Still choosing among Russian universities? Interested in academic collaboration? Looking for applicable ideas for your future profession? Be inspired: learn more about the Holiday we’ve been celebrating today, and Top 10 PSU Research Activities in 2021!
On 8 February, all Russian universities, higher educational institutions and research schools celebrate the Russian Science Day. Today, Perm State University (PSU) has been paying respect to its bright young students, teaching professors, faculty staff, international fellow scholars and partners from Russia and abroad – with wishes of sound health, creativity, fruitful research and recognition! Here are Top-10 news involving our scholars in 2021 we are proud about:
1. Bio-Control: PSU biologists and geologists in cooperation with scientists from the Far East of Russia have conducted a micro-chemical analysis of the Oncorhynchus keta auditory bones, both of natural and artificial origin. The results will allow to estimate the fish stock in the Amur river, depending on season.
2. Building Software: The Difra Lab software created by PSU physicists and the Photonics NTI Competence Center (Центр компетенций НТИ «Фотоника») has been announced a hi-tech breakthrough of 2021. Incorporating virtual models, the software will reduce the time spent on developing photonic integrated circuits.
3. Understanding Memory: As part of an international research team, Professor Eduard Korkotyan and his assistant Lilia Kushnireva, Faculty of Chemistry, PSU, have been exploring a nano-level structure of memory. This helped to reveal the character of brain dysfunctions, including the Alzheimer’s disease.
4. Overcoming Oil Pollution: PSU researchers have tested a low-cost way to clean up groundwater and soil from oil pollution. Based on industrial test, the new method will allow to perform 80% better cleaning – using the biomass generated by PSU Institute of Natural Sciences.
5. Testing Car Tires: the Faculty of Mechanics and Mathematics, PSU have developed a new way to test materials for car tires – collecting and interpreting data on softening and non-linear behavior of the material, including its principal and residual change – and thus, reducing costs for its testing.
6. Estimating Property Value: A group of PSU scientists led by Professor Leonid Yasnitsky have trained a neural network to predict changes in the market value of city apartments – based on interpretation of currency exchange rates, oil prices, housing construction and mortgage lending.
7. Improving Gas and Oil Equipment: the Organic Synthesis Laboratory along with the Department of Physical Chemistry, PSU united efforts to improve the protective compounds in gas and oil industry equipment, reducing the metal corrosion rate by more than 90%.
8. Drawing ‘Naïve’ Maps: Following the popular vision of Russia beyond Moscow city range, PSU scholars have created ‘naïve’ maps – reflecting the overall understanding of the country by Russians themselves, based on citizens’ intuitive approach rather than official facts or figures.
9. Studying Immune Reaction: Mikhail Chirkov from the Faculty of Mechanics and Mathematics, PSU, has developed a math model describing the impact of immunotherapy on the dynamics of immune response – allowing to predict the progress of disease, and choose most appropriate treatment.
PSU in World Rankings
Followed by many more steps in scientific, research and teaching activities, in 2021, PSU has re-established its competitive status in the Round University Ranking (RUR), Times Higher Education (THE) Ranking and Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) Ranking.
According to RUR, Perm State University (PSU) has raised up from 481 to 380 place in Humanities. PSU shows most significant progress in “Educational Activity” (248 to 128 place) and “Scientific Activity” (549 to 494 place). On a national level, PSU takes 13th place in Humanities, incl. 9th place in “Education”, and 12th place in “Scientific Activity”.
In Social Sciences, PSU has moved up internationally from 658 to 632 place, demonstrating the growth in “Scientific Activity” (706 to 668 place) and “Financial stability” (363 to 314 place). Staying 35th nationally, PSU has made a few steps up in “Scientific Activity” (44 to 32 place), and a couple steps down in “Educational Activity” (38 to 42).