Nine scientists from St Petersburg University win awards from St Petersburg Government

Alexander Beglov, Governor of St Petersburg, congratulated the winners of the Government Prize and thanked them for their service to the city.

By tradition, on the birthday of St Petersburg, we present the most prestigious city awards to academic staff at universities and institutions of non-university level higher education.

Governor of St Petersburg Alexander Beglov

‘Research, education, and St Petersburg are inseparable. This year, we are celebrating the 350th anniversary of Peter the Great. His transformations were aimed to make Russia a leading power. He created Russian science, founded the Academy of Sciences, the University, and the Academic Gymnasium in our city. His undertakings have benefited the whole world,’ said Alexander Beglov. ‘For three centuries, St Petersburg’s scientists have made many significant discoveries that benefit the whole world. Today, you are following their path.’ Alexander Beglov added that about 10% of the whole research potential of the country is concentrated in St Petersburg. About 3,000 scientific organisations and 70 universities work in the city, with more than 300,000 students studying here. According to Alexander Beglov, what the prize winners are doing is incredibly significant. They educate and teach younger generation. Our future is in their hands.

In 2022, 21 prizes were awarded for outstanding results in science and technology in 17 categories, including six prizes for young scientists. There were 47 teachers who won awards for outstanding achievements in higher education and non-university level higher education in seven nominations.

This year, nine scientists from St Petersburg University won the awards of the Government of St Petersburg. In the ‘Geography, and Atmospheric and Hydrosphere Sciences’ nomination, Vladislav Kuznetsov, Doctor of Geology and Mineralogy, Professor in the Department of Geomorphology at St Petersburg University, was awarded the Budyko Prize. The award was given for a series of scientific works "Development of methods of radioisotope geochronology of Quaternary deposits: theoretical aspects and practical use in palaeogeography, palaeoclimatology, oceanology". Vladislav Kuznetsov is the head of the Department of Geomorphology, which is the oldest in Russia. He and his colleagues had won a mega-grant from the Government of the Russian Federation to create a state-of-the-art laboratory for geomorphological and palaeogeographical studies of the polar regions and the World Ocean at St Petersburg University. In 2011, he was awarded the letter of gratitude from the Minister of Science and Higher Education of the Russian Federation for scientific achievements. In 2015, he received the title of Honorary Worker of Higher Education of the Russian Federation.

The winner of the Tarle Award in the "Historical Sciences" nomination is Aleksandr Puchenkov, Professor in the Department of Contemporary History of Russia at St Petersburg University, Doctor of History. The researcher was nominated for outstanding research achievements in the field of studying the history of the revolution and the Civil War in Russia. For 25 years, Aleksandr Puchenkov has been studying this topic. He has published a series of books and about 200 articles on the history of Russia in the first quarter of the 20th century.

The Tarle Award has existed for about 30 years. So far it has never been awarded to scholars from St Petersburg University who have been nominated for it each time. I am therefore happy for the University we serve. It is doubly pleasant that the first historical monograph that I once read a long time ago was the book by Yevgeny Tarle presented to me by my mother.

Aleksandr Puchenkov, Professor in the Department of Contemporary History of Russia at St Petersburg University, Doctor of History

‘I am a graduate of the best University in the world, where I hope to work until the end of my days. As a native citizen of St Petersburg, I am extremely pleased to be awarded a high award on the anniversary of our city. I am a historian of the revolution and today I have visited the Smolny only for the second time in my life. I note that this year we are celebrating another anniversary, i.e. the centenary of the formation of the Soviet Union’, said Aleksandr Puchenkov.

The winner of the Dashkova Award for young scientists in the nomination "Humanities and Social Sciences" was Gayane Vartanyan, Candidate of Psychology, Research Associate in the Department of Psychology of Behaviour and Behavioural Deviations at St Petersburg University. The Government Award was given for her outstanding results in the study of the psychological characteristics of people with destructive behaviour in Russia. ‘I am overwhelmed with feelings and emotions, because it is a great honour for me to be awarded this award. As far as I know, psychologists receive it for the second time, and I am especially proud to represent St Petersburg University’, said Gayane Vartanyan. ‘It was at the University in 1981 that the first specialisation in legal psychology in our country was opened thanks to Professor Boris Lyskov. As a representative of the St Petersburg (Leningrad) school of legal psychology, I continue the ideas of our teachers and I therefore believe that this is our common victory, which, I hope, will contribute to both my growth and the development of my colleagues.’

For the contribution to the development of the experimental technique of spin noise spectroscopy, the Euler Prize in the nomination "Natural and Technical Sciences" was awarded to Ivan Ryzhov, Candidate of Physics and Mathematics, Assistant Professor in the Department of Photonics at St Petersburg University. The award for young scientists for outstanding achievements in bioinformatics and algorithmic biology is Andrey Prjibelski, Candidate of Physics and Mathematics, Senior Research Associate in the Centre for Bioinformatics and Algorithmic Biotechnology at the Institute of Translational Biomedicine at St Petersburg University

In 2022, for the first time, the Leonov Prize was awarded in the nomination "Cybernetics and Artificial Intelligence". The Leonov Prize was established on the initiative of scientists at St Petersburg University. The Leonov Prize was awarded to Lev Utkin, Professor in the Higher School of Artificial Intelligence at the Peter the Great St Petersburg Polytechnic University, Doctor of Engineering. He received the prize for the research and development complex "Solving Fundamental and Applied Problems of Artificial Intelligence in Medicine and Industry".

Among the winners of the St Petersburg Government Award for outstanding achievements in higher education non-university level higher education in 2022 is a team of authors, which included researchers from the Department of Mathematical Modelling in Economical Systems at St Petersburg University: Aleksandr Prasolov, Nikolai Smirnov, and Inna Trofimova. The scientists won in the nomination "Development of Innovative Activity in an Educational Organisation" for the development and implementation of the degree programme of higher education "Mathematical Methods of Digitalisation of Economics".

The winner in the nomination "Research Achievements Contributing to Improving the Quality of Training Highly Qualified Specialists and Personnel" is Liliia Duskaeva, Professor at St Petersburg University, the author of the work "Stylistic Analysis in Media Linguistics". The book is devoted to stereo texts, i.e. new normative text formats that were developed and formed in the hypertext environment within the media. These materials are created not only by an author, but also by many commentators who evaluate the source text and express their opinion. In her book, she tried to analyse and see the patterns of these forms of texts that appear under the influence of a more complex environment.

Language develops not only as a system of morphological and lexical signs. It is important to understand that in new technological conditions, new technological styles and formats are created, and this is the focus of my work.

Liliia Duskaeva, Professor at St Petersburg University

‘From my point of view, the study of a language is significant not so much in a scientific sense, but in a universal sense. Language is the basis of Russian statehood. The book on the development of the Russian language in new technological conditions shows that we do not live on the edge of civilisation. We are inside it. In the globalising world, we are developing together with others. Yet, in some way, we are also developing in our own way. In such circumstances, without a language that demonstrates this process, it is impossible to understand where we are moving’, said Liliia Duskaeva.

In 2022, almost 200 applications were submitted to receive the awards of the Government of St Petersburg. The winners were 68 members of the academic staff at universities and colleges, including members of teams of authors.