On October 2–3, 2025, Peter the Great St. Petersburg Polytechnic University hosted the All-Russia Scientific and Practical Conference “Formation and Development of Endowment Funds in Educational and Scientific Organizations: Theory and Practice.” Irina Tolmacheva, Head of the Legal Department at the Gaidar Institute and Deputy Director of the Endowment Fund for the Development of Social and Economic Sciences and Education, took part in the conference.
On the first day of the event, Irina Tolmacheva acted as moderator of the section “Legal Aspects of the Creation and Development of Endowment Funds” together with Olga Novikova, Executive Director of the SPbPU Endowment Fund. The participants in the discussion showed great interest in issues related to the legal regulation of the activities of foundations, as well as in the practical application of legislation. A separate topic of discussion was the possibility of including real estate in the assets of endowment capital.
The conference, organized by the Polytechnic University with the support of the Ministry of Science and Higher Education of the Russian Federation, the St. Petersburg branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, and with the participation of the National Endowment Association, became a unique platform for dialogue between the academic community, students, and practitioners. It brought together more than 200 participants from different regions of Russia. Following two days of work, key challenges in the field of endowment formation were identified and ways to develop endowments in educational and scientific organizations with the mandatory involvement of young people were proposed.