Exactly a year ago, on September 27, 2021, Saratov University was chosen to receive the basic part of the Priority 2030 grant, the largest state support programme for university development in the history of modern Russia.
The SSU development programme focuses on the implementation of five strategic projects: Personalised Medicine Technologies, ICT-Electronics, Chemistry and New Materials, Digital University, and Teacher in the Educational Paradigm.
Most of the research in these areas has been conducted at the university over the past 10 years. But it was participation in the Priority 2030 programme that gave a new impetus to their development.
Implementing the Personalised Medicine Technologies project, the research teams of Saratov University are conducting the research that contributes to improving the quality of life and health of people – from unique drug delivery systems and night lymphatic drainage of brain tissues to mathematical models of the circulatory system and early diagnosis and treatment of oncological, infectious, and cardiovascular diseases using the method of photoacoustic flow cytometry. Interdisciplinary research in priority areas of science is conducted at the SSU Research Medical Centre and world-class laboratories.
The Metamaterials Laboratory under the ICT-Electronics project is developing a transition to a component base for energy-efficient signal processing systems based on new physical principles. The research is carried out using the only in Russia and absolutely unique equipment of Mandelstam-Brillouin spectroscopy.
The Micro- and Nanoelectronics Research-to-Technology Centre is developing radio frequency identification systems based on acoustic radio frequency tags for operation in extreme conditions. The Department of Radioengineering and Electrodynamics has developed new models of two-dimensional hybrid materials for high-precision long-term UV radiation detectors. These detectors can be used for the analysis of biological and chemical substances, environmental monitoring, astronomical research, as well as the closed communication between artificial satellites.
A team of scientists from the Tailored Materials Laboratory has developed a composite for 5G communication devices that has no analogues in the world. It will increase the efficiency of the new generation of receiving and transmitting equipment by reducing interference.
Under the Chemistry and New Materials stratum project, the Research-to-Technology Centre is participating in ensuring real import substitution in the automotive industry. It is developing the direction of applying wear-resistant coatings to machine parts, taking into account the high requirements for the quality of this coating. The production of metal-cutting tools made of hard alloy has been established. Restoration of the cutting ability of the tool is very much in demand. The technology of application of phosphogypsum in the construction of roads and railways has been developed and tested. The material can almost completely replace crushed stone.
The development of catalysts for oil refining and organic synthesis processes is carried out at the Department of Petrochemistry and Technogenic Safety. The researchers have developed a catalyst for the synthesis of acrylic acid nitrile with a unique control of the state of the catalyst in real time. Research opportunities have expanded due to the new X-ray diffractometer DRON-8. With the help of it, it is possible to carry out work on reverse engineering of those materials that are so necessary for industry today to achieve technological sovereignty. This work is carried out jointly with fellow physicists using their KVAZAR software and computing complex.
The scientists of the Department of General and Inorganic Chemistry have developed an informative, fast, and cheap method for determining an important biomarker of inflammation in human blood and other biologically significant compounds. The existing analogues are able to determine the level of inflammation only at later stages of the disease or cost more.
The Digital University stratum project is aimed at improving the efficiency of administrations at various levels. The “digital platform” can be used not only in administrative management of territories, but in almost all spheres and branches of the national economy. Saratov University together with the territorial Office of Rosreestr has applied for the implementation of the Unified Digital Platform of National Spatial Data System Federal State Information System project (UDP NSDS FSIS). SSU is the developer of the pilot platform, and the Office of the Federal Register for Saratov Region is an information partner.
The fifth strategic project titled The Teacher in the Educational Paradigm is a model of continuous training of a school teacher: from a pedagogical class to a pedagogical internship. Its idea is that teacher training should begin when teachers-to-be study at school. Under the project, the Virtual Pedagogical Classroom is working (now recruitment for the new year of study is underway), the university's curriculums are improved, the CONSILIUM consultation centre for young teachers has been opened.
An important part of the Priority 2030 programme is also the institutional changes that are supposed to be carried out at the university in academic affairs, research, youth policy, work with staff, university management, its digitalisation, and information policy. According to the programme, it is necessary to hire more young scientists and professors, develop additional professional education, and participate in scientific and innovative consortia.
To remind, only 106 universities became participants of the programme in the first competitive selection last year. All of them were eligible for a grant of 100 million rubles annually for 10 years. Every subsequent year of the programme implementation, universities will have to defend the right to receive the funding.
