Fizteh in the future

Discussions about the future of science in Russia are carried out very actively, although they mainly talk about the future of education or academic institutions. However, the unity and interaction of the three components - education, academic science and business seems important. Some of our universities have attempts to such interaction. Among them are the Moscow Physics and Technical Institute. A three-hobby talks with a person who combined all three hypostasis,-a doctor of technical sciences Andrei Ivashchenko , the head of the Center for Living Systems of the MFTI, a member of the Supervisory Council of Fiztekh and a member of the board of the unique organization-Fizteh-Ssouz.

- Andrey, tell me, how did you come to Fizteh?

- After school, I wanted to go to the biofac. My parents are chemists, therefore, of course, my father wanted to continue the family tradition and expected that I would act in Mendeleevsky. We lived in Dolgoprudny, before the introductory exams for insurance, it was necessary to once again go through physics and mathematics, and, of course, the tutor was from a physical education - there was nowhere to invite more. So I drew attention to the MIPT, and when I learned more about him, I realized that getting there was a difficult and very honorable task. And there is interesting! I was very impressed by the originality, the unusualness of MIPT, its constant innovation, or something ... The faculty was also chosen quite simply: at school I was engaged in a radio -delay, and at the MIFI I saw a faculty with the word “radio” in the title - “Radio Engineering and Cybernetics”, submitted documents there. And he did.

I will say right away - I never regretted my choice. What is phizteh? The need to obtain fundamental knowledge and a constant atmosphere of creativity, the opportunity to solve great scientific problems. The high bar of the requirements, outstanding scientists and teachers who really teach, and around-constant healthy competition. Fizteh is a unique opportunity for someone who wants to become a real scientist. All those who could finish Phiztech respect themselves.

-But today you are a businessman and a scientist, closely related to pharmaceuticals, biomedicine, biotechnology ... It is very interesting-how and why successful graduates of Fiztekh later come to Alma Mater? Everything returns to its own circles, right?

- Yes, life turned around in such an unexpected way. I graduated from Fiztekh in 1990, until 1995, like many novice entrepreneurs, I was engaged in computers, and then, when the profitability became very small, I left the business to younger partners, and he began to build international business in the field of living systems.

And in the fact that ultimately I again came to Fizteh, there is nothing surprising. This was facilitated by a number of factors. One of the giants of our science, the Nobel Laureate, academician Vitaly Lazarevich Ginzburg, by the way, for many years, who had been in the MFTs of the problems of physics and astrophysics, in his famous statements predicted the leading role in the XXI century. In addition, not everyone knows that Fizteh was in the USSR one of the leaders in the formation of the sciences of living systems, these works began here decades ago.

- That is, you did not go through science to business, like many physical education, but immediately to business?

- Yes, right away. I had science in parallel to business, from 1990 to 1993 I studied in graduate school, wrote and in 2004 defended in the Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology, the candidate dissertation “Western management methods and the specifics of their application in Russian reality”. Then he defended his doctoral on the topic “Innovative methods of company management” - no longer on Fiztekh. I tried to apply different mathematics to organizational systems. And I must admit that in the field of control no mathematics does not work at all. She describes any mechanisms and cars well, but when it comes to people and their behavior ... The only mathematics that more or less works is the theory of games, and that is very limited.

As for my own business, it has always been technological, but for me the implementation and technology was in the first place, and the generation of new knowledge in the second.

- And how did you return to Fizteh?

- Not at all empty -handed and only ideas. By this time, we have created the Himrar high technology center, which is developing innovative drugs, which has a sustainable international reputation. The Basic Institute of the Center is the research institute of chemical diversity, the history of which begins in 1991, today in its equipment is not inferior to similar institutions or units of the world's largest companies of Pharma and Biotela. We established constant business contacts with the leaders of the large farm. The very problem of creating new drugs is very wide and constantly includes medical and biological studies, biotechnology methods and much more. I note that these areas are not auxiliary, they exist and develop as independent scientific disciplines. They need to be engaged! And here we (if we talk about the country as a whole) still have something to strive for.

And somewhere since 2010, I began to tightly engage in the IFTI by the creation of the Biopharmiclaster "North". This is a non -profit partnership of physical education and a variety of biotechnological firms that are interested in the development of innovation in the field of living systems. The next step was Fizteh-Soiuz, the appearance of which was completely logical and timely-as a new non-profit association of graduates. The progress went ... IT -Schools saw that we were building our biopharmaceutical corps. We believe that here is the world trend, since now more than half of scientific publications in the world are in line with Life Science, and offered colleagues to make their cluster. And so it happened. It is now being built, and in a year and a half at the MIPT there will be an IT park. This, of course, is a great merit of Fiztekh graduates.

- If we are talking about living systems - how do you assess the prospects of the MIPT in the field of Life Science?

- If we count basic institutions, then in a large physical education, of course, there is a world -class science. And the assigned large -scale tasks will be achieved by us soon. If we consider only what is in the campus, i.e. Physically present at the physical education, then the first laboratories appeared three years ago, the Bi-Business Incubator opened two years ago, the Nobel laureate Barry Sharples came to open it, we are actively cooperating with it, we work together. The biofarm corps will be built only this year, it will begin to populate it in the fall. It seems to me that the planning horizon here is 3-5 years. During this time, a world -class science will appear in the physical system itself in the field of living systems.

Now we have two dozen laboratories. They are financed from various sources, created by various partners - foreign and Russian, including academic. If one third of them “gives coal” - according to existing world estimates, this will be a good result. Yes, other startups may not succeed, but it is very important here that there will be already formed groups, but the personnel solve almost everything ... It is not difficult to set new tasks. So-3-5 years.

However, there are already publications in high -rating international scientific journals, all important achievements are successfully patented both in Russia and abroad, all ideas are protected. If you look around, then in the organizational plan last year it was worse, which is generally clear. The directed structuring has now begun, the center of living systems on physical education has been created. Rector Nikolai Nikolaevich Kudryavtsev invited me to head him.

- What are the goals, objectives and functions of this center?

- This is the MIPT unit, to which everything belongs from the area of ​​the bioter - i.e. Both applied laboratories, and scientific. Of course, like any new thing is more, it has a lot of failures, overlays, but today it is already clear that everything is gradually happening. And one thing is pulling others. Work with a biofarmklaster began - Olympiads in chemistry went to Fiztekh. Olympiads came - and began to demand an increase in the level of teaching of chemistry. We have already got chemistry "for advanced."

- What would you like to add from yourself on the issues discussed?

- I want to touch on one very important problem here. In our activities to promote living systems, in the future, we are very counting on constant and fruitful cooperation with the institutes of the Russian Academy of Sciences. For our part, we are ready to do everything for such mutually beneficial cooperation. I have always been with great respect for the research of academic scientists. Let's remember what system existed in the USSR. Then the most important discoveries were made, as a rule, in academic institutions, then they entered applied and design institutes (in the role of which we can act today), where they were as close as possible to the conditions of industrial production, after which the industry produced products. It was such a debugged chain that then provided the country's high scientific and industrial potential. I know that, despite all the difficulties of recent years, in Russia there are institutions in our region that achieve impressive results, although they almost certainly have problems with the implementation of their discoveries and inventions. Why not do it together? We are ready.

-Then let's get back to the Fiztech-Soiuz and we will talk more about this unique structure-I have not met anything like that.

-“Fizteh-Soyuz” is still the result of a certain reflection. There was our initiative, there was an initiative of ITishnikov. And gradually it became clear that many graduates of Fiztekh, 40-50-year-olds held in life, have an internal need to help their alma matster. At the same time, there is no clear mechanisms to provide this assistance. Just make an enduum and start “giving money” - this approach does not work very much. But many want to help not only money, but also a much more valuable capital - their connections, resources, competencies. Any university is a fairly conservative structure. It is good if the graduate gets to the rector, and then Nikolai Nikolaevich will be able to direct his help to the right physical channel. And if not? Both the graduate and the rector are very busy people.

And then we decided - why not we form a certain structure that would organize graduates. Not a club in interests, but rather a certain Hab-interface, a USB port between successful physical education and MIPTs. It was organized by graduates, and we actually work with sherpas, guides. And each such graduate brings a whole layer of opportunities to the university and the graduate himself to the joy of doing something else, besides the main activity. After all, it is much easier to finance something close to each other.

The general idea is very simple. MIFTs still collects the most talented students, raises their level even higher, teaches them to physics and mathematics, and, most importantly, hard work, and then we see that a significant part of the basic departments of academic universities is not very alive. And some of the students are unclaimed in them. At the same time, the “physical system” itself is a unique educational invention, and abandoning it is stupid. Therefore, you just need to change the basic departments, leaving the "living" and adding new ones - from high -tech business.

Thus, we actually attach these previously “unclaimed” guys to the matter. Look, there will be a biofarm corps, and this is 11 thousand square meters. m, 500 people of scientists. That is, hundreds of graduates of Fiztekh will be able to engage in science, without leaving their native university. IT park is also about 2000 employees.

-And how are the relations between the “Fizteh-Union” and the leadership of the MIFT?

- They are interesting. This is not to say that they are completely simple. Since all participants in the process are undoubtedly personalities, they can have different points of view on the same things, something will be discussed. But this is normal! I am aware that we can sometimes even be a certain load for management. Because MFTi is still a university, his first business is good to teach students. And here we constantly generate some concerns, even useful. This is an additional load on deans, vice -rectors. There is even such a term - constructive conflict. But I am very far from using this word. We are all working together on the future of the Physics. So everything is interesting.

- And, finally, how do you see the future of Fiztekh?

-There is a Fizteh-XXI program, in which everything is strictly stated. Fizteh must prepare technological leaders for our country. And our task is to make these leaders be realized to the maximum - in Russia and for the good of Russia. How to do it? In the current environment, this can be done by creating a modern campus on a physical education. It is necessary that there is not only an educational environment, but also a scientific one. Part of the science will continue to develop at the basic departments that remained alive, and the part is in our campus. And the formation of science in the campus will allow you to form new requirements for education - as it has already happened with chemists. On the other hand, part of the scientists who make science in the campus will be taught by us. And the teaching of existing scientists is one of the fundamental principles of MIPT. So we need to create several institutions around the physical education - buildings, clusters, etc. Create a belt of corporate laboratories of various innovative enterprises, and then it all should develop and crawl to a large technopark. I sincerely believe that in ten years there will be such a Russian Palo-Alto. Not in the sense of the weather, but in the sense that it will be a very cool place - a university, and science, housing, and transport. Fiztekh here is like a spring that beats from under the ground, around which everything blossoms.

Alexey Paevsky,
Photo by the author