it's nine thirty am here in moscow and you're watching our team these are our top stories britain's courts race to read the riot act to those behind the recently looting and violence by human rights groups accuse judges of laying down just before street justice to score popularity points. top flight trade at the international air show in moscow and the nerves of steel from russia's premier pilots among those stealing the limelight is the latest russian stealth fighter that she fifty which debuted on wednesday. and the syrian army reportedly fires that thousands of anti-government protesters across the country some syrians say

they're glad to see tanks moving into their towns presidents claim they see security forces as protection from armed gangs. next up time to talk techno as we meet one of those responsible for russia's innovation city scorecard. hungry for the full slim we've got it for. the biggest issues get a human voice face to face with the news makers. and.

hello again they're welcome to the spotlight then see the show on our t.v. i'm al going on and my guest in the studio today is roger part of. the much discussed project of the city dubbed the russian silicon valley it's powering up full speed its leaders have held the first scientific council meeting and also met the russian president how have they outlined the development of the futuristic city and what are the next steps the cochairman of the skull crow scientific council roger kornberg is here to enlighten us. the name skolkovo innovation city has entered the vocabulary of the russian elite and the foreign media the recent visit of california governor arnold schwarzenegger has brought significant investment to russia's own silicon valley days later some of the world's biggest

names in science talk by nobel prize winner roger kornberg came to moscow to outline the first concrete steps in the city's creation. as one of the most respected biochemists it comes from a family of another noble prize winner author of corporate raja think skolkovo will boost scientific progress and take russia to the fore. brand of innovative development he promises to do his best to make this happen or. political revenge you very much for being with us tonight well first of all russians russians living abroad like the nobel prize winner andrei game i recently talked to him are often less optimistic about skolkovo then four is then americans like yourself what makes you to mystically the adventurist spirits of americans they make their belief that it's going to happen i can tell you the following first of all there is no alternative. russia needs such

a project if it is to make best use of its talent and. succeed as a developed country in the future russia has great resources but these are expendable they are being expended now they make the country wealthy at the present time but that will last forever it needs to leverage its. human resources to assure the best possible future needs to leverage those resources for the benefit of the country and to avoid their loss. otherwise as has happened so often in the past this time it will migrate abroad are there are many other countries that have in mind the goals of the scope of a project they are fast implementing them if russia wants to retain its capacity to compete and it must do this known science in the us has also always been internationally very cosmopolitan that you have a chance to work with russian scientists before oh i have some of my closest

colleagues and most admired amongst them are russian they are working in america for the most part for the very reasons that i have mentioned they are probably not inclined to return to russia because they're so well established where they are now nevertheless many of them have contacted me and said they would be glad to offer whatever they can to ensure his innocence had every bit of both human russians both russian citizens and american citizens these people are by now run marathons and as most of you know the ones that i'm thinking about i know well one of your best friends among the russian scientists is mr healthy off why did you agree to co-chair the skolkovo council because you're friends with author of what did you have any of the reasons i the i was asked by george for of who are much admire and respect our he told me that he thought it would be helpful to the to.

the his undertaking and. i wished to do what i can to support him. that said then such a project takes on a life of its own it becomes a challenge and i can see many other good reasons why i should try and help it succeed like one first and foremost so that russia will be. more successful as a country and a better force for good in the world is not a fact is it it is a job for you are you paid for that or indeed your in the offer of payment which i must tell you is not beyond what i receive from anyone else to provide such a consulting service i'm offered by many more than i have the time to do and i've chosen to do this at a comparable level of remuneration because of the reasons that i thought scott has already been dubbed the russian silicon valley everybody calls it russian silicon

valley well do you think they will try to will you try to follow the american example to those in the american first steps or is it an entirely different thing. it will be a mistake to copy really what was been done abroad the goals may be similar which in this case as there would be to establish a robust than a vibrant and a productive high tech industry there are two reasons why it would be a mistake to attempt a direct copy of that the circumstances are different and what works in one place will never be the best design or plan for what may work on another and the other reason is that the technology of the future will be different from that of knowledge of the past based on discoveries that have not yet been made and so again far the best way is to. evaluate the circumstances and then to try and make the best possible decision how to proceed based on the current circumstances well let's take

a look at the latest developments concerning of the creation of russia as a variation of silicon valley and the reported by spotlight and they did neither. while the skolkovo in the vacation sundries not yet build it is already much more than just the territory design aided on the map it's currently taking shape in the minds of designers from five countries france great britain the u.s. and sweden who won the bid to create a concept for the russian innovations and it might eventually reaching out to be something as who touristic as the building of the business school which already exists in skolkovo and was designed by british based architect david jaya who says he was inspired by russian piny of geometric abstract art because in your mileage the construction of the center will take three to five years and around seven billion dollars of investment in while you don't have to be in skolkovo to be part

of it and project participants will be able to work outside the technology park until two thousand and fourteen and all this time into tax breaks attributed to in the vision center members by russian law americans have shown enthusiasm and investors from the u.s. and some top silicon valley executives who walked to the russian capital guided by the california governor arnold schwarzenegger the former actually rose visit contributed greatly to promote in russia's efforts in the high tech sphere as for some practical results guests from the u.s. waged investment amount into wrong and new and used doors with eighty giants google and intel announcing their readiness to set up the design of the board to reason skolkovo. well what we just saw was the actual skolkovo because there's a big big beautiful building is actually a business schools somewhere in the vicinity nothing is built yet but can you tell us you haven't been there i know but do you have the slightest idea when will that

start functioning well when it will start functioning on a regular basis leaving. project i do not know the answer to that question but i think it depends very much upon several factors first the final decision of the government to invest in the project i'm not aware that that final decision has been taken secondly the development of a an appropriate plan which should involve a contribution from the council of which i am a member and then finally the actual implementation all of the things i believe are yet to be done or decided well can you name a single high tech industry that should become a could become the cornerstone of our of this this revolution it may be now i know which is which is like a great obsession in the kremlin today between the russian two russians got a nobel prize this year for for nanotechnology do you think this may be the driver

the locomotive of the of this scientific revolution i think it's possible but i would add that perhaps the greatest opportunity the future lies in the biological around i think that biotech will ultimately become the leading or the driving force in technology and innovation in the world the reason is that it is agreed by all or if the twentieth century was the age of physics and it culminated in the high tech industry that we have today. the twenty first century is without a doubt the age of biology and in particular human biology and the are important benefits from that are yet to be seen but all would agree on avoidably very great but let's talk a bit more about about the international nature of science when you're talking about this call for project are you discussing are you even interested in the percentage of russian and non russian brains that will be there or even you because

you don't care even certainly the objective is to identify the best talent. and to enable it to succeed regardless of the nationality just as an american regardless of nationality or indeed in other places and indeed it would be a great benefit to the country if a significant amount of talent came from abroad bringing with them. knowledge ideas a different point of view that could augment what is homegrown. well you are a celebrity you're one of the best in the world you're a starry eyed like a guest star like in any movie there is the guest star can you name a couple of other people of of your rank in science that already have official invitation is or were with which the russians are talking to i don't really know somebody else who can join you look we have

a council of very capable people which includes mostly leaders in. this general sort of activity in russia has and appropriately so but then to the council. it isn't possible to bring a leader from biotech in america dr philip frost who is perhaps the most successful entrepreneur in that industry in the world it is impossible to bring dr richard lerner who is the president of scripts in the research institute which is also doubtless the most successful of its kind with vast experience in building enterprises that combine academic and commercial activity so i think we have. any example of those people and others the best that we can hope for in the way of advice to guard the pros are you do have an a celebrity i think these people are better than able than i to offer useful advice on the project ok but even you know i have read it in the press that their degree

russian press that last summer even you had some troubles getting the russian visa but is this. that was a mistake and even a mistake i never i never i don't know where that came from mistaken the press the mistake when they were the bees that mistaken for the first hour i never i had and they may have thought that i had already applied for a visa anticipation of this visit and i had not done so quite the reverse is true when the date for this meeting was finally settled and with my complex travel schedule i had to find a window of time in which to join the meeting then and only at the time i applied for a visa it was far too late to obtain from normal channels a little and the. russians involved in the administration of this project could make it possible for me to obtain a visa on the shortest possible notice so so so far as whatever appear accredited on the contrary going to crash into russian grabs the yet and no not at all this is yet to come for you so one call i have not seen it says it there roger kornberg

cochairman of the scientific and technical council spotlight will be back shortly after we take a small break so stay way we'll continue this interview in less than a minute. for the full story we've gone to. the biggest issues get a human voice ceased to face with the news makers. are going. to. bring you the latest in science and technology from the realms. of the future covered.

welcome back to spotlight i am al green arbonne just to remind you that my guest in the studio today is an outstanding american biochemist professor our structural biology of stanford university two thousand so it's nobel prize winner and finally cochairman of skolkovo scientific and technical council roger kornberg roger welcome back to the show well we started talking about russian grew up to see that you have faced alien first publications thankfully not in real life yet but people who have less words in their business cards may face those problems and these russian grew up to see is a thing that's very frightening for foreigners. the russian parliament has passed a law which facilitates these procedures for qualified foreign workers in russia

earning more than sixty six thousand or more a year do you think this is enough i don't mean the sixty six thousand but lifting . barriers to attract more and more scientists to wish i would think the answer is yes because scientists will go wherever a combination of factors prevails first of all an interesting opportunity and scientists will be attracted by a challenge and they will want to do the most fascinating building thing women possibly undertake and then secondly adequate support if both are provided and i understand that may be true then russia should have i think encounter no problem but i don't think scientists like many other people business men for example are ready to stand in endless lines to get visas and papers and stamps and all that thing because like creative people they're like that they then they like things happen like if if if that were to become a way of life i think it would be

a problem for apply for a visa on a weekly basis indeed it would be an issue otherwise let's see if people in russia believe in modernization of their country spotlights particularly on the back has tried to find out. hi there yeah we'll try to find out if people in this country believe that russia can be modernized without an unfolding before nike is an expert simply relying on its own talent to potential new corneas hope that the years of course it can i think we should restore the saudi regime and everything will get back to normal. business school in the u.s. of course it can however our government is lacking one small thing for that and desire for modernization for now i see only statements and promises erisa no particular clear cut program i don't think that our government has any idea what they really want there is also this cittie enterprise skulker i'm a university professor myself and i have been teaching for thirty years so i can

tell you that in order to rebuild said she huge science and education systems that we used to have in our country there have to be very clear and understandable plans in order to modernize our country we should avoid destroying what is allowed through our science and education also stop turning high schools into career colleges and the most important step turning science into management suits your general store was a no i think we should try to attract more foreign experts because there is something we can learn from them and vice versa so the exchange of experience and knowledge will only have a positive outcome for both sides of. the circle so yes i think it's kind of we have enough of our own resources and talents within the country people just need a little more freedom and directions should also try to align our younger generation as. well i've got such a cute is going to question our guest at the bridge and what does russia need to do

in order to attract foreign scientists to work in our country so that was. so i think the answer is to create opportunity opportunity opportunity so that was it's not only money and started early cutting red tape but it's. it's a springboard that people will be looking for so there may be people abroad in various places with ideas they believe passionately in pursuing and there may be an opportunity for their implementation they will go wherever it is possible when you came here in when you when you. got together and in your council the scientific council what was the first discussion about what was the main subject what was the main. question if there was one who was to decide what is the role of the council the challenge first of all is to decide how the council will relate to the project as

a whole that in turn requires understanding what form the project may take none of that is your poseidon the challenge before us is to devise a plan that works there are just there is justifiable skepticism as there would be of anything of a new and as yet undefined nature and it is our our responsibility to take all that the critical comment that has been made to heart. and take advantage in order to formulate a successful plan you don't sound skeptical on. i think because i have lived my life engaged in such high risk activity that is the nature of science of course it's frightening and of course one can get it wrong and in fact i've often gotten it wrong. but getting it right even once or occasionally is the reward in a case like this i think we have a good chance of getting it right we must strike this economy and i've talked to

a couple are very merican so we came here to moscow last week as part of a delegation of u.s. venture capitalists and they will lead by i don't short snag of the the california governor himself they visit as cause and they they they met the president so do you think that now investments are guaranteed or on the contrary no investment of that nature is very slow to materialize and i don't think that needs to be a limitation of the stage what matters is to develop a appropriate plan and then pursue it and be persistent and eventually the investment will follow so so when people people like regular guys from this the geisha income and then they will walk around and drive those fancy cars and stuff it's oh it's all smiles and then nothing really behind it is that true or it may

materialize i don't know how does that work in my limited experience i know you know that money but still the venture the venture community is interested in opportunity but very limited in those that it will eventually pursue they would come to explore the possibilities they might decide to invest in me and the odds are always against it but the determination of the founders of the project and their capacity to design an appropriate plan will be decisive in the end. i know you're not about money you're a scientist but you did make a couple of projects happen in our life so so you know how well it's that's the reason i'm asking so what i want to know is what makes you and i'm so sure that there that you sound like an optimist here what makes you believe that it's going to happen then suddenly become another patel can village you know nice nice nice on

the surface but not really impressive inside there is no guarantee what you believe it is it is what i what i think is that we have that it is possible to succeed it is possible to accomplish what all would agree was. worthwhile and to deliver value for money in terms of investment but we won't know it until you see it and you've got it it's up to us to do it and the proof will be whatever is the outcome. now we have two stars one here one in the screen here we've got our own shorts and i grew up on screen and we've got and we've got recording very here in the studio so. how do you feel about it is it you to make these guys pay their money or is it those guys that are here to pay for people like you to come to work and skullduggery who is. question but still i think

we have different motives. i think it is true that when the venture community comes to business school their purpose is to make money and to multiply the value of any investment why in interest is of course entirely different it's to see such an undertaking be productive in terms of technology to see it succeed in the upper levels of both the sky every and the translation of this government into meaningful so practical terms. critical bric a you of course have your own criteria when you talk to young scientists well we look through millions of projects that they may share with you is there such a criteria for the council you describe what's the criteria that has not been finally set down in words but i would insist and i'm sure others would agree there should be only one criteria and that is the quality of ideas person it's what you

made me consider it quality you you are so biologicals i was no mathematics and no one says physics in the first place if one can't really judge mathematics i gain strategy or vice versa but within the realm broad realm of biology for example it is possible to convene a group that will review a proposal vote and then go with the majority decision there's no better way to do it another thing that i think would be nice for your council to have and this is the veto power where i can have the authorities rushing over to wherever. one some projects have the real very much want it and you see that it's that it's not really promising can you the kind of its kind can't can your side of the council veto a president now. that aspect of governance has not been established but i think it's appropriate i think what you've said is entirely reasonable i think

a sign of the signs of a council should have the last word and i think it should work the same way scientific councils work in america there was a review process in the room the decisions of that review were then forwarded to a final council that passes on them in the end almost always i must invariably they approve a decision made at a lower level but i think what you are suggesting would be very well placed in such a process say can syria thank you very much it was a great privilege having you on the share of my life thanks and just to remind you that my guest in the studio today was roger carbury cochairman of skulk of the scientific and technical counts and that's it for now from all of us here if you want to have your say it's part right but someone in mind you think i should interview next time to drop me a line that i'll bring up and you need to out are you and let's keep the show interactive and we'll be back with more first time comment on was going on and outside russia until then stay on r.t.

can take care thank you.

all.