German Expert Calls Science Cities Russian Peculiar Way

The concept of the formation of science cities is a peculiar way Russia is following, and I don't know whether it will be a success," believes the head of the Friedrich Ebert Foundation's office in Russia, Peter Schulze. Mr Schulze was making a report on Russian-German scientific-technical cooperation at the opening of the Russian-German seminar, Science Cities as a Basis for Industrial Development of the Moscow Region: problems and the potential of research cooperation between Russia and Germany. According to Schulze, experience proves that the closer research and development are to industry, the faster and the more efficient know-how projects are put into practice. He referred to the experience of the USA where relevant discussions were held 20-30 years ago. "Know-how projects were numerous, but industry could not put them into practice because there was a large gap between science and production," he added. A peculiar "seamless" transfer of R&D to industry is needed, Schulze concluded.