Tomsk Science 2016: risky ideas, "smart" machines and lots of robots

TOMSK, Dec 27 – RIA Tomsk, Karina Sapunova. The main events of Tomsk science in 2016 are connected not so much with scientists that with organizational decisions: participation in projects and medical SRI merging, rankings advance and course on robotics … What it means for the Tomsk region and what invented Tomsk scientists – in RIA Tomsk material.

Don't count your rankings before they are hatched

For years Tomsk State and Tomsk Polytechnic Universities (TSU and TPU) are involved in the program for increasing the global competitiveness "5-100", which aims to ensure that by 2020 at least five Russian universities entered the top hundred universities of the world.

Tomsk universities again this year received financing on "5-100" – on 0,5 billion rubles. They actively work on their position in the world, cooperating with the leading scientists, creating new laboratories (for example, the international center RASA in TPU where developments in the field of medicine are conducted), and the classical university even began to train employees in English.

It became clear in the fall  that all is not in vain – universities promoted in the world rankings again.

In September the rating was published by the QS agency (Quacquarelli Symonds). Last year both Tomsk universities were in group of 481-490 higher education institutions, also they got to top ten higher education institutions of the Russian Federation. This time TSU risen to the 377th position, and TPU tooke the 400th place. Among the Russian higher education institutions the State University became the seventh, and Polytechnic University – the eighth.

Also QS carries TSU to higher education institutions where best of all teach physics, astronomy and the modern languages. TPU entered category "Physics and Astronomy" too. Rectors of the universities noted that advance in ratings – is the merit of all collective.

According to other authoritative rating – Times Higher Education (THE) – both Tomsk higher education institutions are included into category 501-600, having shown the ninth result among the Russian higher education institutions. From the rating it becomes clear that better than all at the Tomsk universities is the situation with the budget, as well as with international activities. Most of all Polytechnic University "sinks" in the sphere of scientific activity, and State University – in quoting level.

Also two largest Tomsk higher education institutions are noted in THE rating for BRICS countries: TPU takes the 56th place, TSU rose to the 60th.

Other higher education institutions distinguished in different ratings. So, it became known that graduates of Tomsk State University of Control Systems and Radioelectronics (TUSUR) in the first year of work get paid on average 44,3 thousand rubles per month. It is more, than an average salary of the experts who have graduated from other higher education institutions of Tomsk. In general across the Russian Federation TUSUR entered top-100 on this indicator.

And the Tomsk State University of Architecture and Building (TSUAB) took the first place in the National rating of higher education institutions on a share of means from research work and implementation of additional educational programs in the budget.

It is not far to Moscow

This year in the Tomsk science will be remembered also by cooperation with the federal funds which as hope in Tomsk, will give real support to the Siberian scientists.

Creation of the Siberian center of robotics became one of key events in this direction: in January the governor of the Tomsk region Sergey Zhvachkin submitted to the Deputy Prime Minister of the Government of the Russian Federation Dmitry Rogozin the project of creation of the Siberian center of robotics in Tomsk, and in June the center was opened.

The Tomsk center became the first regional branch of the Fund of Perspective Researches (FPR) and will coordinate work of robotechnicians throughout Siberia. As the fund specializes in work with the high-risk ideas, through the Tomsk center it will be possible to get support of risky projects for the defense industry complex (DIC).

"It will be always possible to come to the center <…> and to bring the most mad ideas <…>. Mad – in sense of flight of a thought, but justification has to be rigid", – the head of the fund Andrey Grigoriev told at opening of the Tomsk branch.

Moreover, in the fall Rogozin personally arrived to Tomsk to examine developments. After the excursion across "scientific" Tomsk the Deputy Prime Minister noted that risky developments are necessary to the Russian defense industry complex. He promised that he will charge to profile general designers to study the Tomsk developments and to put them into operation.

Besides, in the fall Fund of Perspective Researches and the Siberian state medical university (SSMU) have signed the contract: the higher education institution will look for projects which "will shoot" in 20-30 years for fund. Developments have to correspond to one of the profile areas of work of FPR: bionics, medical robotics, artificial intelligence, new medical materials and others.

"FPR ordered to us to carry out complex full analytics of the state of affairs on biomedicine and natural sciences in all Siberian Federal District. By means of various techniques – the analysis of open sources, personal meetings, business trips and other methods – we have to reveal perspective developments", – the rector of medical university told RIA Tomsk.

It is necessary to discuss

The most notable of scientific events for simple residents of Tomsk became two "Nights of Science" which passed within the framework of big actions – the forum U-NOVUS (in May) and the congress "Zdrav 2016" (in November). Citizens could shake hands with the robot, take a walk in laboratories. And at this time at forums scientists represented the developments and discussed scientific problems.

The third forum of young scientists U-NOVUS took place in Tomsk on May 12-13. It was devoted to a subject of robotics and brought together 12 thousand people. Within the forum, besides scientific conferences and round tables, there took place the All-Russian Science Game and the exhibition of innovative developments of young scientists.

At the forum it was possible to see tens of robots – tiny and growth from the person, speaking, flying, clever, "ill" and many others. The "life of the party" became the robot dandy provided by the Moscow institute of technology. He kept a conversation with visitors of the exhibition, payed compliments and even joked.

One of the brightest events of the forum became the stage of the international competitions in robotics RoboCup Russia Open 2016. In the championship competed robots football players and rescuers, there took place the competition on the best show of robots. It was supposed that in 2018 Tomsk will host the world final of RoboCup, but these hopes were not realized.

It is already known that in 2017 talents and perspective technologies will become the subject of U-NOVUS.

The second congress "Health care of Russia. Technologies of the advancing development" brought together 5,87 thousand participants. Physicians discussed new technologies and medicines, personnel questions. Separate sections were devoted to problems of an opisthorchiasis, healthy nutrition and healthy lifestyle, and the plenary session – to the question of advantage and harm of antibiotics.

Opening the congress, the governor asked physicians to find the recipe of longevity. "I want to give you a task to find answers to two questions: how to help people to become long-livers and how to keep health as long as possible. Also promise that you will tell about results of the work on the example of the patients", – Zhvachkin told.

Synergy for medicine

The main event of 2016 in medical science of Tomsk – is the official merging of all six medical scientific research institutes existing in the region in the uniform National Research Medical Center (NRMC). One of the merging purposes – to accelerate introduction of scientific developments in applied medicine. And there are a lot of inventions.

For example, the scientific research institute of cardiology this year finished work on coronary stents which can not just contain growth of atherosclerotic plaques in arteries, but also destroy them – it is important for prevention of strokes. The same institute passes tests of the pocket devices developed in TPU for electrocardiograms.

Following the results of a year the consolidated budget of NRMC is estimated at 4 billion rubles – 100 million more, than institutes received the previous year. It was planned that except the Tomsk scientific research institutes it will include the organizations from Irkutsk, Krasnoyarsk and Novosibirsk, however this idea was abandoned.

For Earth and Space

If we talk about specific developments, this year the Tomsk scientists offered the ideas for the most different branches. For example, experts of TSU together with colleagues from other scientific centers have offered such way to blow up dangerous asteroids which will allow to do it without threat for Earth.

"The majority of dangerous objects several times passes near Earth before facing it. There is an opportunity to blow up an asteroid while it moves away from the planet", – noted in higher education institution.

Polytechnicians in honor of the 120 anniversary of TPU launched own satellite which transferred a congratulation from students, and in the future it will allow to experience a number of developments. It is unique the fact that it is the first-ever satellite which case is 3D-printed.

Now the device onboard the International Space Station (ISS), it will be removed in an outer space in the 2017. And meanwhile in TPU own Control center of flights was created, and the students practicing in it already have learned to contact the ISS and participate in the All-Russian experiments.

And engineers of the Tomsk innovative company INTEC participated in absolutely "earthly" project – they helped to develop Nimb ring. If the owner of such accessory gets into trouble, then he will be able to report about it in the emergency services or to relatives by means of "the disturbing button".

TSU scientists were engaged in security at the All-Russian level. Within several months they studied extremist communities in social network VKontakte, analyzing messages. They found out that Siberians are interested in extremism less than other Russians.

And their colleagues from TUSUR take it a step further. Having created programs for the analysis of the text and images in social networks, they have already started them in the test mode in a number of the Asian countries. The Tomsk technologies allow to reveal messages in Internet, containing appeals to illegal activity, and also attempts of criminal organizations to recruit Internet users.