Nobel Prize in Physics

Fields Medal winner

Fields Medal winner

Member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Science, Professor of Arctic Ecology

Research director of the G.N. Flyorov Laboratory of Nuclear Reactions Academician of the Joint Institute for Nuclear Research

Russian-American biologist and senior research fellow at the National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI) of the National Institute of Health (NIH)

Professor at Harvard Medical School

Member of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, Head of the Climate Research Group at the Davos Observatory (Switzerland)

Every human loses 1 kilogram of cells every day. Each one of them has its own functions and upon completing it the cell must go. The pathogenesis of many diseases is related to disruptions of this process. What are the mechanisms of cell death, how after 50 years a single academic work became turned into one of the most rapidly developing domains of biomedicine. We talked about this and many other things with Boris Zhivotoskiy, Doctor of Sciences in Biology, professor of Karolinska Institute, professor of the Moscow State University, chair of the Laboratory for the Research of Apoptosis Mechanisms of the Moscow State University created within the mega-grant project.

Heart diseases has been remaining the leading cause of mortality in the whole world for the past 20 years. What are the causes behind this phenomenon and how the academic community methodically solves problems arising before them? We will discuss this with Professor Konstantin I. Agladze, chair of a laboratory at MONIKI (Moscow Regional Research Clinical Institute named after Vladimirsky), chair of the Laboratory of the Biophysics of Excitable Systems at the Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology created within the mega-grant.

The language diversity is the subject of the most attentive studi by the academia. The influence of culture of the carriers on the features of the language model. How do sequences of articulatory gestures allow to take a glimpse into the past  and what does the future look like for verbal communication. This is what we are going to discuss today with Anna V. Dybo, corresponding member of the Russian Academy of Sciences, chair of the Laboratory of Linguistic Anthropology created within the mega-grant program at the Tomsk State University.

Professor, head of the N.I. Uraltsev Spin Optics Laboratory at the St. Petersburg State University created within the mega-grants program, head of the Polaritonics Group at the Russian Quantum Center, professor at the University of Southampton (UK) and the first Russian scientist to win the prestigious international Quantum Devices Award, is sure that Russian science will be able compete in quantum physics and quantum computing with such IT industry giants as Google and IBM

Evgeny Rozanov is one of the world's most famous researchers of the Earth's ozone layer and related climate change. He participated in the work of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), whose report was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2007. The scientist speaks about the dynamics of the changes in our planet's ozone layer, about the actual factors and risks affecting the climate change, about the possible future of the Arctic, Siberia, and the Krasnodar region.

In what direction is science working today to overcome humanity's dependence on neurodegenerative diseases? Which areas of research are the most promising? When will the diagnosis of these diseases cease to be actually a verdict? This is the subject of an interview with Andrey Abramov, a world leading expert, professor at the Institute of Neurology, University College London, and head of an Orel State University laboratory established within the mega-grant program.

The development of neurocomputer interfaces, i. e. systems of information exchange between the brain and the computer, is largely aimed at combating severe diseases. Parkinson's disease, ischemic stroke, musculoskeletal disorders. New results are accumulated and new prospects emerge in overcoming these and other severe ailments thanks to the efforts of scientists. How do neurointerfaces work? Which ones are more effective - invasive or non-invasive? How to decipher the signals of the human brain? Is it possible to learn to control human behavior? Professor Mikhail Lebedev, scientific director of the Center for Bioelectrical Interfaces created under the megagrant program at the Higher School of Economics, and director of the V. Zelman Center for Neurobiology and Neurorehabilitation at Skoltech, reflects on these and other questions.

Aging is a topic of reflection and scientific research by biologists, physicians, and philosophers. Vadim Gladyshev, one of the world's most prominent scientists in this field, professor of medicine, head of a laboratory at Harvard University, member of the US National Academy of Sciences, head of the laboratory of systems biology of aging created within the megagran at Lomonosov Moscow State University,  program, talks about aging.

Nikolai Piskunov, Professor of Astronomy at the Institute of Physics and Astronomy, Uppsala University (Sweden), head of the Laboratory for the Study of Stars with Exoplanets opened within the megagrant program at the Institute of Astronomy of the Russian Academy of Sciences, is actively involved in the creation of the world's most powerful Extremely Large Telescope (ELT) in Chile Theh scientist talks about the telescope under construction, the methods and prospects for discovering new planets, the future of the Sun and the universe, the chances and meaning of searching for extra-Earth civilizations.

The search for new information signal carriers that would make it possible to process and transmit information at frequencies hundreds of times higher than those of modern microprocessors is one of the key tasks that physicists dealing with micromagnetism are working on. What does the creation of meander films mean for the Russian electronics industry? What are the leading Russian scientists working on today in the field of metamaterials? How are ideas born in science? Sergey Nikitov, director of the Kotelnikov Institute of Radio Engineering and Radioelectronics, head of the laboratory "Metamaterials," created within the megagrant program at the N. G. Chernyshevsky Saratov National Research State University, talks about this.

What guides leading scientists doing research in mathematics? What is "pure" mathematics and how justified is this definition? What goals in science can be achieved through "greedy" approximations? Vladimir Temlyakov, a professor at the University of South Carolina, and the V.A. Steklov Mathematical Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences, a leading researcher at the Faculty of Mechanics and Mathematics and the Center for Basic Research at the Lomonosov Moscow State University and the head of the laboratory "Multivariate Approximation and Applications" created at the Lomonosov Moscow State University within the megagrant program, talks about this and much more.

Research lead by  Anatoly Snigirev is aimed at developing and improving X-ray optical elements and devices for scientific facilities of the "Megasciences" class. The scientist speaks about the results of his work, the components of a successful scientific career, and the prospects of Russian research in the field of optics.

According to Igor Semiletov, professor at Tomsk Polytechnic University and the University of Alaska Fairbanks, daily methane emissions to the atmosphere in the area of the East Siberian sea shelf already amount to hundreds of kilograms from one square meter of the sea surface. Underwater Arctic permafrost containing methane is intensely degrading, and the dynamics of this degradation do not inspire optimism in scientists.

The main goal of materials science is not to study already existing materials but to create new ones with predetermined, controllable properties. This is how Professor Dmitry Ivanov, one of the most prominent  contemporary  materials researchers, Director of Research at the French National Science Center and Head of a Laboratory at the Department of Chemistry at Lomonosov Moscow State University, formulates his understanding of this interdisciplinary field of science. How does nature inspire scientists to create new materials? What are adaptive biomimetic structures? What are the qualities of Russian scientists that are valued  in leading scientific countries?

Professor Emeritus of the Lomonosov Moscow State University, corresponding member of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Evgeny Lomakin talks about the properties of modern and advanced materials, methods and parameters for determining their qualities, the uniqueness of Russian scientific experience, and dedication to science.

What is the difference between a synchrotron and a collider? In what way is the Siberian Ring Photon Source (SKIF) superior to other Megasciences facilities? Who will work in the Russian science of the future? These and other questions are answered by the chief researcher of the Budker Institute of Nuclear Physics of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, professor at the Novosibirsk State University, head of the Laboratory of Synchrotron Radiation Detectors created within the megagrant program at the Tomsk State University.

The times of simple problems in mathematics are over, but computers are coming to aid computational scientists, whose importance will increase in the future. Professor Pavel Plotnikov, head of the Laboratory of Mathematical Hydrodynamics created within the megagrant program at the Voronezh State University, tells about the research in fundamental and applied mathematics, about computer technologies, about how machine learning works.

Professor and Director of the N. N. Miklukho-Maklai Institute of Ethnology and Anthropology of the Russian Academy of Sciences Dmitry Funk is sure that professional and high-quality study of the origin, development and existence of various peoples in natural and cultural environments can solve a variety of problems. But these studies require of scientists an extremely accurate approach to the organization of research work and to the use of its results. The scientist talks about ethnology, anthropology, the history of the relations between scientists and members of various ethnic groups living in Russia.

Modern applied mathematics makes it possible to predict by dozens of parameters the implementation of projects in a variety of fields, from mining to urban construction. Yalchin Efendiev, professor at Texas A&M University, Professor Emeritus of the M. K. Ammosov North-Eastern Federal University and participant of the megagrant program, talks about how scientists create a digital picture of the world, which then becomes reality.