On the first day of the new academic year, Rector of Saratov University Aleksei Chumachenko congratulated the freshmen of the Faculty of Fundamental Medicine and Medical Technologies, which has opened this year. The meeting took place in the new spacious auditorium of the recently renovated Building VIII.
The rector addressed the students of the faculty.
‘Today another important stage in our history begins. This is the very moment when you need to take photographs because fifty years later, having found old footage in the electronic archive, someone will surely remember, ‘This was the first enrollment of the faculty’. It is always very honourable to go down in history but even this is not enough for you and me: today you have an opportunity to control the fate of an entire educational unit, write the main pages of its history yourself. So let them be truly memorable and interesting. Let those who will come after you say, ‘They did everything right.’
In his speech, Aleksei Chumachenko emphasised that it is quite natural to create a faculty focused on scientific and medical activity at a classical university, and that was the proposal of Chairman of the State Duma Vyacheslav Volodin. About 40% of all major courses conducted by SSU scientists are directly related to medical needs. According to the rector, it has always been this way: the university staff at all times reverently followed the historical traditions appeared in the years of the foundation of the educational institution, the first unit of which in 1909 was the Faculty of Medicine.
On September 1, the dean of the new faculty, Professor Sergei Kireyev, Head of the Research Medical Centre, Chair of the Department of Optics and Biophotonics, Corresponding Member of the Russian Academy of Sciences Valerii Tuchin, Chair of the Department of Medical Cybernetics, Professor Alexander Falkovich, Professor of the Department of Medicine Fundamentals and Medical Technologies Nikolai Ostrovskii, and Director of the Student Club Mark Pinkhasik.
In his welcoming speech, Sergei Kireyev noted, ‘Today, you and I are becoming accomplices of a significant event, co-authors of the university history. Knowledge Day is an excellent starting point for a new path, which will surely intersect with the scientific traditions of the past but will lead us to discoveries of the future.’
In turn, Valerii Tuchin, communicating with freshmen, spoke about the elements of the bright scientific life of the university full of international victories and explained why students always need to strive to master advanced research technologies.
Summing up the results of the conversation, a researcher, professor, and practitioner Nikolai Ostrovskii emphasised how important it is for modern specialists to be able to subtly combine theoretical knowledge with practical skills and abilities at work.
The guests of the meeting, who are recognised experts in interdisciplinary sciences, shared their wise advice and experience with the students, wishing them to boldly take on any scientific work that would be truly fascinating and interesting for them.
