The ideological positioning of the universities found in Russia is extremely hampered, since we really have no clearly defined ideology. I can hardly think of even one major university where its heads do not agree with the position voiced by state officials at the highest level, just as I can hardly imagine a rector who is publicly against modernisation. When something other than the term ‘modernisation’ becomes the key word of political rhetoric in the country, there will also not be any opponents to that concept...

Innovations always come from universities. Small enterprises working out many interesting new innovative products would have never arisen had they not been surrounded by a strong university environment. Tomsk is a unique city for Russia; it has a strong complex of scientificeducational institutions, as well as many scientific and academic universities of the Tomsk Scientific Center...

Universities have always been both a moving force in terms of social development and an obstacle hindering its advancement. I would say that at present, universities are, at the same time, a moving force in terms of the natural sciences, but present more of an obstacle with respect to the humanities and social sciences...