Translation. Region: Russian Federation –
Source: Peter the Great St. Petersburg Polytechnic University –
An important disclaimer is at the bottom of this article.
The awards ceremony, dedicated to Russian Science Day, took place at Peter the Great St. Petersburg Polytechnic University. The event focused on scientists, graduate students, young researchers, and media representatives who advance the Polytechnic's scientific agenda and strengthen its position as a leading scientific and technological center.
Yuri Fomin, SPbPU Vice-Rector for Research, opened the ceremony. He addressed the university's scientific community, noting the Polytechnic University's contribution to the development of engineering, energy, digital technologies, biomedicine, and humanities research, and emphasized the role of university research in addressing the country's priority issues: "We are proud of our scientists. They are at the forefront of commercializing the results of intellectual activity and publishing. This is important not only for us, but also for our country. I believe scientists are a rather creative profession. And what you create brings us ever closer to the technological leadership we often talk about."
The first category is "SPbPU Scientist 2025 – Leader in Intellectual Activity." It recognizes those whose research leads in patents and electronic certificates and delivers significant results in technology transfer.
Alexander Semencha, Head of the Applied Chemistry Department at the Institute of Mechanical Engineering, Materials, and Transport; Viktor Belko, Director of the Institute of Power Engineering's Higher School of High-Voltage Power Engineering; Alexander Timin, Professor at the Higher School of Biomedical Systems and Technologies and Head of the Laboratory of Nano- and Microencapsulation of Biologically Active Substances at the Institute of Biomedical Systems and Biotechnology; and Irina Anikina, Associate Professor at the Institute of Power Engineering's Higher School of Nuclear and Thermal Energy.
The "SPbPU Scientist 2025 — Leader of the Scientific Competition Movement" nomination recognized young scientists who demonstrated the greatest activity and effectiveness in competitions, grants, and scholarship programs in 2025, submitted a record number of applications, and achieved a significant number of victories.
Natalia Morozova, Associate Professor at the Higher School of Biotechnology and Food Production and Research Fellow at the Laboratory of Molecular Microbiology at the Institute of Biomedical Systems and Biotechnology. Kapiton Pospelov, Assistant at the Higher School of Project Activity and Industrial Innovation and Junior Research Fellow at the Laboratory of Digital Modeling of Industrial Systems at the Institute of Mechanical Engineering, Materials, and Transport. Ekaterina Mushenko, Senior Lecturer at the Higher School of International Relations at the Humanities Institute. Konstantin Semenov, Associate Professor at the Higher School of Computer Technology and Information Systems at the Institute of Computer Science and Cybersecurity.
The "SPbPU Scientist 2025 — Scientific Conference Organizer" nomination was presented to the directors of institutes whose scientific events in 2025 were distinguished by their scale, high-quality organization, and contribution to the development of the university's scientific schools.
Vladimir Shchepinin, Director of the Institute of Industrial Management, Economics, and Trade; Marina Petrochenko, Director of the Civil Engineering Institute; and Dmitry Zegzhda, Director of the Institute of Computer Science and Cybersecurity.
A special section of the ceremony was dedicated to media science. The "Polytechnic University Scientific Media Leader 2025" category recognized the scientists who provided the most expert commentary to federal media outlets in 2025, representing the academic community and fostering trust in scientific knowledge.
Alexey Fadeyev, Professor at the Graduate School of Industrial Management at the Institute of Industrial Management, Economics, and Trade; Andrey Dakhnovich, Research Fellow at the Graduate School of Cybersecurity at the Institute of Computer Science and Cybersecurity; and Ilya Kobykhno, Associate Professor at the Graduate School of Advanced Digital Technologies at the Advanced Engineering School "Digital Engineering."
A key part of the program included a presentation on the activities of the SPbPU Student Scientific Society and an announcement of the foresight session "Strategic Development of the SPbPU Student Scientific Society to 2030." The SSS team presented actual performance indicators for the grant from the Russian Ministry of Education and Science. Key KPIs for student engagement in research and the development of student science were significantly higher than the targets set in the application. The SSS serves as a link between recognized scientific schools and student initiatives. It creates a space for young researchers to develop their first projects, collaborate, and contribute to the university's scientific agenda.
The awards ceremony also included the announcement of the results of the "SPbPU Postgraduate Student of the Year" graduate student portfolio competition. The competition aims to support the most active young researchers and promote the results of their research. In 2025, 61 graduate students from nine university institutes participated. Among the winners were representatives from six institutes. Particular attention was paid to the role of academic supervisors: a graduate student's success is seen as the result of collaborative work with their academic school and mentor.
In the field of natural and exact sciences, the following were awarded:
Ksenia Velmozhina, scientific supervisor — Natalia Politaeva; Daniil Provodin, scientific supervisor — Vadim Davydov; Anastasia Rakovskaya, scientific supervisor — Ekaterina Pchitskaya; Polina Shinkevich, scientific supervisor — Natalia Politaeva.
In the field of technical sciences:
Ekaterina Volokitina, scientific supervisor — Nikolai Razumov; Yesenia Elina, scientific supervisor — Dmitry Efanov; Kapiton Pospelov, scientific supervisor — Alexey Gintsyak; Vladislav Chernyavsky, scientific supervisor — Maxim Maksimov.
In the field of humanities and social sciences:
Victor Kukel, scientific supervisor – Grigory Tulchinsky; Alexey Melnik, scientific supervisor – Alexander Babkin; Pavel Mikhailov, scientific supervisor – Alexander Babkin; Arina Polyakova, scientific supervisor – Sergey Kulik.
The final section of the ceremony was dedicated to those who make Polytechnic's scientific achievements visible to a wider audience.
The "Polytechnic University 2025 Scientific Agenda Leader" category recognized university employees developing scientific communications.
Marianna Dyakova, Head of the SPbPU Public Relations Department. Evgeny Pleshachkov, Head of the Media Relations Department. Alina Melnikova, Leading Public Relations Specialist of the Special Projects Department of the SPbPU Public Relations Department.
The "Media Partner of the Scientific Polytechnic University 2025" nomination recognized media representatives who consistently covered the university's scientific and innovative projects throughout the year.
Yulia Strelets, special correspondent for the news department of the St. Petersburg regional information center of TASS. Anna Kazantseva, editorial producer for "MESh na Moika." Daria Pinchuk, strategic producer for the "City Agency for Television and Radio Broadcasting."
Technology transfer leaders, conference organizers, competition winners, graduate students and their supervisors, and teams that translate the language of science into the language of society collectively shape the contours of the Polytechnic University's scientific ecosystem. It's a vibrant environment in which early student projects and postgraduate research develop into major interdisciplinary centers, new opportunities for technological and social development, and long-term partnerships with industry and the media.
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