Megasciences as the Foundation for Groundbreaking Scientific Research Discussion Session held at the World Youth Festival

At the World Youth Festival, experts discussed the development of Megasciences and the interest of young people in such projects. 

According to Denis Sekirinsky, Deputy Minister of Science and Higher Education of the Russian Federation, the development of such projects is important for the state from the point of view of ensuring national security, because this is the infrastructure that allows the generation of new knowledge. 

“In the past, we were mainly involved in international projects. Now we can start creating such infrastructure in our country. We expect that in the next five to seven years Russia will have the best megascience infrastructure in the world. Two important factors have come together here: the confidence of our president Vladimir Putin and the activity of Mikhail Kovalchuk, Head of the Kurchatov Institute,” noted Denis Sekirinsky.

In addition, according to him, this is important for the spatial development of the country and personnel training. 

According to Nikita Marchenkov, Head of the Kurchatov Complex of Synchrotron-Neutron Research and Chair of the Coordination Council for Youth Affairs in the Scientific and Educational Spheres of the Council under the President of the Russian Federation for Science and Education, Megascience, which creates large research infrastructure facilities, it is actively developing in Russia today. He noted that today young people strive to become part of such large megaprojects, realizing that they lead “to the cutting edge of science.” Megascience also requires new scientific personnel, new approaches to the preparation and training of future scientists, says Stepan Kalmykov, Vice-President of the Russian Academy of Sciences.

“Today, the boundaries between such traditional sciences as chemistry, physics, biology, mathematics are blurred. All breakthrough results that are already being implemented and will be implemented are interdisciplinary. This means that this requires slightly different approaches to personnel training. Chemists must know biology, biologists - chemistry, and so on. Then all these sciences, chemistry and biology become precise, of course, the role of mathematics and its influence on other sciences increases in any case. We understand perfectly well that when the current ones graduate in five or six years, a lot can change. Therefore, education must have a foundation, a base, and then what are called soft skills or additional competencies that can change quickly. Modern scientists should be ready to complete their studies throughout their lives, and this is absolutely normal,” said Stepan Kalmykov.

Creation of Megascience projects is aimed at the development of regions and the activities of universities, emphasized Alexander Blagov, Vice-President of the Kurchatov Institute National Research Center. 

“All installations are created from the point of view of solving problems that are specific to the region. It is very important that we create them near universities. That is, the university can use it as a home installation for the development of education and the scientific environment,” said Alexander Blagov.

In addition, the Vice-President of Kurchatov Institute National Research Center is sure that such projects always develop international cooperation and attract foreign specialists. 

The Megasciences as the Foundation for Groundbreaking Scientific Research discussion session took place on the day designated in the Festival program as the day of “Responsibility for the Fate of the World”, according to the organizers, the main theme that unites the program is formulated every day at the WYF. According to Vladimir Shevchenko, Rector of MEPhI, the Megascience development fully corresponds to the stated meaning of the day. 

“I think that the correlation is one hundred percent, because of the great challenges that humanity now faces, the problem of transition to new energy sources and more efficient use of existing ones is the key one. This is a global issue concerning people's access to the most basic attributes of civilization. And these problems cannot be solved only by politicians and diplomats; they are based on scientific and technical content. And the big projects that were discussed here are aimed, among other things, at solving these global problems. International cooperation is also important here, when people from different countries, from different scientific schools come together in order to solve common problems facing all of humanity. Experience shows that this is the only way these big issues can be resolved,” emphasized the MEPhI Rector.

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The World Youth Festival is held in the Sirius Federal Territory from March 1 to 7, 2024, in accordance with the Decree of Russian President Vladimir Putin in order to develop international youth cooperation.

The organizer of the World Youth Festival is the Federal Agency for Youth Affairs (Rosmolodezh), the operator of the WYF 2024 is the World Youth Festival Directorate.