On 14 September, the opening ceremony of the Park of Scientists was held, The park is located opposite the university's main building (1 Universitetskaya Ploschad).
“It's the first time a scientist's work has been presented in the form of a work of art. We’ve been waiting for the park to open for quite a long time. The space in front of the university used to look untidy and was not pleasing to the eye. The new park has completely transformed the area. It is an incarnation of the academic spirit”, – said VSU Rector Dmitry Endovitsky.
The park houses various art objects devoted to five Nobel prize winners associated with Voronezh and the Voronezh Region: Ivan Bunin, Pavel Cherenkov, Mikhail Sholokhov, Nikolay Basov, and Zhores Alferov. All the art objects in the park were designed by Alexey Dikunov, a member of the Union of Moscow Artists.
Each monument has a quotation of the corresponding scientist, and the year they became Nobel prize winners. The sculptures impersonate the scientists’ works – there are bookshelves with the most famous short stories and novels by Ivan Bunin and Mikhail Sholokhov: “The Village”, “Antonov Apples”, “Light Breathing”, “They Fought for Their Country”, “Harvest on the Don”, “Quietly Flows the Don”, Basov’s laser, Alferov’s heterostructures, and Cherenkov’s antenna.
The park was opened by the head of the Voronezh administration, Vadim Kstenin, Head of the Department of Education, Science, and Youth Policy of the Voronezh Region, Oleg Mosolov, and VSU Rector, Dmitry Endovitsky.
“Six month ago, when we were discussing the programme of the festive events dedicated to the university's 100th anniversary and the Day of the City, we made a decision that Universitetskaya Ploschad, the area in front of the university's main building, should be redesigned. The idea was supported by the university and the governor. It took quite an effort and some time to remove the fast food stands and plant trees instead. We hope that all the citizens and the guests of our city will like the new look of the square. And this is just a part of the project. The rest will be completed next year”, – said Vadim Kstenin.
The opening ceremony also included speeches by representatives of the Faculty of Physics and the Faculty of Philology - Vice Dean of the Faculty of Philology of Voronezh State University, Tatiana Ternova, ead of the Department of Solid-State Physics and Nanostructures, Professor Evelina Domashevskaya, and an Associate Professor at the Faculty of Physics, Sergey Turistchev. Pavel Cherenkov’s daughter, Elena Cherenkova, pointed out that the fact that there appeared a monument to her farther is very important for her family.
