An Interuniversity Campus to be Built in Irkutsk
The Irkutsk Region has emerged as one of the winners in the fourth selection round of projects by the Ministry of Education and Science of Russia to create a network of modern university campuses. The initiative is part of the "Youth and Children" national project. Supported by the regional government, the project will be jointly implemented by three key universities in Irkutsk – INRTU, ISU and BSU.
Spanning nearly five hectares, the campus will feature facilities with a total area of 50,100 square meters. The infrastructure concept includes a 1,270-bed student hotel, an educational and laboratory building with a technopark (11,000 sq. m.), and a multifunctional sports complex (11,000 sq. m.).
The technopark will serve as the core of the campus. It will host several specialized competence centers, including "Energy of Siberia", "Aircraft Engineering", "Baikal Center of Artificial Intelligence" and the "Conveyor of New Molecules".
"The campus will become a platform for shaping a "new" research agenda focused on creating competitive products and developing comfortable infrastructure. This will contribute to the advanced development of the region and guarantee technological sovereignty in critical sectors of the country. It is a space of the future designed to address the modern challenges that both the country and the Irkutsk Region face” Governor Igor Kobzev says.
EN+ and RUSAL signed on as anchor industrial partners during the initial application stage, with Service TechnoProm joining the project later. The other potential partners of the project include Irkutsk Aviation Plant (a PJSC Yakovlev branch), Irkutsk Oil Company, SIBUR, Pharmasyntez, ALROSA, Polyus, the National Gas Company, Segezha Group, Rosatom, Sberbank, and Irkutsk Heavy Machinery Plant.
"The campus will serve as a hub for training highly qualified modern professionals and launching major technological projects alongside industrial partners. These partners have already confirmed their readiness by submitting requests and helping shape the campus's product line, which will increase the share of high-tech industries in the region. We express our deep gratitude to Governor Igor Kobzev, the Government of the Irkutsk Region, and personally to Natalia Dikusarova for their tremendous work on this application. I would also like to specifically thank Oleg Deripaska, as well as Sergei Ten, the State Duma deputy and Sergei Brilka, the Senator, for their involvement" Mikhail Korniakov says.
The development of design and engineering is scheduled to begin in early 2027. The coordinator of the project is Sergey Anosov, the Vice-Rector for Campus and Corporate Management.
In total, 19 campus projects across 17 cities were selected during this competitive round, including Blagoveshchensk, Irkutsk, Kazan, Kirov, Konakovo, Lipetsk, Moscow, Obninsk, Omsk, Orenburg, Rostov-on-Don, Rybinsk, St. Petersburg, Tula, Cheboksary, Cherepovets and Yalta.
Combined, these new projects will span about 2 million square meters, provide 29,000 places for living and require 474 billion rubles in funding.
Following a mandate by President Vladimir Putin, at least 40 modern campuses are to be established across Russia by 2036. Currently, 25 projects in 23 regions, covering around 3 million square meters, are at various stages of implementation. This broader plan includes the construction and renovation of 123 major facilities, such as lab buildings, dorms, and sports complexes. To date, 41 facilities with an area of more than 500,000 square meters have already been commissioned, which has created almost 12,000 additional accommodation places for students.
