Abstract: The paper explores the transformation of forms of interaction between science and industry in the field of research and development of polymer and composite compounds. In the pre-revolutionary period, pioneering firms in this field began to open the first laboratories at their base. During the Soviet period, the active development of civil and military industries required the mass production of polymer products in the shortest possible time. To solve this problem, research institutes began to be created, which in Soviet realities demonstrated their high efficiency. At the present stage, one of the ways to provide the polymer industry with the necessary know-how has become the creation of R&D departments based on commercial firms, as well as advanced state universities. Using the example of the R&D department of Peter the Great St. Petersburg Polytechnic University, the specifics of the functioning of such research centers are analyzed. The research methodology is based on the retrospective method. Comparative analysis is widely used. In addition, the microanalysis method is also involved, which allows, using the example of a single R&D department of the University, to assess the future prospects of the emerging model of science-industry interaction in the development of new polymer materials and composites. The scientific novelty lies in the fact that this article for the first time examines in detail the work in the field of development of new polymer and composite compounds of the R&D department of one of the leading universities in the country – the Competence Center of the National Technological Initiative "New Production Technologies", created on the basis of the Institute of Advanced Production Technologies of Peter the Great St. Petersburg Polytechnic University.
It is concluded that the R&D departments of universities, when they are provided with highly competent scientific personnel and modern equipment, can demonstrate high performance indicators. At the same time, their activities ensure the formation of a pool of technologies in the domestic market that are available to all its participants, and not only to individual firms. This, in turn, creates the necessary prerequisites for the further development of the polymer industry in our country.