The matriculation ceremony for first year students of St Petersburg University – 2021
On 31 August, St Petersburg University will be holding the matriculation ceremony for thousands of its first-year students. This year, the ‘Freshmen Initiation Day’ will be broadcast online, but all the University traditions that have accompanied it over the years will be kept
The broadcast of the grand ceremony will begin at 11.45am. It will be anchored by famous graduates of St Petersburg University: TV journalists Roman Gerasimov and Liudmila Shiriaeva. During the ceremony, Rector of St Petersburg University Nikolay Kropachev will congratulate the students and officially announce the start of the new academic year.
One of the key parts of the festive programme will be the St Petersburg University project ‘Hour of Science’. It is a series of short engaging lectures by top University scholars and scientists and science communicators. Professor Alexey Kavokin, Head of the Spin Optics Laboratory, will speak to yesterday's applicants. In 2020, he became the first Russian scientist ever to be awarded the Quantum Devices Award. This award is given for innovative contributions in the field of complex semiconductor devices and devices with quantum nanostructures.
Another lecture will be delivered by his colleague, Valerii Zapasskii, Doctor of Physics and Mathematics and Leading Research Associate at the Spin Optics Laboratory, St Petersburg University. He has been recently awarded the title of laureate of the National Award in Science and Technology. His work played a key role in the development of a new field in nuclear magnetic resonance – spin noise spectroscopy. Additionally, another speaker of the project will be Professor Pavel Musienko, Head of the Laboratory of Neuroprosthetics at the Institute of Translational Biomedicine, Doctor of Science (Medicine). One of his latest developments is the NeuroPrint soft neuroprosthesis 3D printing technology. In the future, it can literally help put a person on their feet after a spinal cord injury.
On their first day as students, freshmen will be able to get acquainted with other areas of university. Roman Gerasimov will host a talk show about student research projects. One of the final chords of the event will be the online ceremony of setting the ‘Ships of Hope’ afloat. Each University student will be able to virtually ‘set their boat afloat’ with a wish, by designing it to their liking site. At the same time, yachts with the inscription ‘I love SPbU’ on the sails will be manoeuvring in the water area of the Neva River.
Programme
- 11.40am Broadcast start
- 12 noon Ceremony start
- 1pm Hour of Science: Alexey Kavokin, Valerii Zapasskii, Pavel Musienko
- 2.20pm Admission campaign at St Petersburg University: Aleksandr Babich, Marina Lavrikova
- 2.50pm Interview with Nikolay Kropachev, Rector of St Petersburg University
- 3.20pm Talk show: student research projects
- 4.15pm Online ceremony of setting the ‘Ships of Hope’ afloat on the website dreams.spbu.ru