Science towns in Russia: Challenges for legal regulation and importance for engineering education

In Russia, the construction of science towns as settlements at large scientific researching and manufacturing complexes started at the stage of industrialization in mid-1930s and continued till 1970s. Building up a science town was based on the necessity of scientific and, first of all, engineering developments, training narrow-focused engineers, proceeding from the list of social needs and its specific features. Science towns were managed by the directors of the major employers; the town was usually divided into parts - science plus manufacturing. In the USSR, up to 5% of GDP were allocated for establishing scientific and research centers, so the necessity of rapid implementing new technology urged the scientists. Towards the end of 1980s, due to the financial and staffing support provided by the public authorities of the USSR, the unique intellectual, scientific and manufacturing potential was accumulated in those settlements, which could ensure developing processes and complex engineering projects at the highest level, as well as perform their reliable operation. © 2015 IEEE.