Том 94, № 3 (2024)

The article was prepared on the basis of a report that the author delivered at the Scientific Session of the Russian Academy of Sciences on December 12, 2023. The main attention is paid to the issues of training highly qualified personnel who should ensure the accelerated technological development of the country. The role of leading universities and the Russian Union of Rectors in personnel training is emphasized, and the discrepancy between the structure of graduating specialists and the needs of the national economy is noted. Particular attention is paid to the interaction of Moscow State University and other large universities with the Russian Academy of Sciences – interaction that allows for high-level training and helps to retain graduates in the regions.

Global navigation satellite systems, including the Russian GLONASS, have become an integral part of society’s life. The article discusses the basic principles of navigation, the composition of the space complex, the errors in determining the position of the consumer and methods for improving the most important characteristics of the system, primarily accuracy. Special attention is paid to the state and development of the orbital grouping of the GLONASS system as its key link and to improving noise immunity, critical for any dual-use satellite system, the principles of creating integrated inertial navigation systems are given. Proposals are made to counter threats related to coordinate-time and navigation support by creating a consortium of BRICS countries.

The article presents the results of the implementation of three strategically important programs for the creation of aircraft gas turbine engines of the new generation PD-14, PD-8 and PD-35 for the purpose of solving the issue of ensuring the technological sovereignty of the Russian Federation in civil aircraft engine manufacturing. Considered are developments which are priority for civil rocket engineering, namely: launch vehicle with a reusable returnable first stage and a fully reusable single-stage launch vehicle for vertical take-off and landing made using multilayer composite materials. Provided are new technologies for implementation by short-pulse laser fusion of ceramic coatings based on boron carbide with microhardness up to 43 GPa and bismuth-alloyed surface layers of steel with unique tribotechnical characteristics: excellent wear resistance and ultra-low dry friction coefficient (up to 0.03). To ensure technological sovereignty in metallurgy, presented are Russian innovative technologies for the repair and production of new mold copper plates of continuous casting machines with wear-resistant composite coatings and recovering of the thickness of copper plates by multipass friction stir lap welding.

Structural and technological shifts and trends of the Russia economy modernization are considered within the context and as a strategic response to the four major challenges to the national security and sustainable development. The challenges above include: demographic (population shrinking and ageing) issues, technological lagging and dependence on imports; shortage of funding and loopholes in R&D organization and policy; and spatial development issues. “Mirrored” and counterbalanced to these the four major policy improvements currently implemented by the national government or nascent within research programs and projects carried out by the Russian Academy of Sciences’ institutions are introduced and contemplated. These involve (1) qualitative changes in the labor market structure and employment and imperatives of labor productivity growth as a damper to demographic burden on the economy; (2) shifts in the sectoral (industries), production and technological structure of the economy led by the accelerated development of manufacturing in late 2022-2023; (3) qualitative improvements in the R&D and science policy using the valuable past domestic and modern foreign experience in organization and management of disruptive (ambitious) research projects; and (4) balanced spatial development policy and its current and future major turn to eastwards.

The article, based on the materials of the report at the general meeting of RAS members, examines the scientific provision of priority technologies and technical means that are necessary for the development of the agro-industrial complex of the Russian Federation. The main efforts of scientists of the Department of Agricultural Sciences of the Russian Academy of Sciences are aimed at increasing soil fertility, preventing desertification and land degradation, obtaining productive plant varieties and animal breeds based on the latest genetic technologies, creating effective vaccines and plant protection products, developing automated and robotic technical means for crop production and animal husbandry, producing functional safe food products, forming economic models development of agriculture.

Currently, the problem of biological safety is extremely relevant for all countries of the world due to the expansion of the spectrum of real and potential threats caused by exposure to dangerous agents of biological nature. The pandemic of the new coronavirus infection has clearly demonstrated its vulnerability to the world. The inevitability of the occurrence of future epidemics necessitates the introduction of scientific developments in the field of creation and improvement of methods for amplification of nucleic acids, identification of pathogens using next-generation sequencing, genome editing technologies, etc. It seems advisable to study the reactions of the immune system to recombinant microorganisms containing genes for stimulators of the innate immune response in order to develop platforms for the creation of universal vaccines active against a wide range of pathogens. Based on the analysis of genomes and transcriptomes, it is possible to identify targets (including RNA targets destroyed by RNA interference) that are most promising for the treatment and prevention of new and recurring infectious diseases. The development of an integrated approach to the implementation of the genomic and epigenomic epidemiological surveillance system, taking into account the latest achievements of fundamental research in the field of virology, immunology, and biotechnology, will make a significant contribution to ensuring the biological safety of the Russian Federation.