RT spoke with the Russian-born biophysicist Konstantin Agladze, professor at Kyoto University, who is launching a laboratory in Russia. He shared his impression on the planned boost of research in Russia and the Skolkovo project.

Professor Agladze was one of the 40 world-renowned scientists who received the so-called “mega-grants” from Russia as part of the drive to boost its scientific research. The $5 million funding was offered for organizing and conducting projects at local universities. Many of the recipients, including Agladze are Russian scientists who left the country in the 1990s at the peak of the “brain drain”.

The professor himself studies excitable systems. He is to organize a cutting-edge laboratory for research of protein membrane structures and cellular physiology for his alma mater, Moscow’s Institute of Physics and Technology.

“It seems that the government now is eager to spend some of the oil money sensibly. That means investing in the most important things, like human material,” he told RT.

Professor Agladze is cautiously hopeful about the prospect of the boost and the nearest future of Skolkovo in particular.

“[Skolkovo becoming a success] is pretty much possible, but I don’t think it will happen as a miracle within one or two years. It will take no less than five years,” he estimates.