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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 submitted2023-04-23
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Date accepted2023-10-24
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Date published2023-10-27
Mining Museum as a space of science and education in Mining University
An interdisciplinary investigation is presented focusing on the study of the Mining Museum collections in relation to research, educational and social practices. Natural science and artistic exhibits are considered. The authors made an attempt to determine the significance of the mineralogical collection based on the criteria proposed by I.V.Pekov. For the first time, general statistics on the new minerals in the mineralogical museums of the USSR was collected in 1988; in subsequent years, such information was not published. Collection of the Mining Museum comprises mineral species received after 1988 and having the status of holotypes, neotypes, and cotypes. In anticipation of the 250th anniversary of Saint Petersburg Mining University its special contribution to the progress of science was noted; the merits of scientists were immortalized in the names of minerals stored in the Mining Museum collection. An important role of the Museum in recording and representation of achievements of the Mining University is shown. The authors present the Mining Museum as a special educational space where an objective image of the world is created shaped by the scientific and humanitarian environment. The Museum is regarded as a space for forming the professional identity, important for the successful work of future University graduates. The interior of the Mining Museum designed and created in the 1st half of the XIX century taking into account the ideas about the succession of scientists from different epochs, respect for scientific traditions of antiquity and achievements in the field of studying the world plays a significant role in this process. Images of thinkers of the antiquity in the interiors of the educational and public spaces of the XIX century made it possible to emphasize the importance of cultural correlation with ideas of the Enlightenment. Specific examples from the collection show how the Mining Museum was implementing the scientific and educational goals of the Mining University throughout its history.