The agreement covers the full range of autonomous technologies: from unmanned aircraft systems and highly automated transport to industrial robotics, uncrewed surface vessels, satellite systems, software and artificial intelligence. The key objective of the partnership is to build systematic cooperation between science, education and industry — the very thing that today determines a country's technological competitiveness.
The parties plan to initiate joint research and development work in areas of priority for the industry, and to develop talent programmes, including placements, internships and targeted training for students directly at the Association's companies.
A separate focus is the commercialisation of the university's developments and competencies for the autonomous systems market, together with the social and humanitarian support for technology adoption, on which public acceptance largely depends. The partners also intend to hold industry conferences, forums and seminars and to establish a regular exchange of analytics and methodological materials.
"A partnership with the country's leading research university opens up access for the industry to fundamental science, advanced expertise and well-trained specialists. This is not a formal document — it is a working instrument of development," said Dmitry Afanasyev, Chairman of the Board of the NAS Association.
"Developing autonomous systems requires not only engineering solutions but also an understanding of how technologies fit into the economy, governance and people's everyday lives. The partnership with the NAS Association will allow HSE University to combine technological, managerial and social science expertise for applied research, training specialists and deploying Russian autonomous solutions," said Dmitry Zemtsov, Vice Rector and Director of the Institute for Humanities and Social Technologies at HSE University.
The agreement lays a long-term foundation for integrating university science with industry, speeds up the market launch of Russian autonomous solutions and helps train qualified specialists for the industry as a whole.