Demonstration of Students’ Research Projects

The 2016 Regional Festival of Students’ Science has taken place in the Armory Museum of Astrakhan Kremlin. It has been arranged jointly by Astrakhan Region’s Ministry of Education & Science and by Astrakhan State University.

Opening the event, whose range of participants has included about 300 people, Mr. Alexander Zhilkin, Governor of Astrakhan Region, has emphasized the significance of this Festival as a part of the Caspian International Technological Forum. Speaking about its tasks, he said that the present-day epoch for Russia is similar to the late 17th – early 18th centuries, when Tsar Peter the Great ruled the country. 300 years ago, radical reforms were executed thanks to scientific achievements, and the country leaped forward despite the crisis. Nowadays, as Mr. Zhilkin remarked, Russia is in a similar situation, and any progress is possible only provided talented young researchers contribute to it. According to the Governor, this Festival shall definitely contribute to Astrakhan Region’s dynamic development significantly.

Mr. Vitaliy Gutman, Minister of Education & Science of Astrakhan Region, has continued the official part of the event agenda. He remarked that even a quick glance at numerous developments presented at the Festival is enough to regard the event as a worthwhile one. He wished all the participants made their ideas come true in the near future.

Singing and dancing teams of ASU’s Department of Pedagogics, Social Work, and Physical Training have provided an atmosphere of a true holiday at the Festival.

After the official part, the Governor, the Minister, and the jurors have examined expositions of all the educational institutions (six universities and three colleges) that included about 70 projects. Among the developments presented by people of Astrakhan State University, the distinguished guests have especially been interested in the Body Harmony (determination of a body constitution type to develop a system of the right nutrition and physical training) by our Department of Pedagogics, Social Work, and Physical Training, in the Monitoring Surveys as Efficient Tool to Obtain Sociological Data in Live Mode (by the Department of Social Communications), and in the Pucks Harvester (a robot capable of carrying out various tasks, e.g. overcoming road obstacles) by the Department of Physics & Technology.

Giving his comments, the Governor has pointed out that Astrakhan State University has demonstrated a high level of its creative developments and that now it is necessary to commercialize them by accentuating their novelty and advantages over existing similar products. In his turn, the Regional Minster of Education and Science has remarked that our University has been generating very interesting ideas for a long time; continuing the Governor’s speech, he has advised our inventors to concentrate on business aspects of their developments, to learn how to sell their products, which is as useful and hard as to create them.

Prof. Anna Fedotova, Vice Rector for Research Activities of ASU (she headed the jury), remarked that the idea to arrange this Festival came in December 2015, when the Festival of Students’ Science took place at our University. “One of its main goals was to reveal students’ developments unfamiliar for the public. We could do that, so we suggested our idea to the Regional Ministry of Education and Science, and they backed us. Experience of arranging such a large-scale exposition at the regional level is essential for us as well. Nonstandard solutions suggested by our students are quite different from mature people’s projects, as young people tend to be optimistic and perceive life in another way”, the Vice Rector said.

According to Prof. Sergey Khrapov, Chairperson of the Organizing Committee and Research Supervisor of the Students’ Scientific Council of ASU, this Regional Festival has proved that arrangement and promotion of science needs new forms. “Activities of our Students’ Scientific Council are essential to meet this goal”, he said. “ASU was the only institution to include a student into the Organizing Committee. We let our students organize complicated processes themselves, create, participate in scientific events, and demonstrate their talents”.

Victor Dorofeev, Chairperson of the Students’ Scientific Council of ASU, said that experience of arranging such events, which people of ASU gained previously, has been of real value: everything was arranged excellently – from the disposition of stands to the entertaining program.

Awarding the winners, Mr. Gutman pointed out: “I believe I’m in an unreal time – so unexpected were some developments for me. The most important thing is not your developments themselves, but your smart and talented presentations of what you developed. Today’s Festival is just your first step to success. A hard road awaits you, because science and innovations are both interesting and very difficult. I wouldn’t say the first Festival is closed – I’d say a second Festival is opened!”

The following projects by people of ASU have got awards: the Body Harmony, the Monitoring Surveys as Efficient Tool to Obtain Sociological Data in Live Mode, and the Pucks Harvester. The Governor has recommended the Body Harmony for the adult target audience. All the other developments of ASU have been awarded with diplomas of nominees. Each young developer has obtained a certificate of participation.

Let us congratulate the young inventors on their awards!

Russian original information source: T.Yu. Gavrilkina (University Web Resources Information Support Laboratory of ASU)

Russian original photo source: K.R. Ekshembeeva (University Web Resources Information Support Laboratory of ASU)