/ / News
17.10.2012

Two new R&D centers in Belarus in 2013

MINSK, 17 October (BelTA) – Two new research and development centers will be set up in Belarus in the next academic year, said Prime Minister of Belarus Mikhail Myasnikovich as he visited the Belarusian State Technological University on 17 October.

According to Mikhail Myasnikovich, universities and vocational schools train a kind of performance leaders these days. It is particularly true for material production. Therefore, he remarked, the education system should develop faster in order to train highly qualified personnel for the economy.

Mikhail Myasnikovich believes that the labor of the engineer, the production engineer, the people who work at factories has lost its shine a bit. It affects the pace of the scientific and technological advance as well as the innovation-based development of relevant enterprises.

“Therefore, fulfilling the President’s instructions, the government has decided to set up end-to-end education systems using two higher education institutions – the Belarusian State Agricultural Academy and the Belarusian State Technological University. The systems will start with the lyceum, vocational training and will end with the university training,” said the Prime Minister. He added that the training of a specialist should not be limited only to educational, laboratory settings. It is necessary to combine research activities with hands-on experience at industrial enterprises. It will considerably reduce the time the adaptation of a specialist in his or her position will take, Mikhail Myasnikovich believes.

“It will be a serious leap in scientific and technological advance. It will undoubtedly raise the competitive ability of the economy,” Mikhail Myasnikovich is convinced. In his words, the new R&D centers may sprout career enhancement centers. Retraining or additional training using intense curricula is very popular these days, remarked the Prime Minister.

He pointed out that the timber industry, the woodworking industry are developing rather fast in Belarus. Meanwhile, these industries lack specialists. “At today’s meeting we agreed that relevant departments will be created for the accelerated training of specialists using secondary school graduates or different profile specialists. Within three years it will allow turning out specialists with a contemporary-level university degree, who will possess the necessary knowledge and technology,” said the Prime Minister of Belarus. He explained that training specialists for the pulp and paper industry was a priority.

According to Mikhail Myasnikovich, contract-based education requires close attention. “If an enterprise sends a young man to get trained, he should be trained in a manner specific for the enterprise so that he could come back and work there effectively,” he said.

At the meeting the Prime Minister raised several topical issues that concern not only education but other spheres as well. In particular, he spoke about the lack of specialized machines to plant forests and collect forest seeds. Mikhail Myasnikovich instructed the Forestry Ministry and the Industry Ministry to work out the relevant system of machines in association with the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus. He added that it was necessary to design equipment for the woodworking industry.

The Prime Minister also pointed out the need to create catalysts for the chemical industry. Catalysts are extremely important, he stressed.