At the KazanForum 2026 Russia-Islamic World, held in Kazan from May 12 to 17, Professor Alexander Sirotkin, Director of the Institute of Food Production and Biotechnology, delivered a speech. He was a speaker at the panel discussion "Bioeconomy as a Driver of Regional Development," organized as part of the business program by the Ministry of Education and Science of the Russian Federation.

In his presentation, Alexander Sirotkin highlighted the strategic initiatives and current projects of KNRTU in circular bioeconomy and biotechnology in education and research and development.

Among the strategic initiatives of KNRTU in the field of circular bio-economy are the transformation of the engineering education model in order to ensure the technological sovereignty of the chemistry, chemical technology and biotechnology industry, the popularization of engineering professions among schoolchildren and students of secondary vocational education, and the development of promising biomaterials based on the deep processing of renewable raw materials. Jointly with industrial partners, including SIBUR PJSC, TATNEFT PJSC, TATNEFT-BIOTECH LLC, HC CHISTOPOLYE, etc., R&D contracts are being implemented. In addition, the Institute receives targeted subsidies and grants from the Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Tatarstan, the Ministry of Agriculture and Food of the Republic of Tatarstan, the Ministry of Education and Science of the Russian Federation, the Ministry of Industry and Trade of the Russian Federation, and the Russian Science Foundation.

This refers to the system of projects and developments at KNRTU in the field of obtaining high-biological-value food and feed products using basic and low-value plant and animal raw materials, fungi, and microorganisms in industrial processes of their processing, as well as promising biopolymers and biocomposites. Another promising project at KNRTU, which is cross-institutional and cross-departmental, is the deep processing of hemp to produce technical, food, and dietary supplements (special-purpose cellulose, textile materials, and sorption materials from secondary raw materials (straw), as well as food components (seed oil, flower extracts, and roots).

The third important area of the KNRTU's biotechnological development complex is modern eco-biotechnologies for intensive biological treatment of industrial and municipal wastewater and operational biomonitoring of wastewater treatment facilities, as well as the utilization of wastewater sludge to produce valuable products. at KNRTU. Professor Sirotkin also noted that educational and research activities in the field of bioprocesses have been conducted at KNRTU since 1976 in the areas of industrial, food, pharmaceutical, and environmental biotechnology. Currently, existing and new areas and profiles of education are being updated, including Bioengineering and Food Systems and Information Systems in Biotechnology.

According to Raif Vasilov, Vice President for Bioeconomics at the Kurchatov Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences, the event was attended by an outstanding lineup of speakers, including Artur Smirnov, Director of the Department of Chemical Industry at the Ministry of Industry and Trade of the Russian Federation, Nail Maganov, General Director of TATNEFT, Alexander Gabibov, Director of the Institute of Bioorganic Chemistry of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Alexey Kochetov, Director of the Institute of Cytology and Genetics of the Russian Academy of Sciences, and researchers from leading Russian scientific centers in the field of biotechnology.