The purpose of the study is to assess the impact of the university environment on the development of the research potential of students, as well as build a model for identifying and retaining talented graduates in universities based on the concept of open innovation. In the study, sociological and statistical methods were used: a questionnaire survey of students and teachers of the Financial University, a correlation analysis of the results, as well as an analysis of the practices of working with gifted students in leading world universities. In the course of the study, it was found that students oriented towards further education showed a great subjective significance of research activity. In the conclusion, the authors present a model of 'healthy' academic inbreeding, developed in accordance with the concept of open innovation, which is designed to promote the 'talented' inbreeding, minimising the possible negative aspects of this phenomenon. The study results indicate the importance of the model since a significant part of students have a predisposition to inbreeding but some of the tools that motivate them to participate in research activities are insufficiently formed.