The plenary session of the Frontiers of Progress Skoltech conference, held May 22-23, shed light on the delicate balance between replacing foreign technologies and achieving scientific and technological breakthroughs based on Russian basic research findings. Participants agreed on the importance of supporting and conducting advanced research and the crucial role of selecting priority areas in science and technology policy. Artificial intelligence came up most frequently in this context.

Presidential Aide Andrei Fursenko, who moderated the session, invited the participants to share their views on the optimal allocation of national resources for technology development from the perspectives of the government, business, and academia. He described attempts to reduce the technological lag through reverse engineering as a no-win strategy: “No defensive tactic wins a battle.”

The participants agreed that a breakthrough is more likely to come from newer fields, such as artificial intelligence. According to Sberbank President and Chairman of the Board Herman Gref, advances in AI could accelerate progress in other areas. “How should we compete with countries that have vastly larger markets and invest dozens of times more money in science and technology?” Gref reasoned. “The last thing we should do is copy others.”

Skoltech President Alexander Kuleshov ardently supported this idea. “We must do our own thing. Skoltech’s all-time slogan is ‘We’ll do it ourselves,’” he said, winning applause from the audience. “From the very beginning, we at Skoltech have tried to build a team that values your work — applause is something all of us need.”

Russian Minister of Science and Higher Education Valery Falkov emphasized that a research university’s connection with industry is key to reaching the cutting edge of science and technology: “When industry invests in research and establishes specific engineering projects for students and professors, the quality of education is transformed.”

Viktor Vekselberg, the chairman of Skoltech’s board of trustees, explained that import substitution and technological leadership are two separate tasks: “Global leaders have stopped sharing technologies with us. I believe we have succeeded in replacing them. By solving the issue of import substitution, we address technological sovereignty. Yet the challenge to attain technological leadership has to be faced.” He added that the areas for possible breakthroughs should be properly prioritized.

Rosatom CEO Alexei Likhachev called for the independent development of exploratory basic research as a means of winning the technology race with limited resources. “I believe that we should conduct basic research independently. This will help us win the race, not head-on, but in a way that reflects the Russian character,” Likhachev noted, recalling Kulibin, the famous Russian amateur inventor, and the protagonist of Leskov’s “Lefty” — an illiterate master craftsman.

RAS President Gennady Krasnikov agreed that trying to catch up with others in a rapidly changing world, where science and technology policies must be formulated ahead of the curve, is hardly appropriate. “The connection between basic and applied research is needed more than ever,” he said, returning to the topic of selecting the most promising industries to support. “Each industry needs a program that specifies the tasks we need to address on our own.”

VEB.RF Chairman Igor Shuvalov noted that Skoltech is at the forefront of Russian education, “nurturing the talents that drive progress and technological advancement.” He said: “We see a symbiosis emerging between academic and corporate programs, with fundamental training in the exact and natural sciences going hand in hand with the humanities. I believe that competition between Russian corporate and academic programs will create new opportunities to cultivate proficiency in our focus areas, such as physics, chemistry, biology, and mathematics. This will help future graduates develop the skills necessary to embrace new technologies.”