Can students from other universities get into your laboratory?

It is necessary to combine efforts and achievements from all industries – especially when it comes to brain problems. 

In general, the XXI century is the time of neurosciences. We study diseases that arise in connection with disorders of neuron activity, with damage to the neural network, associated with genetic or age-related diseases, as well as depressive conditions. 

Have your students, graduate students and teachers managed to say a new word in modern science?

Our laboratory has been operating not so long ago, for three years, of course, it is difficult to “jump” over all the achievements of world science and create something fundamentally new, but still we have achieved a lot. 

In some ways, our students and staff found it easier than their colleagues from other laboratories: LMN was opened taking into account world trends and scientific achievements, we have created all the conditions for research and preparation of scientific papers, some of which have already been published in foreign specialized magazines. 

Negotiations are already underway on preclinical tests, “pain points” have been found that can be corrected using chemical compounds – this is a serious breakthrough for a young laboratory. 

At a “low start” we have a direction directly related to the activities of the Polytechnic University – optogenetics. This is done by the group I lead (a student and three graduate students). 

Another promising area is protein crystallography. Students of the Department of Medical Physics receive an excellent multidisciplinary education, and the work they perform can be safely attributed not to the category of students, but to the category of real scientific research. 

Today we are participating in the Neuronet program, which involves the creation of a certain neural network for communication instead of the Internet environment. 

So the laboratory has good potential?

Undoubtedly. The guys work independently in many ways, study from morning to evening … Every week we hold seminars, share our discoveries and achievements. They are motivated, everyone is interested. 

The rector of the Polytech also rendered great support. In general, we are creating an oasis of study and science, and we want our university to be and remain a leading research center, develop and modernize. 

Can students from other universities get into your laboratory?

Yes, undoubtedly – admission to the master’s program is the same for everyone, not only for graduates of the bachelor’s program at the Polytechnic University. Although our students, of course, find it much easier than the guys who come to us from other universities: the bachelor’s program is structured in such a way that it contains technical disciplines, anatomy, and physiology – in a word, the very multidisciplinarity that we are talking about spoke. 

In addition, we are ready to take not only students from other universities, but also students of the Polytechnic University with other bachelor’s degrees – so we are open to everyone!

Modern schoolchildren do not like to sit at textbooks: they prefer to receive information using gadgets. Convenient, fast, interesting – this is how the guys explain their choice. 

And it is quite natural that the approach to teaching children and adolescents also had to change: new interesting solutions have appeared that combine classical and innovative methods. Moreover, what is very important, the developers began to pay more and more attention to the research activities of schoolchildren, to independent scientific research. 

New teaching projects have appeared in various subject areas, and natural sciences have become the “first swallows”. 

For example, Novosibirsk scientists have empirically found out that it is better to hunt for knowledge in chemistry in the company “Khishnika” – a unique training program, which stands for “Chemistry for a school student”. 

So, before us is not a classic textbook, not a collection of tests: “HiShnik”, developed by “Alekta”, is a virtual problem book, a kind of simulator that helps to master a complex course of school chemistry in an accessible and interesting form. 

The developers of this course themselves believe that Khishnik has two main advantages: the ability to communicate with students using his usual technical means and the development of creative and analytical skills in children. 

“As you know, now many schoolchildren do not let go of tablets, and we decided to use this hobby for their studies by creating the HiShnik program,” says Sergey Maryavar, head of the new projects department at Alekta. “Having downloaded the program, a high school student will be able to complete tasks in chemistry while being in class, at least at home, at least somewhere in nature.” 

There are many options for tasks to hone knowledge in chemistry in the program: more than 1200 tasks on 42 topics of the entire school course! The problem bank is divided into three levels: basic, in-depth, profile, and each of these levels has three difficulty levels and a separate olympiad block of problems.

The interactive problem book complies with 123helpme.me federal state educational standards.

It is interesting that there are no ready-made answer options in the program: the student must complete the task on his own.  

“We have come up with a system that asks a question and makes it possible to think up an independent answer, using chemical structural and molecular formulas, chemical reaction equations, numbers, terms and definitions as tools. Then “Khishnik” analyzes the proposed solution, evaluates the degree of its correctness and gives its commentary, an extract from the theory or a leading question, “says Sergei Maryavar. Thus, the problem book allows the student to come to the correct answer himself in the mode of dialogue with the system.

It is convenient to work with “HiShnik” for teachers as well: they have the opportunity to trace the logic of the decision, analyze the progress of assignments, and keep statistics in “personal accounts”. 

Having started its journey at the beginning of this academic year, at present “Khishnik” helps children from dozens of schools in different cities of Russia. School teachers in Novosibirsk, Berdsk, Moscow, Kaliningrad, Noyabrsk, Khanty-Mansiysk, Kazan, Kandalaksha are already including this program in the educational process. And the list of cities and educational institutions, according to experts, will only expand. 

Help from the FP “Russian Education”

The virtual problem book “HiShnik” was developed by specialists of the company “Alekta” with the support of researchers from the institutes of organic and inorganic chemistry of the SB RAS, professors, associate professors, candidates of chemical and physical and mathematical sciences, teachers of FEN NSU and SSC NSU, honored teachers of the Russian Federation, as well as teachers chemistry of schools, lyceums and gymnasiums of Akademgorodok, Novosibirsk and Berdsk.

The project was implemented by Alekta with the support of the Foundation for Assistance to Small Innovative Enterprises in the Scientific and Technical Sphere within the framework of the MOST program – Modernization of Education with Modern Technologies, as well as with the assistance of the IT cluster of the Novosibirsk Academpark.

Senator from the Krasnodar Territory Vladimir Kharlamov spoke about the forms of training and support for small businesses and start-up businessmen in the Kuban and the North Caucasian republics.

Vladimir Ivanovich, an agreement was recently signed between the constituent entities (republics) of the North Caucasus Federal District and the Federal Corporation for the Development of Small and Medium-Sized Businesses (SME Corporation) *. What was the purpose of this agreement?

The main objective of this agreement is to provide support to SMEs and organizations in the region.

The spirit of entrepreneurship is traditionally strong in the Krasnodar Territory, small and medium-sized businesses are actively supported by the regional leadership, which affects the stable growth of general economic indicators and the development of the regional economy.

Tell us about successful programs and initiatives to support small and medium-sized businesses in the Krasnodar Territory, which can be applied in the neighboring North Caucasian republics.

The North Caucasian republics are our good neighbors. And the fact that the Federal Corporation for the Development of Small and Medium Enterprises today signed an agreement with the North Caucasian republics is a timely decision. Today, stability reigns in the North Caucasus, and this is the key to the development of SMEs and the region’s economy as a whole.

The Federation Council pays special attention to the development of the North Caucasus region. The development of the region’s tourism industry is under the close scrutiny of the Chairman of the Federation Council Valentina Matvienko. In her opinion, special attention should be paid to the development of the resorts for which the North Caucasus is so famous. Much is being done here and much remains to be done. Therefore, the initiative of the SME Corporation is a very correct decision.

On February 11, 2016, SMEs and Krasnodar Region signed a cooperation agreement.