Innovative creative space of St Petersburg University "Mendeleev" opened in St Petersburg

The new centre at St Petersburg University will be used to develop international cooperation, including projects with the University’s technology partners and research organisations, as well as for interdisciplinary research and events: workshops; conferences; strategy sessions; and hackathons.

The Mendeleev space is another centre of the University that I am sure will become a new centre of attraction for scholars and students. The decision to name the centre after the distinguished professor of St Petersburg Imperial University was prompted by the demand and relevance of the research findings of Dmitri Mendeleev in a variety of fields: from modern materials science to the economic development of the country.

Nikolay Kropachev, Rector of St Petersburg University and Corresponding Member of the Russian Academy of Sciences

He also spoke about the experience of St Petersburg University in organising cooperation with major universities and enterprises located in the constituent entities of the Russian Federation. For example, in 2020, St Petersburg University launched the Mendeleev regional development support programme, which now brings together more than 48 higher education institutions in the country. This and other initiatives facilitate the University’s interaction with government agencies and organisations from various sectors of the economy. To date, more than 1,900 representatives of organisations that are employers for the University graduates are members of more than 200 councils of academic programmes of St Petersburg University. More than 1,500 people are members of state assessment committees of the University.

I am proud that a new platform for the development of education and science is opening up in our city. I am sure that the negotiations that will be held here, the decisions that will be made here, and the ideas that will emerge here will develop our city and our country.

Stanislav Kazarin, Vice-Governor of St Petersburg

In his turn, Kirill Borisov, Acting Director of the Department of State Science and Technology Policy of the Russian Ministry of Science and Higher Education, said: ‘The University is actively engaging young people in research activities. This is one of the key objectives of the Decade of Science and Technology. Today, a new space has been opened where scientific tasks will be solved. This will undoubtedly help to move science forward and attract new partners to the University.’

As part of the St Petersburg University Alumni Day, a discussion entitled ’International Science and Technology Partnership: Turning East’ was held at the St Petersburg University Mendeleev Conference Centre. It was attended by: Sergey Mikushev, Vice-Rector for Research of St Petersburg University; Raul Gainetdinov, Director of the Institute of Translational Biomedicine at St Petersburg University; and Yulia Dmitrieva, Senior Manager of the Project Office for Education Development and International Cooperation at Rosatom State Corporation. A guided tour was also organised for the participants in the event. During the tour, the staff of the Dmitri Mendeleev Museum and Archives of St Petersburg University told the guests about the research activities of Dmitri Mendeleev and his life at the University.