Kazan University's Experience of Entrepreneurship Support Valued by Republican Authorities

The traditional joint annual review panel of the Ministry of the Economy and the Ministry of Industry and Trade was held at the UNICS Center on February 9th.

Before the panel Rector Ilshat Gafurov escorted the numerous officials around a small-scale expo that was arranged in UNICS (a KFU-owned sports and culture facility near the Main Building). Kazan University is now one of the key drivers of innovation in the region, so there was much to demonstrate.

President of Tatarstan Rustam Minnikhanov's first stop was at the Department of Development and Innovation. The Department now serves as a high-tech business accelerator, an innovation management school, and a co-working center for startups. It also is in charge of social entrepreneurship support. Rector Gafurov talked about the Department’s responsibilities and services.

Further along the way were several major projects that showcased cooperation with the local industry. Among them were “Pt(0)-based catalysts for silicon rubber mixes” (the Institute of Chemistry and Kazan Synthetic Rubber Plant), 3D modelling for viscous oil deposits (the Institute of Geology and Petroleum Technologies and JSC Tatneft), 3D bioprinting technologies (the Institute of Engineering, Republican Clinical Hospital, and Kazan State Medical University), and suppressive composts for soil pollution prevention (the Institute of Environmental Sciences). The Institute of Physics was also commended for its work together with Rohde & Schwarz and Rostec. President Minnikhanov later noted the University’s successful growth during the annual review panel meeting.

The University proposed to create an educational situation center that would analyze information about innovative and social entrepreneurship, create solutions and help the business community. President Minnikhanov found the idea interesting and agreed to discuss co-financing from the provincial budget. Vice-Rector for Innovation Andrey Artemyev added that the center can also become and educational platform for students of business and management.

KFU, as the meeting showed, is ready to be one of the leaders of the new federal initiative titled “Universities as Innovation Centers”. Moreover, its new “University 3.0” strategy is designed to address exactly that.