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Date submitted2023-08-16
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Date accepted2023-10-25
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Date published2023-10-27
250 years in the service of the Fatherland: Empress Catherine II Saint Petersburg Mining University in facts and figures
In 2023, Empress Catherine II Saint Petersburg Mining University – the first higher technical educational institution in Russia – turns 250 years. Any significant anniversary is an occasion to look back, analyze and evaluate the way traveled. The article analyzes the main achievements of the Mining University on the basis of statistical material from the moment of the foundation of the Mining School to the present day: educational and pedagogical experience in the education and training of mining specialists, scientific and technical intelligentsia; the outstanding contribution of its scientists, graduates to the establishment and development of the mineral resource complex of Russia, in strengthening the country's defense power, the creation of scientific schools. The first part of the article provides data on the number of graduates for different periods of the history of the university, shows the dynamics of their number growth, the peculiarities of learning. According to the authors, over 250 years, about 99 thousand engineers and mining specialists have been prepared in the university. The second part of the article is devoted to the characteristics of the teaching staff, in which a special place is occupied by his favorites, who have become outstanding scientists, academicians and corresponding members of the Academies of Sciences. Those of them who have devoted more than a dozen years of their lives to teaching within the walls of the university are noted. The final part shows the main scientific achievements of the university: the organization of scientific societies, the development of scientific schools, research institutes, etc. About 200 graduates of the Mining University have been awarded State Prizes for their contribution to the development of science and technology. The work of dissertation councils was noted, in which more than 5 thousand dissertations have been defended since 1943.
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Date submitted2014-11-19
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Date accepted2015-01-12
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Date published2015-10-26
Scientific heritage of academician Nikolay Semenovich Kurnakov
- Authors:
- O. A. Dubovikov
Once N.V.Lipin, a professor of mathematics at the Leningrad Mining Institute, told N.S.Kurnakov that M.V.Lomonosov had complained about his lack of familiarity with mathematics. The outstanding scientist replied «That’s absolutely true, and I have already told you about it: we all need mathematics, and the more chemistry develops, the more it needs a mathematical justification». According to one scenario of the international nongovernmental organization, the Club of Rome, there will be a three-fold decrease in the world’s raw materials resources and multifold volume reduction in industrial production by the middle of the 21st century. Another scenario claims that raw materials will reduce only by one third, and the volume of industrial production will remain at the level of the beginning of the century. Not only the first scenario, but also the second one forecasts industrial stagnation. It is unacceptable for dynamic and sustainable development of the technological civilization. Intensively developing economies in China, India, Brazil and Russia defy the forecast of the Club of Rome, as it has not taken into account the possibility of scientific and technological progress in reducing energy consumption and using alternative sources, as well as the increased technological potential of the humanity. Due to depletion of the main sources of energy (oil and gas), many experts link the future of the world’s power industry with the possible use of solid energy resources. From the environmental point of view solid fuel gasification technology is the most preferable. As the calorific value of producer gas is relatively low in comparison with natural gas, some research of possible use of producer gas (as an alternative to natural gas which is available not in all regions) at Russian industrial enterprises has been conducted.