From June 29 to July 7, the delegation from the Department of Inorganic Chemistry of the Institute of Natural Science at Samara University visited the capital of the Kabardino-Balkarian Republic – the city of Nalchik and took part in the 11th National Crystal Chemical Conference.
Maria Viktorovna, a student of the Chemical Faculty, mentions that this year the number of young scientists – students and postgraduate students – was the biggest from the time the Conference had been organized, “The concentration of young scientists was acknowledged as the maximum, which undoubtedly certifies that the scientific events are of topical interest for the students”.
Each of the twelve representatives of Samara University participated in the poster session of the Conference with a poster reflecting the essence of their academic work. Our chemists managed to fittingly present the results of their activities among numerous academic topics and research.
According to Sergey Kondrashkin and Vladislav Kirillov, the 5-year students of the Chemical Faculty and laboratory assistants from the Department of Inorganic Chemistry, the joint trip did not only help the guys to unite and get the required skills in team work but also became their debut in away scientific conferences. “An amazing trip!” the guys shared their impressions.
According to Sergey Kondrashkin, “It was very interesting to be present at reports of postgraduate students, teachers and professors engaged in the field of crystal chemistry. To learn about their academic activities and approaches used to describe the crystalline structure. It was also engaging to speak to authors who were happy to answer the arising questions”. Vladislav Kirillov also shares his impressions: “Sharing your personal experience and knowledge is an inalienable part of studies and development of science. Learning new scientific methods and approaches, each of us deeply understands such a wonderful scientific field as crystal chemistry. It was a pleasure to see readiness to teach and study demonstrated by both young and experienced participants of the Conference”.
Besides the Conference, a sightseeing tour was organized in Nalchik during which the participants of the Conference visited the sights of the capital city of Kabardino-Balkaria.
The tour to the blue lakes in the settlement of Verkhnyaya Balkaria was the most memorial for representatives of Samara University. Pavel Pirozhkov, a postgraduate student of the Department of Inorganic Chemistry, told about the events organized by the receiving party – the Federal Research Center of Problems of Chemical Physics and Medical Chemistry of the Russian Academy of Sciences: “During the Conference we managed to go on several tours. At one of them, we learned the city history and saw its main sights. During the other tour, we went to the far-off regions and enjoyed unbelievable landscapes as well as a wonderful natural phenomenon, the Blue karst lake. The road along the edge of the cliff was the most impressive, with some parts of it being in tunnels cut through the mountains”.
The senior academic staff also went on tour to the Elbrus region. No one was left indifferent notwithstanding the fact that the previous Conference had been held there.
The guys interviewed Anton Savchenkov, associate professor at the Department of Inorganic Chemistry: “The Conference was very successful. There were many reports from various fields of science where crystal chemistry allows to solve tasks and advance forward to attaining goals. This year, we broke the record in the number of young participants of the Conference, and there were 12 researchers in Samara University delegation. The place where the Conference was held should be particularly noted – the verdant city of Nalchik where the snow-capped peaks of the Caucasus Mountains are seen practically from anywhere”.
The article was prepared by the student academic community of the Faculty of Philology and Journalism of Samara University
Text: Ivan Perepelkin, Maria Yusupova
Photo: Maria Yusupova