2021 was the Year of Science and Technology. Starting from 8 February (the Day of Russian Science), various events and projects were initiated and held during the year under the purview of Russian science. VSU also took part in this event.
At the first meeting of the organising committee for the Year of Science and Technology, Valery Falkov, Head of the Ministry of Education and Science, named the following fields of science as being the most relevant for our country:
- Medicine
- Space exploration
- Security
- Industrial technologies and materials
- Climate and ecology
- Energetics
- Artificial intelligence
The projects must help to improve the quality of life and make the relationship between man and nature more balanced.
How did VSU manage to cover these areas?
Medicine
In January, employees of the VSU Department of Biophysics and Biotechnology from the Faculty of Medicine and Biology studied an enzyme that promotes the process of skin regeneration together with their colleagues from Kazan Federal University and Saint Petersburg Electrotechnical University. The researchers focused on the study of ficin which, in their opinion, may become the basis for a new-generation of antibacterial drugs. The researchers managed to create a water-insoluble enzyme preparation that does not require any special storage conditions.
The Faculty of Pharmacy has developed drugs made from reprocessed chitin. They discovered that chitosan-based gels have antiulcer properties.
VSU also didn’t stand idle in the fight against COVID and developed anti-coronavirus drugs in collaboration with Moscow State University and the State Research Centre of Virology and Biotechnology “Vector” (Novosibirsk). The VSU research group is headed by Professor Khidmet Shikhaliyev, Head of the Department of Organic Chemistry. The researchers synthesised complex organic compounds with the required properties. The obtained results can be used not only to fight COVID, but also for the treatment of other similar diseases.
Despite the pandemic, researchers still need to pay attention to other common problems. VSU physicists Pavel Seredin and Dmitry Goloschapo, together with their colleagues from Burdenko Voronezh State Medical University, continue their research in the field of restorative dentistry. They developed a unique tooth filling technology which minimises the risk of recurrent caries.
Space exploration
Between 28 and 30 September, the XXVII International Scientific and Technical Conference “Radioelectronics, navigation, and location” dedicated to the 60th anniversary of the first space flight was held at Voronezh State University. Over 200 reports from 23 Russian and foreign cities were presented at the conference.
A research laboratory of Roscosmos will be created at the Faculty of Mathematics of VSU. The representatives of VSU and the Voronezh centre for rocket engine manufacturing signed a cooperation agreement. In addition to the principal tasks (development of a methodology for the construction of mathematical models of “digital twins” of products and aggregates of liquid rocket engines), the laboratory will also host scientific and technical conferences, personnel training courses, and events aimed at assisting in the employment of graduates.
Security
During the year, scientific conferences, round table discussions, and meetings dedicated to national and public security were held at VSU. For example, the international interdisciplinary intensive course “Security in an unstable world’ gathered over 130 participants from 15 universities of Russia, Italy, Turkey, Spain, Hungary, and Australia. Researchers from leading universities in the field of international security led discussions with students and young scientists on a wide range of issues, including a review of global threats to the humanity, ethnic conflicts, migration issues, human rights, and cyber security.
The round table discussion “Security on the Internet”, which was held online with 700 participants, focused on the expansion and elaboration of knowledge on the types of cybercrimes, behaviour rules on social networks, and how to detect dangerous content.
Industrial technologies and materials
Alina Tinaeva, a student of the Faculty of Chemistry, developed a coating for metals based on a zinc-nickel alloy. It can be used to protect steel and metal products from corrosion, and it is not expensive or toxic, unlike its cadmium and cadmium-titanium analogues.
VSU won the Fund for Infrastructure and Educational Programmes competition and was given the opportunity to develop an educational program in the field of nano and microelectronics production. The Ministry of Science and Higher Education supported Voronezh State University's project in the field of microelectronics and radioelectronics. As part of this project, it is planned to purchase computer and radio measurement equipment and train students to use it. The total cost of the project is 200 million roubles and it is aimed at the development of improved radioelectronic circuits.
Together with the Udmurt Federal Research Centre, a research group from the VSU laboratory “Electron Structure of Condensed Matter” headed by Associate Professor Sergey Turishchev, Doctor of Sciences (Physics and Mathematics), conducted a number of complex experimental studies using high-resolution methods such as scanning electron microscopy and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy.
The research project being carried out by VSU is supported by the Ministry of Science and Higher Education as part of the Federal Scientific and Technical Programme for the Development of Synchrotron and Neutron Techniques. The project is supervised by Sergei Turishchev, the acting Head of the Department of General Physics. The project involves close cooperation between the scientific schools of the Faculty of Physics as well as interactions with the creative teams from the Faculty of Chemistry and the Faculty of Medicine and Biology of VSU. Voronezh University will work on the project together with the National Research Centre “Kurchatov Institute” which has the only synchrotron radiation generation centre operating in Russia, as well as with research centres of the Ural Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, the Udmurt Federal Research Centre, and the Komi Science Centre.
Climate and ecology
Researchers from the Faculty of Geography, Geoecology, and Tourism are working on a project on regional urboecodiagnostics (headed by Semyon Kurolap, the Dean of the Faculty): they are analysing the environmental situation in the regional centres of the Central Black Earth Region and designing methods for its safe development. The project, which is aimed at the minimisation of the environmental risks of living in big cities (the effects of noise and heat, emissions, and the accumulation of carcinogens) and the improvement of the quality of the urban environment, is supported by the Russian Science Foundation.
The “Green Campus VSU: On the green track” project started in autumn. The project is supervised by Alla Akulshina, Head of the International Relations office. It is aimed at providing information about Russian and European ecological policies, the development of ecological awareness, the promotion of environmental protection, and the enhancement of environmental activism in the academic community. As part of the project, an apothecary garden is expected to be created at VSU and “green walls” installed to reduce the noise level and create a more comfortable microclimate in the university's buildings. The main partner of the project is the EU Delegation to Russia, which will allow VSU employees visiting European universities to study the experience of using green technologies.
Energy
VSU was included in the programme for the development of micro and radioelectronics. Rosatom Technical Academy and Voronezh State University have agreed to create a Fundamental Department at the Faculty of Physics. The department will train specialists for regional nuclear power plants. The new programme is aimed at synchrotron and neutron research and will be unique in Russia.
It should be noted that VSU has successfully participated in joint projects with Concern Sozvezdie and Elektronika over the course of 2021 and the past few years.
Artificial intelligence
The Faculty of Applied Mathematics, Informatics, and Mechanics has developed methods for the analysis of the current and projected dynamics of the spread of coronavirus in the Voronezh Region. These methods include interactive visualisation and forecasting by means of machine learning. Anonymised data for our region, provided by Voronezh Regional Clinical Diagnostic Centre, is used in this work. Based on these data, they are developing a model that will forecast the dynamics of hospital admissions in the Voronezh Region, taking into account the current number of COVID-19 cases by districts and the percentage of vaccinated population.
Using deep learning algorithms, VSU is also working on a new tool for the short and long-term forecasting of the dynamics of the waves of coronavirus in the region. This tool employs a hybrid deep learning model based on a neural network with long short-term memory. The forecasting will be based on the parameters determined by a convolutional neural network.
The designed visualisation tools will display daily updated data on the number of COVID-19 cases, new cases, the number of recoveries, as well as the number of tests performed. The data will be displayed on an interactive scalable Google map of the region. It will demonstrate the differences between the parts of the region most affected by COVID-19. The Сhoropleth plugin will make it possible to study the development of the situation in various parts of Voronezh and the Voronezh Region over the whole period of the pandemic.
Text by: Yulia Sokolova
