On August 31, the traditional annual solemn meeting of the teaching staff of the National Research Nuclear University MEPhI was held, at which Rector Vladimir Shevchenko summed up the results of the past academic year and outlined the main tasks facing the university in the upcoming academic year. Among the key tasks, Vladimir Shevchenko particularly highlighted the need to increase the salaries of full‑time teachers.
Speaking about the tasks facing the National Research Nuclear University MEPhI, the university’s rector pointed out the need to eliminate imbalances in the university’s financial policy, which, in particular, should make it possible to reallocate funds from items related to maintaining infrastructure to increasing the salaries of the teaching staff. “Without increasing the remuneration of full‑time teachers — both young and experienced — we cannot continue to operate sustainably. The analysis we have carried out shows that we have enough resources to solve the problem by the end of this year,” the rector noted.
Vladimir Shevchenko also announced the planned changes to the university’s structure, in particular, to its main units — the institutes. According to Vladimir Shevchenko, there are several mandatory requirements that apply to an institute. First and foremost, an institute is a centre of financial responsibility in the sense that it must be profitable. “A successful university is a collection of successful institutes,” the head of MEPhI emphasized, noting that there should be no “donor” institutes or “debtor” institutes. The second condition is that the institute should have a clear structure of external partnerships — that is, organizations with which the institute cooperates, where its graduates go, and with which it has, among other things, financial relations.
The third task facing the university is to implement the next stage of digitalization, which would make it possible to make informed decisions based on data analysis, as is currently the case in large high‑tech corporations. An important task of the new stage of digitalization should also be the university’s final transition to electronic document management. Among other development areas mentioned in the rector’s speech are the launch of the ELF laser‑plasma facility and the construction of new accelerator facilities, the university’s proposal of its own Advanced Engineering School project, the expansion of MEPhI’s activities in the field of providing scientific services and selling the results of intellectual activity, as well as building cooperation with new partners.
At the meeting, greetings were read out to the staff and students of MEPhI from Alexey Likhachev, General Director of Rosatom, and Yuri Chikhanchin, Head of Rosfinmonitoring. Tatyana Leonova, Deputy Director of the Research Center “Kurchatov Institute,” congratulated those present on behalf of herself and the President of the Institute, Mikhail Kovalchuk, noting that MEPhI has become the main supplier of personnel for the Kurchatov Institute and that the Research Center’s need for personnel will only grow due to the emergence of new projects and platforms.
