On 15 March, the 2021 Innovation Cup award ceremony was held at the regional government. VSU became “the leading innovative university of the Voronezh Region”: the award was handed to Rector Dmitry Endovitsky.
The laureates of the contest were Tatiana Kolganova, PhD in Chemistry, and Marina Kholyavka, PhD in Biology. Tatiana Kolganova was awarded a diploma for her project “Introduction of a “green” technology for obtaining high-purity L-lysine at agricultural enterprises”. The technology makes it possible to isolate the target component, the L-lysine amino acid, from feed-grade lysine, i.e., from a mixture of amino acids and various impurities, using ion-exchange membranes. The isolation process is managed using multi-sensor analysers based on membrane nanomaterials.
“The Innovation Cup provided an opportunity to present the research results in the form of a business project. The experience of working with the director of the Innovation Business Incubator, Alexander Khvan, contributed to understanding the prospects and mechanisms for the implementation of scientific results. The analysis of remarks by highly qualified innovation and business experts will facilitate the introduction of new developments into the domestic market,” noted Tatiana Kolganova.
Professor Marina Holjavka from the Department of Biophysics and Biotechnology took third place in the competition. She received the award for developing preparations based on plant proteases and polysaccharides for the prevention of respiratory infections, including coronavirus. These preparations are characterised by low toxicity and low rates of allergic reactions, and they are also highly effective. They will increase the effectiveness of preventive measures to limit the development and spread of infectious diseases.
The Innovation Cup competition for innovative projects has been held in the Voronezh Region since 2013, prior to the Day of Russian Science. It is a part of systematic work carried out by the government of the Voronezh Region to stimulate innovation. Innovative projects for the competition can be submitted by any institution of higher education and their branches located in the region. Projects can be developed by research assistants, engineering and technical assistants, bachelor, master’s and postgraduate students of full-time, part-time, and extramural programmes under 40 years of age at the date of the project submission.
