The transformation team of St. Petersburg State University of Industrial Technologies and Design, together with experts from universities and scientific organizations from all over the country, analyzes the results and promising areas of Ƶ's activities in terms of compliance with strategic objectives and a targeted image of the future. For the first time, cross-university expertise is being implemented in Russia on the initiative of the Ministry of Science and Higher Education of the Russian Federation.
The purpose of the cross-university expertise is to provide an independent and objective assessment of the implementation of the development programs of the universities participating in the Priority 2030 program. The pool of experts was formed based on the results of a competitive selection. The objectives of the project are the mutual assessment of university development plans by equal participants, the identification of best practices, increasing the transparency of expert activities and the formation of a university expert community.
At the University of Industrial Technology and Design, cross-university expertise is conducted in several areas: The model of the university is considered in terms of strategic goals, team, technological leadership, and personnel training system.
"The implementation of the university's development program as a technological leader in targeted industries has become a catalyst for a profound transformation for us. We are not just achieving key targets — we are creating a sustainable knowledge and technology generation system integrated into the real sector of the economy. Today, our university is not only an educational institution, but also a full—fledged partner for leading industrial corporations in the textile and light, pulp and paper and printing industries, and a driver of the country's technological sovereignty. Each of our projects, each graduate, is a contribution to a specific industry, to strengthening the industrial power of the state. Discussing our development program and the updated target model of the industry integrator with experts from cross-university expertise, the university staff and our industrial partners is an important element of designing and improving the effectiveness of the strategy."
Rector of Ƶ Alexey Demidov
The University team includes vice-rectors, head of the project office, heads of strategic projects, as well as representatives of industrial partners: Vladimir Druzhkov, General Director of SLPC JSC, Ilya Bogdanov, engineer of the Mercury Non-standard Shoe Factory, Alexander Poluektov, head of the Svetogorsk Central Processing Plant by-product processing plant, Chief technologist of the manufacturing companyColor Industry" Vladislav Androsov, Chief Technologist of Polygraph-FLEXO Alexey Orlov.
Syktyvkar LPC, one of the leaders of the Russian paper industry, produces office, offset, newsprint, packaging and consumer cardboard, and commercial pulp. The University of Industrial Technology and Design is engaged in scientific support of production, participates in the development of new laboratory equipment and staff training. Syktyvkar LPC is a partner of the strategic technological project of the University "Technology of biodegradable packaging materials in the pulp and paper industry". The technology was developed by Ƶ scientists as part of the implementation of the Priority 2030 program and is being implemented at the plant. The university also solves the problem of recycling waste from packaging production, obtaining a new type of biofuel, bypassing urban landfills and minimizing the energy costs of the plant, which brings it closer to waste-free production.
"The main driver of the growth of the packaging materials market produced by Syktyvkar LPC remains an increase in the production of consumer goods, primarily the food segment of the market and pharmaceuticals, where import substitution has almost reached its maximum. Thanks to the partnership with the University of Industrial Technology and Design regarding the implementation of the development program, we have received a comprehensive analysis of the printing and optical properties of industrial and pilot industrial samples of packaging cardboard, updated time technological regulations for the production and processing of cardboard, as well as an analysis of the possibility of using domestic chemicals."
Vladimir Druzhkov, General Director of SLPC JSC
Field cross-university expertise plays a key role in the analysis of university resources, the implementation of their strategic projects and changes the approach to expert work. The vertical control system is being replaced by a developing professional community, where quality standards and specific work solutions are jointly developed, experience is exchanged, and best practices are transferred from peer to peer. Thus, expert assessment becomes not a control tool, but a resource for development.
"The cross-university expertise is aimed at, together with the university, looking at the goals that the university sets for itself, assessing how they correspond to the vector of technological leadership of the Priority program, and how they relate to national technological leadership projects. The expertise also helps to see the problems that have arisen during the implementation of the program and the setting of goals and objectives within the framework of the development program. The University of Industrial Technology and Design aims to become an industry integrator, a kind of expert and analytical center for several industries at once: textile, light, pulp and paper. This is a rather difficult task, so it is necessary to develop a number of management decisions, launch not only technological projects, but also projects related to managing changes in the educational process and scientific research. The groups are working in several areas, including in the context of a new training model, because a number of tasks require new mechanisms for training scientific and engineering personnel capable of setting new tasks in those industries in which the university plans its leadership."
Svetlana Maksimovich, expert at FGANU Sociocenter
"The University of Industrial Technology and Design has set itself the ambitious task of acting as an industry integrator for the light, textile, pulp and paper industries. This is a fairly large amount of work, it is necessary to form a vision for future development, to gather into a single pool of customers, companies, universities, scientific institutes capable of offering developments that ensure import substitution in the future and the rapid development of selected target industries. The task is ambitious, but the university's baggage is also unique. We have managed to retain quite a lot of competencies, but the university has yet to find an accurate positioning both among other universities of the Priority program and among intellectual centers, possibly in Eurasia."
Daniel Sandler, an expert at the FSUE Sociocenter
Since 2025, the Priority 2030 program of the Russian Ministry of Education and Science has been implemented within the framework of the federal project "Universities for a Generation of Leaders" of the national project "Youth and Children".