there. This means that even paid higher education places in master’s or postgraduate studies will become less accessible.

Today in Russia 33 universities have the status of “core universities”. Their development programs won the relevant competition and received budget funding. The first 11 flagship universities gained their status in 2016. In April 2017, the names of the new 22 flagship universities were announced.

11 flagship universities of the first wave

The first wave of the competition for flagship universities took place in October-December 2015. A total of 15 applications were submitted for the first stage of the competitive selection. The results of the competition commission of the Russian Ministry of Education and Science were summed up on February 1, 2016, and already in May 11 university development programs were approved.

Group 1 - the amount of financing for the implementation of the development program in 2017 - 120 million rubles;

Group 2 - the amount of financing for the implementation of the development program in 2017 - 80 million rubles;

Group 3 - implementation of the development program in 2017 is financed from own funds and co-financing.

22 flagship universities of the second wave

The second wave of the competition took place in March-April 2017. A total of 86 applications were submitted to the competition commission for consideration, which is almost six times more than in the previous year. The winners were 22 universities, which were divided into two groups, depending on funding conditions.

Group 1 - the winner of the competitive selection with the allocation of funding for the implementation of the development program (in 2017 - 100 million rubles);

Group 2 is the winner of the competitive selection without the allocation of funding for the implementation of the development program.

At the end of January, the expert council of the Russian Ministry of Education and Science approved 11 applications, from among those submitted by universities, for participation in the program for creating a network of flagship universities in Russia. According to the selection conditions, any higher educational institution of federal subordination could submit documents that had developed a development program based on a joint decision with other universities on its reorganization by affiliation (clause 3.2, subclause 7 of section 4 of the Regulations on the procedure for conducting competitive selection of educational organizations of higher education for financial support for development programs of federal state educational organizations of higher education at the expense of the federal budget; hereinafter referred to as the Regulations on the competition).

The program developers expect that the unification of the scientific bases of regional universities, their human and financial resources will make it possible to create a number of strong regional universities that could not only attract gifted students, but also train a sufficient number of specialists in the areas where the main employers operate. Moreover, for these purposes, each newly formed university will be provided with annual subsidies in the amount of up to 200 million rubles. for a period of one to three years. However, universities will also have to co-finance development projects in the amount of at least 20% of the volume of subsidies provided by the state (subclause 4, clause 5.3, clause 16.4 of the Competition Regulations). Let us recall that measures to consolidate universities were planned by the Federal Target Program for Educational Development for 2016-2020 (). The decision to hold the competition was made by the Minister of Education and Science of Russia Dmitry Livanov in mid-August last year ().

As a result of the competition, the creation of flagship universities was recommended on the basis of the following universities: Volgograd State Technical University, Voronezh State Technical University, Vyatka State University, Don State Technical University, Kostroma State Technological University, Omsk State Technical University, Oryol State University named after I.S. Turgenev, Samara State Technical University, Siberian State Aerospace University named after Academician M. F. Reshetnev, Tyumen State Oil and Gas University, Ufa State Petroleum Technical University.

However, not all winners will receive equal funding. The competition commission decided to divide them into two groups depending on the conditions offered by universities for the implementation of development programs. Thus, educational institutions classified in the first group will receive 150 million rubles in 2016. Those assigned to the second group – 100 million rubles each. The top three that can qualify for increased funding are Vyatka State University, Kostroma State Technological University and Oryol State University named after I. S. Turgenev (minutes of the meeting of the competition commission dated February 1, 2016 No. DL-5/05pr).

Reasons for the reform

When implementing the program, the Russian Ministry of Education and Science puts financial benefits for educational institutions at the forefront. It is expected that this reform will allow, in the current difficult economic conditions, not only not to reduce funding for the higher education system, but also to increase its volume by reducing ineffective spending, and it is specifically emphasized that teaching and scientific personnel will not suffer - they will save on administrative staff . The funds released as a result of the merger of universities will be used for teachers’ salaries, and additional funds allocated by the state will be used to implement university development programs.

Also, the Russian Ministry of Education and Science announces the right of the competition winners to implement educational programs at a new level. Thus, flagship universities will have the opportunity to participate in network councils for defending dissertations, with priority allocation of quotas for postgraduate and master’s studies at the expense of federal, regional and local budgets. In addition, newly established universities will have an advantage in selecting foreign students within the government quota for studying.

In general, independent experts agree with the arguments of the Russian Ministry of Education and Science. The head of the research group of the National University Ranking project identifies several of the most significant ones among the main motives for creating flagship universities. Thus, regional universities will be given a higher status, which means their position in the eyes of the population will increase. The factor of regional patriotism will work, and at the same time interregional competition will intensify. As a result, flagship universities will be able to play the role of a kind of anchor and social elevator for young people, and this will help minimize the migration of gifted young people from the regions, including abroad, the expert emphasizes. In addition, the analyst adds, granting the status of a flagship university does not in itself mean that the university will not receive an even higher status in the future. For example, it can receive the status of a leading classical university, which is enjoyed by Lomonosov Moscow State University and St. Petersburg State University - and this is another incentive for constant development and competition. Also, the expert adds, the unification of universities will make it possible to move from the current sectoral structure of universities to a normal academic system based on universities as diversified corporations of knowledge, meaning, science, technology, legislators of high living standards, creators of the future. Multidisciplinary universities will appear in large cities, around which public life will be built - as it should be, the expert concludes.

Universities that have received federal status have acquired the right to state support within the framework of development programs approved by the government (clause 2 of the Concept for the creation and state support for the development of federal universities, appendix to the minutes of the meeting of the interdepartmental working group on the priority national project “Education” under the Council under the President of the Russian Federation on the implementation of priority national projects and demographic policy dated September 29, 2009 No. AF-33/03pr). At the same time, these universities have not lost their scientific independence. In particular, they develop and approve their own educational standards, however, the rectors of these educational institutions are appointed by the government (Federal Law of December 29, 2012 No. 273-FZ “On Education in the Russian Federation”). It should be noted that Dmitry Livanov has repeatedly noted that the creation of flagship universities is aimed at the economic and social development of regions.

OPINION

Alexey Chaplygin, head of the research group of the National University Ranking project:

“The creation of flagship universities was another attempt by the Russian Ministry of Education and Science to reformat the sphere of higher education and science in connection with the development strategies of the regions and the country as a whole. By launching the program of flagship universities, the ministry tried to bring the model of organizing higher education in our country closer to the models adopted in developed countries. Transition from the sectoral management of universities to the management of universities will save resources, including managerial ones. Now, the Ministry of Education and Science of Russia, as the founder of hundreds of universities, has to deal with the operational management of a million-strong contingent of youth and a hundred thousand contingent of teaching and research workers, to the detriment of the strategic management of the entire system. universities will be managed by regional authorities, and this will in the future reduce their costs and allow them to focus on first-tier universities."

What are the terms of cooperation?

One of the main conditions for the merger of universities was its voluntariness, which is confirmed by the decisions of the academic councils of the joining universities. At the same time, in accordance with the terms of the competition, not all universities were able to participate in the competition. An exception was provided for 10 federal universities, universities participating in the "5-100" project - ensuring that by 2020 at least five Russian universities enter the top hundred of the world's leading universities according to the world rankings, as well as universities located in Moscow and St. St. Petersburg (clauses 3.3, 3.5 of the Competition Regulations).

In addition to the main goal of consolidating educational institutions, the Russian Ministry of Education and Science has provided specific targets that flagship universities will have to achieve by the end of 2020. These include, in particular:

• increasing the total number of students to at least 10 thousand students in each university;
• growth of university income to 2 billion rubles. and more;
• implementation of educational programs in at least 20 enlarged groups of areas of training and specialties;
• increasing the volume of research and development work per one scientific and pedagogical worker to at least 150 thousand rubles;
• the number of publications of the organization indexed in the information and analytical system of scientific citation: Web of Science (per 100 scientific and pedagogical workers) - should not be less than 15, Scopus (per 100 scientific and pedagogical workers) - no less than 20, etc. (Clause 5.4 of the Competition Regulations).

It should be noted that the performance of a number of competition winners already practically corresponds to the target, or even exceeds it. Thus, the total number of students of the Don State Technical University (hereinafter referred to as DSTU), studying full-time and at the expense of the budget in 2014, amounted to more than 11 thousand people. And the DSTU budget in 2015 already exceeded 2.5 billion rubles. At the same time, not all universities can boast of such indicators and government assistance will come in handy for them. The Russian Ministry of Education and Science plans to allocate 1.5 billion rubles for financial support for development programs of flagship universities. annually for the next three years ().

Almost all experts call the focus on the interests of the regions the main advantage of the program for creating a network of flagship universities. Another significant positive factor in the formation of a network of powerful universities, Alexey Chaplygin calls their possible contribution to the intellectual support of regional management, the performance of flagship universities in the role of think thank [think tanks]. – Ed.]. The expert also believes that strong and independent universities will contribute to the expansion of academic autonomy of universities and will lead to at least a partial restoration of normal academic life - with intellectual freedoms, the desire for creativity, etc.

In addition, Alexey Chaplygin calls an interesting aspect of the program its openness to industry and private universities, which can also take part in the competition. The analyst notes that a number of industry-specific transport and agricultural universities have become interested in the opportunity to join a large academic structure, but universities subordinate to the Russian Ministry of Health and Social Development, according to his data, are in no hurry to join the program.

OPINION

Igor Kovalev, rector of the Siberian State Aerospace University named after Academician M. F. Reshetnev:

“The creation of a flagship engineering and technical university will allow not only the Krasnoyarsk Territory, but also other regions, where similar scientific and educational institutions will also be formed, to meet new trends in the economy and work for the future. It is with an emphasis on the future that training will be organized at the newly formed university personnel and the development of scientific research, carrying out development work related to specific enterprises, participation in programs at the regional and federal levels, but always taking into account the needs of the region.

According to the draft university development program until 2020, we plan to significantly expand the profile of areas and specialties of research and graduate training. Meanwhile, we are faced with the primary task of identifying interdisciplinary directions in which we can develop.

The flagship university that we have to create is a university that will be focused not only on the large industrial enterprises that exist in the region, but also on existing small innovative enterprises. And this means that we need to build certain forms of cooperation with small businesses, and work on orders from small enterprises."

Despite the obvious advantages of the program, arguments are also given against its implementation. Thus, the governor of the Irkutsk region Sergey Levchenko called the competition of the Ministry of Education of the Russian Federation for the creation of a network of flagship universities a harmful proposal, which it is advisable to avoid. The governor considers plans to create a full-fledged university within two months unrealistic. Alexey Chaplygin, commenting on the governor’s words, admits that the program may lose support in a number of regions due to distrust in government initiatives. And equally, the expert believes, the negative background of the reform will be distrust of university administrations within the universities themselves. The program is perceived in many ways as a smokescreen for the forced merger of universities, the analyst concludes. Thus, he believes, it would be entirely possible to leave the possibility of obtaining flagship status to strong universities, which in the future could organically absorb other universities. But the condition on the merger of universities excludes this possibility.

The results of a study conducted by the Interfax Group also indicate that the idea of ​​merging universities is not very popular in society. Moreover, survey participants attribute their worries not to the idea itself as such, but to errors in its implementation. According to the survey results, only 16% of respondents are categorically against changes, and 19% of respondents completely accept the reform. At the same time, 65% of survey participants fear that the reform will stall due to administrative and financial problems.

There are also high risks of financial turmoil in 2016, given the already established federal budget and university budgets. Thus, Alexey Chaplygin notes the high risk of loss or untimely government funding for university property management. The analyst notes a high risk that not only those students who study on a paid basis, but also “state employees” will have to pay for the use of social facilities and laboratories, for access to optional educational programs, etc.

What needs to be done for the project to take place?

It is obvious that in addition to state will and administrative levers, which are of little use in the academic environment, it is necessary to use other mechanisms and technologies of evolutionary transformation. Experts suggest not to force the reform and to approach the issue of merging universities more carefully. Thus, Alexey Chaplygin recommends taking into account the unsuccessful experience of reforming universities, citing as an example the attempt to merge Tambov State University. G. R. Derzhavin and Tambov State Technical University. Then, according to the expert, the rejection of the idea of ​​merging universities, both among the university community and among the public, was caused by the excessive administrative pressure of the Russian Ministry of Education and Science on interested parties and its ignorance of their opinions. Moreover, the analyst notes, the logic of such a merger was obvious, but the emphasis on administrative levers did not justify itself, and now it is very difficult to persuade these particular universities to participate in the program.

Perhaps any reform in such a delicate area as education evokes a rather strong emotional response among representatives of the academic community. After all, indeed, we are not talking about some mechanically formed institutions - administrative units. Any somewhat serious university is also a complex organism with an established scientific and teaching staff, scientific school and traditions. It is obvious that it is impossible to approach the reform of educational institutions from a mechanistic position. On the other hand, as Alexey Chaplygin notes, achieving a high level of efficiency in the management of universities, a national network of higher education organizations, research and technological development is a tempting prospect.

One cannot fail to recognize the obvious benefits of merging small, and in some ways, underpowered universities within diversified universities, especially those receiving government support and orders from the state and business. But one cannot idealize and contrast the financial capabilities of a university with the quality of education and the level of science in relatively small educational institutions. Therefore, every decision to merge universities must be balanced and motivated, and most importantly, internally accepted by the teams of the merging educational institutions.

Recently, the Ministry of Education and Science announced the start of the next stage of regional higher education reforms, the first step of which is to merge the 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 being widely discussed throughout the country.

Statement

At the next meeting held by the Russian Union of Rectors, Minister D. Livanov said that the Ministry of Education and Science is beginning to unite 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 already been almost completed. The start of the second stage of reform program is planned for the very near future.

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

Reason for reform

D. Livanov also noted that more than twenty universities are potentially ready to merge. They will be supported in every possible way, both financially and organizationally, since this step is responsible and important for the country. Academic councils of universities, however, must independently make decisions on consolidation, since 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 eleventh-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 reforms

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

They see the main thing in the structural policy of higher education as the creation of flagship universities, into which narrow-profile research institutes and small universities will merge, 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 Y. 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 maintain a staff of full-time teachers, especially high-quality 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 one needs to be careful with consolidation of such a plan, since consolidation will not solve all the problems. And practice shows that in the world there are quite a lot of universities, although not large, but extremely strong, Harvard, for example, 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 university’s development. Will this monstrous synthesis ever be completed? In 2015, several more mergers were announced. MSPU is consolidating with MSGU - with the humanities, both universities - with their own glorious history, with their own path, with their own achievements. MATI merges with MAI - aviation with aviation-technical. Both universities, seemingly among the strongest, are not offended by the attention of applicants. Then why?

In addition, DGGU and TSU (Pacific State University), Orenburg University of Management (OGUM) and State University (OSU) merged. In Krasnoyarsk, the flagship university is the first federal university in the country - Siberian University. Back in 2006, the three largest higher educational institutions in the region merged into Krasnoyarsk State University. At the moment, ten such federal universities have already been created. The youngest is in Crimea, where seven universities on the peninsula were 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 of educational organizations. The participant in this competition will be any state federal university where a joint decision has been made in favor of reorganization through the merger of one or more universities. This decision must be confirmed by the academic councils of all educational institutions involved. Universities that are in the process of consolidation can also take part in the competition if the order for reorganization was issued later than June 2015.

Out of competition

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

In 2015, the legendary nuclear MEPhI left the 95th line in the world ranking (only for teaching physics, not in general) and jumped to 36th place, even surpassing Lomonosov Moscow State University. However, so far the experts of the Accounts Chamber have not established the effectiveness of the invested funds; not a single subsidized university in the Russian Federation (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 and called on them to try with all their might to avoid participation in this competition of the Ministry of Education and Science. He is confident that it is impossible to carry out a purely mechanical unification into a flagship university without serious consequences: both students and the regional scientific elite will certainly suffer.

S. Levchenko considers this type of experimental division of educational institutions “by grade,” ill-considered and obviously violent consolidation in the name of some mythical seven indicators supposedly capable of determining quality in the most complex process of education, incorrect and harmful.

Counter offers

In his opinion, all specialized and sectoral universities in the regions should retain the independence and identity that is currently inherent to them. S. Levchenko suggests, instead of a mechanical merger, a softer option - a corporate merger with autonomous management, in which conflicts of interest will be avoided.

The competition conditions should be revised, according to Deputy Governor V. Ignatenko. There should be the possibility of individual participation so that any individual university can become a supporting one, even if there is no need for unification, but it fulfills more than half of the indicators included in the terms of the competition.

Financing

Budget funding will support only three types of higher education institutions. The first type is those ten federal universities that were created in the districts of the Russian Federation. The second is national research institutes, of which only 29 have been approved so far in the country. This includes IrNITU, MEPhI and others. The third type is those same flagship universities in Russia that began to be created in 2015. By the end of 2016, plans include the final determination of those one hundred universities that will be authorized to become flagship universities. To obtain this status, you need a strategic development program, 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 per year. Plus, local authorities additionally finance what is provided for in the region’s human resources development program. Next, the flagship university will finance itself, but quotas for budget education and foreign students will be increased - at the expense of other educational institutions that do not have flagship status. Within five years, the flagship university’s program 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 earn at least 150 thousand rubles in research.
• The university's income is at least 2 billion rubles.