In the context of a mobilised economy and the solidarity of the population with this position of the state, there is no other option but to build relations with industry, paraphrasing the slogan "Everything for the front, everything for victory". That is, any research or development should serve the task of intensive technological development of the country. In Iran, this is exactly the case.
By decision of the government of the Islamic Republic, each large company must contribute up to 2 per cent of its annual budget to scientific research. This amount is then deducted in taxation. Russia has a similar but flawed mechanism. In Russia, VINKs (large vertically integrated companies) can also avoid taxes by transferring funds to the accounts of subsidiaries registered as research institutes.
In Iran, these payments go to the relevant Ministry, which announces a competition for development, and it is the universities that participate in it. The profile, rating, and experience are taken into account. However, companies also conclude contracts directly with universities.
"Only at the Department of Chemical Technologies of Shiraz University (Faculty of Petroleum and Chemical Industry) 53 research works have been successfully carried out over the last ten years. Some of the most demanded topics were "Improvement of reservoir pressure maintenance technologies, including waterflood systems", "Improvement of organic sediment control technologies", "Prevention of gas breakthroughs in oil rim fields". Customers - National Iranian Oil Company, National Gas Company of Iran, Ministry of Oil Industry", - said Dmitry Tananykhin, Dean of the Oil and Gas Faculty of St. Petersburg Mining University.
A significant number of contracts fulfilled at the Iranian university is due to the understanding of oil and gas companies of the necessity to carry out research and development works to improve the efficiency of technological activities. For each project, a team of researchers is formed, headed by a member of the relevant department - a leading scientist of the field. He organises the team from among younger colleagues, postgraduates and students, and, if necessary, has the opportunity to attract specialists from other organisations. Such a group necessarily includes a specialist in working with laboratory equipment necessary for the implementation of the declared project.
If the contract for the performance of research work is initiated by one of the university scientists, the university receives 14% of funds, the team - 81%, which are spent on travelling, purchase of equipment and salaries. If the initiator is the university, the university receives 17 %, the performers 78 %. In case of contracting for testing laboratory research - its amount is divided equally between the university and the executors. Consulting or educational services - 30 to 70.
Such conditions for higher education institutions are determined by the Government represented by the relevant supervisory bodies. This is due to the fact that the emphasis is not so much on the development of the university as on the technological progress of the state. On average, as a result of implementation of the results of scientific activity, the profit of companies increases up to 30%.
Shiraz University has 24 research centres and institutes. The scope of their activities includes the introduction of nanotechnology in the fields of environment, energy, design and production of various sensors, cosmology, gravity, stellar evolution, mechanical and aerospace engineering, increasing oil production, environmental research in the oil and gas industry and water recycling.
Government funding is channelled predominantly, into intra-university research grants. These come on top of salaries and can be spent at the discretion of the grant manager. For example, to pay for the work of students, postgraduates, third-party performers, or to purchase equipment needed for the project. The size of grants is individual and depends on many indicators, including the citation rate of publications. The main grant provider in Iran is the National Science Foundation of Iran.
"Evaluation of publication activity is based on three databases Scopus, Web of Science (WoS) and ISC Islamic Science Citation Index. In a year, an employee must have at least one publication in Q1-Q2 on JCR (WoS), or in the top 10 per cent of journals on SJR (Scopus). These high requirements for authors and journals are similar to those currently set at our Mining University," Pavel Tsvetkov, head of the St. Petersburg university's publications department, told Forpost.
He also specified that the Islamic Science Citation Index ISC is an analogue of the Russian RINC, but unlike it, as well as Scopus and WoS, ISC is a state database. Its data and rankings are one of the most important indicators in the allocation of scientific funding to universities in Iran. This is in spite of the fact that, according to teachers' feedback, the quality of publications in this database is low, besides, almost all the journals included in it are published in Farsi.
"There are 102 postgraduate educational programmes available at Shiraz University. The total number of postgraduate students is about 3500. Admission to postgraduate programmes is possible after obtaining a Master's qualification. Admission is based on the results of a written examination and an interview. At the same time, the option without entrance examinations is also possible. For this, the applicant must have an exceptional academic record. In the absolute majority of cases, the choice of a dissertation topic is dictated by the needs of industry. For example, oil and gas groups place on their websites the areas of research they are most interested in. The applicant sends an application to the company and, as a rule, receives financial support, but postgraduates do not receive scholarships, as is our custom," says Valentin Morenov, Associate Professor of the Department of Development and Exploitation of Oil and Gas Fields at Mining University.
After the thesis topic is approved, a postgraduate student needs to draw up a research plan. Approval of this plan is one of the prerequisites. No less important are the publications of articles in highly rated journals in co-authorship with the supervisor on the results of research. At least two articles in a Q2 journal, or one article in a first quartile journal, must be published.
"During the course of study, the postgraduate student must study at least six different subjects in the speciality. Only after obtaining the appropriate "credits" can one go on defence. At the same time, if the postgraduate student performs his research under the patronage of an industrial company, he needs to undergo two defence procedures - at the university and the company's scientific and technical council. In case of successful defence in both councils, the young scientist receives an additional one-time grant from the company, which receives the rights to the research results," Valentin Morenov said.
Hussain Mousavi, a postgraduate student of the Department of Oilfield Development, Faculty of Petroleum and Chemical Industry, Shiraz University, participates in the research project of Professor Eskruchi in parallel with his thesis research. The topic is "Acid treatment of bottom-hole formation zone of one of Iran's oil fields." The customer is the National Iranian South Oil Company. At this stage of development of oilfields even a small increase in permeability of the productive formation can increase the oil flow rate by almost two times. The project is designed for several years. A postgraduate student receives about one hundred dollars a month for his work. Not so little for a country where a litre of petrol in terms of our money costs three rubles (this price applies if you buy less than 60 litres a month, for fuel consumption above this limit you have to pay twice as much - six rubles). That is nine times cheaper than in Russia. And so it is with most groups of goods.
After the defence, the young scientist can continue his/her career in the scientific-educational environment or get a job in a company, most often in the company where the defence took place. It should be mentioned that the newly graduated scientist is obliged to work in Iran for three years or return to the state the amount spent on his/her training.
An example of employment is the experience of FARASAN GROUP. This is a holding of twenty factories that produce various pipes for pipelines, containers for aggressive media based on fibreglass, and rubber compounds. Here, in particular, they create housings for drones and missiles.
Around 50 former postgraduate students from Shiraz University are employed by the group's companies. After completing internships and successfully working on projects that the company delegated to the university, they came here as engineers. The basic salary is $600, but the prospect of growth is obvious. In a few years, an enterprising engineer can become the head of the enterprise. Like, for example, this lady here - the director. To the question of gender discrimination in Iran. Her salary is about three thousand dollars. And one more important remark - there is a lot of Chinese or European equipment at this enterprise, but it does not dominate. About 50 per cent of the machines and plants, as well as research instruments, are "made in Iran" from SANTAM. This is the result of import substitution programmes that are really working.
The Islamic Republic has a Laboratory Network for Strategic Technologies, which started its work in 2013, according to the order of the Vice President of Science and Technology of Iran. It includes laboratories of Shiraz University, such as the Water and Environment Laboratory of the Faculty of Chemical, Oil and Gas and Gas Engineering, the Synthesis and Environment Laboratory of the Faculty of Chemistry, the Soil Physics and Conservation Laboratory of the Faculty of Agriculture, and the Central Laboratory. The latter is equipped at the expense of the state with exclusive expensive equipment, the purchase of which by private companies and enterprises is not cost-effective and expedient. The purchase of foreign equipment, as well as components, standard solutions, reagents produced in Germany, Japan, France is carried out in the sanctions regime through intermediary countries such as Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Turkey and China.
But this analytical device, which performs atomic force microscopy, is already made in Iran. "Elecrospinning" for creating polymer fibres is also from here. Although, mainly Iranian companies are engaged in the production of testing equipment.
The laboratory, costing several tens of millions of dollars, has already practically paid for itself through third-party orders for research. At the same time, professors, associate professors, masters and postgraduate students, who conduct grant-funded research as part of their author groups, rent only 20 per cent of the standard price list.
On the basis of Shiraz University, an Innovation Centre has been established to help promote potentially successful start-ups related to the organisation of small and large companies in any field of activity. Both students together with their supervisor and external researchers work here. The first step is to fill in a questionnaire on the website, after which the proposed idea is preliminarily reviewed for relevance, competitiveness and need for the country, and recommendations for project adjustments are made. If the evaluation is successful, a budget funded by the state and the university is allocated.
ВAt the moment, the Centre has about 30 groups working at the Centre. Out of ten projects, three become companies and one becomes a long-term successful project. When successful projects continue to operate as companies, the university receives 3% of their income.
"The Shiraz Hub Innovation Centre is also operational here, established to strengthen and enrich entrepreneurship and innovation in the south by discovering, attracting and developing talented and active ideas and teams. The hub creates a link between academia and industry in the south of the country to accelerate the development of startups, businesses in the fields of digital health, e-learning, digital media, smart city and others. Industrial companies in Iran invest not only in specific academic research, but also in startups that subsequently leave the university in the form of independent legal entities. The university retains the right to retain up to 49 per cent in the share capital of the company that is established. Some firms rent space for their teams to develop ideas on the basis of the university. One example is Iran's leading mobile phone operator Hamrahe Aval. - Polina Kharko, a researcher at the Ecosystem Centre, explained the mechanism of the Centre's work.
Science is the Islamic State's favourite child. Despite the sanctions, it is of such a serious level here that Canada and Australia are opening work visas especially for Iranian scientists, flushing out young people engaged in research in the field of artificial intelligence. The state itself and private companies do not spare money for development, realising that in the global race with weights on their feet in the form of sanctions, there is only one chance to win and survive - technological development. And this, in turn, gives rise to a huge interest in co-operation with Russia. The country, which will give a head start to any competitor in oil and gas and mining research, which are fundamental for Iran.
The delegation of Empress Catherine II Saint Petersburg Mining University received a number of absolutely concrete proposals for cooperation from ministries, raw materials companies of the country and the university itself - a partner. But this is the subject of a separate article.
