Translation. Region: Russian Federal
Source: Government of the Russian Federation – An important disclaimer is at the bottom of this article.
At the Government Coordination Centre, Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Chernyshenko presented the results of the selection of the third wave of research centres in the field of artificial intelligence (AI). The winning universities and research organisations will receive grants to conduct research and create breakthrough world-class industry solutions.
Dmitry Chernyshenko reported that the winners were HSE University, Innopolis, ISP RAS, ITMO University, MIPT, Skoltech, and for the first time, Lomonosov Moscow State University will be involved in the research.
“Each of the seven selected third wave centers will receive 676 million rubles for two years – until 2026 – to conduct fundamental research in the field of strong, trusted, multi-agent AI. The total amount of budget funding will be 4.7 billion rubles for all centers,” he added.
The Deputy Prime Minister noted that President Vladimir Putin and Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin set the task of focusing on fundamental areas in the field of AI and conducting research in other areas, but with the mandatory use of AI technologies. Within the framework of the federal project “Artificial Intelligence”, the operator of which is the Ministry of Economic Development, a grant competition is being held for research centers.
“Investments in AI research centers have already proven their effectiveness. The first wave of centers dealt with issues of strong, trusted, ethical artificial intelligence. The second wave is dedicated to industry research for medicine, transport, industry and smart cities. These centers create almost half of all Russian scientific groundwork in AI. President Vladimir Putin set the task of publishing at least 450 papers at top-level conferences in the field of AI in the world by 2030 – A*. We see that investments are achieving results, so the Government continues to develop such support programs,” Dmitry Chernyshenko emphasized.
He added that an important foresight session on fundamental and exploratory research in the field of AI was held in 2024. At it, leading Russian scientists with a global reputation identified 10 priority areas for the development of science in the field of artificial intelligence in the coming years.
“These areas are a strategic benchmark for public investment, which, as a rule, also attracts off-budget investment. The selection of the third wave was carried out taking into account these priorities, and we plan to conduct further research in Russia in relation to them. The Ministry of Economic Development and the Ministry of Education and Science are also preparing a unified research program in the field of AI, which will consolidate this logic,” concluded Dmitry Chernyshenko.
He asked the selected centers to support the winners and prize winners of the AI Olympiads, who also took part in the event.
A total of 19 applications from centers from 10 regions of Russia were submitted for selection. The centers’ programs state the key areas of foresight in fundamental and exploratory research in the field of AI, conducted in 2024: agent/multi-agent systems, elements of strong AI, fundamental and generative AI models.
“Artificial intelligence today has a significant impact on the development of many sectors of the economy. On the instructions of the President, the national strategy for the development of AI until 2030 is being implemented. Support for the activities of research centers in this area is a critically important tool that allows us to create a research base for the comprehensive development of sovereign AI in the country,” said First Deputy Minister of Economic Development Maxim Kolesnikov.
Grigory Bokov, Director of the Research Center for Artificial Intelligence at Lomonosov Moscow State University, said that the goal of their center is to develop modern artificial intelligence technologies, including in the direction of so-called general artificial intelligence, capable of solving a wide range of problems, just as humans do.
“We combine deep scientific research with applied developments that can already be in demand in the economy, industry, medicine and education. The project involves specialists from seven departments of Moscow State University, including leading Russian and foreign scientists,” he said.
Expert support for the competitive selection and subsequent support for the implementation of research center activity programs is provided by the Strategic Agency for Support and Formation of AI Developments (SAPFIR), a project office created on the basis of the Skolkovo Foundation.
“In the next two years, SAPFIR will focus on supporting research centers to achieve all their goals in both the scientific and commercial parts. Their activities will contribute to the creation of a technological reserve for Russia in the field of artificial intelligence, as well as attracting and developing the best personnel in the country,” said SAPFIR Director Tatyana Soyuznova.
Let us recall that in 2021, the first wave of research centers in the field of AI was selected as part of the federal project “Artificial Intelligence” (national program “Digital Economy”). Six scientific and educational organizations received state support totaling more than 8 billion rubles. Their work resulted in 165 articles in leading scientific journals, 206 publications at top-level conferences, as well as the creation and support of 15 frameworks. Together with 36 industrial partners, including Sber, Yandex, MTS and other large companies, the centers have already implemented about 50 applied solutions.
As part of the second selection wave, support was received by industry AI centers based at leading universities and research centers, such as the N.N. Blokhin National Medical Research Center of Oncology, S.P. Korolev Samara University, and others. These centers focus on training industry specialists, creating databases, and supporting specialized frameworks. RUB 3.8 billion from the federal budget has been allocated to finance their activities in 2023–2026.
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