New high-tech industries are being created in Russia”
President of the Russian Academy of Sciences Gennady Krasnikov - about neuromorphic supercomputers, flights to Venus and other priorities of domestic science
“Fundamental research is carried out on a broad front”
Today, priority is given to machine tool building, instrument making, materials science, neural networks, genetics, microelectronics and other areas that will determine our lives in the near future. Also under our close attention are issues related to security - biological, food and information .
— What specific examples can you give of breakthrough Russian scientific projects?
- A lot of them. For example, we can name processors with non-Von Neumann architecture and memristor memory devices. Scientists are using them
to develop neuromorphic supercomputers. They will imitate the functioning of the human brain and perform tasks thousands of times faster than modern computers . Significant results
have been obtained in the field of processing large databases . They are important in technologies for calculating the properties of materials, modeling processes and creating digital twins of devices.
Much progress has been made
in the development of neural networks and machine learning . We expect
the efficiency of these systems to increase tens of thousands of times over the next decade. Intelligent control systems will be introduced at enterprises, and personal robots will help us in everyday life .
What successes can be noted in microelectronics and instrument making?
— It should be noted here that
new high-tech industries are now being created in Russia, such as the production of highly pure materials, electronic engineering and others. These are basic areas without which competitive microelectronics and high-precision devices are impossible.
The implementation of these programs will have an effect in the next three to four years . As a result, we will receive
a qualitative increase in our capabilities in these areas .
What scientific work is planned at the new Russian Orbital Station (ROS), the construction of which will begin in 2026?
— The station’s designers are attentive to the requests of scientists and reserve resources for scientific research. In particular,
the station’s energy will be approximately 20 times more powerful than on the modern Russian segment of the ISS . Thanks to this, for example,
ROS will be able to simultaneously image the Earth in different ranges - optical, ultraviolet, infrared and others - which will give a much more informative picture than that obtained by satellites.
Digital twins and personal robots are advanced technologies that are being developed by domestic scientists . In addition, the immediate agenda includes
flights to Venus, the study of distant galaxies and inclusion in the general work of scientific organizations in new constituent entities of the Russian Federation
Although there are also difficulties. They mainly affect the supply of scientific equipment. However,
for Russian science and industry, this is rather an incentive to develop its own base of laboratory equipment and the production of consumables for experiments .
Production of products for emergency medicine
— What areas can become driving forces for Russian science?
— Modern science is developing rapidly, and
often there is a factor of chance in discoveries. Therefore, fundamental research is carried out on a broad front so as not to miss the development of any areas. At the stage of applied development, tasks are formed taking into account how useful this research is for the development of specific areas in science and industry.
Today, priority is given to machine tool building, instrument making, materials science, neural networks, genetics, microelectronics and other areas that will determine our lives in the near future. Also under our close attention
are issues related to security - biological, food and information .
— What does the Russian Academy of Sciences do to ensure that scientific developments are in demand by industry?
— We used to live like in a big supermarket. They believed that any technology could be bought. This confidence played a cruel joke, because often company leaders knew better what was being done abroad than what was being created nearby - in a neighboring research institute. Today the situation has changed, and
issues of technological sovereignty are in first place. We see that domestic enterprises are interested in our research .
Therefore,
technological chains are being formed again - from scientific research to actual production. Many enterprises develop their own development departments , which work in contact with institutes. This process is important because
it expands funding for science from the commercial sector .
— What specific examples can you give of breakthrough Russian scientific projects?
- A lot of them. For example, we can name processors with non-Von Neumann architecture and memristor memory devices. Scientists are using them
to develop neuromorphic supercomputers. They will imitate the functioning of the human brain and perform tasks thousands of times faster than modern computers . Significant results
have been obtained in the field of processing large databases . They are important in technologies for calculating the properties of materials, modeling processes and creating digital twins of devices.
Much progress has been made
in the development of neural networks and machine learning . We expect
the efficiency of these systems to increase tens of thousands of times over the next decade. Intelligent control systems will be introduced at enterprises, and personal robots will help us in everyday life .
However, this process also has a downside, namely cybersecurity. Russian scientists have also achieved significant success in this direction.
— What scientific work is planned at the new Russian Orbital Station (ROS), the construction of which will begin in 2026?
— The station’s designers are attentive to the requests of scientists and reserve resources for scientific research. In particular,
the station’s energy will be approximately 20 times more powerful than on the modern Russian segment of the ISS . Thanks to this, for example,
ROS will be able to simultaneously image the Earth in different ranges - optical, ultraviolet, infrared and others - which will give a much more informative picture than that obtained by satellites.
Currently, scientists are forming programs for scientific activities at ROS. Much attention
is paid to biomedical research to prepare for deep space flights, materials science and 3D printing . The idea of creating
a separate astrophysical module is being considered .
“65% of parents would like their children to study science”
Are more and more young scientists coming into science? What measures does the RAS take to support them?
— According to VTsIOM data for October last year, today
65% of parents would like their children’s career to be related to science . This shows the qualitative changes that are taking place in our society.
The Academy strives to interest young scientists in research that will allow them to grow to world-class standards . We also strive
to provide young scientists with decent jobs with advanced scientific equipment . In particular, there is a program of the Russian Academy of Sciences and the Ministry of Education and Science, according to which
the so-called youth laboratories, where many employees are under 30 years of age, receive additional funding
