The creation of an interuniversity association of educational institutions interested in cooperation with the SKIF Center for Collective Use was discussed on June 13 at a round table in Novosibirsk. The initiator of the formation of an industry association for cooperation with SCIF is the Novosibirsk State Technical University (NETI). The work is being carried out within the framework of the project "Siberian Universities and CUC SKIF: vectors of integration and creation of a world-class campus" of the Priority 2030 program.
The discussion of the main areas of cooperation was attended by representatives of the Central Research and Development Center "SKIF", more than 30 Russian universities from Moscow, St. Petersburg, Kaliningrad, Voronezh, Rostov-on-Don, Kazan, Chelyabinsk, Tomsk, Novosibirsk, Kemerovo, Novokuznetsk, Barnaul, Irkutsk, as well as Novosibirsk and Koltsov schools, lyceums and colleges.
Opening the round table, Anatoly Bataev, Rector of NSTU-NETI, outlined the importance of universities' involvement in the implementation of the SKIF project: "Now is the right time for the university community to enter the history of creating a 4+ generation synchrotron radiation source, the operation of which will begin in just six months in Novosibirsk. We are talking about cooperation in a number of strategically important areas, including the creation of equipment, training, and research. By joint efforts, it is necessary to form an effective professional community of users of this expensive tool, which will ensure, among other things, a successful start of serious research."
NSTU-NETI is actively involved in the implementation of the SKIF project in a number of areas. As part of one of the strategic projects of the Priority 2030 program, the University, together with a number of leading universities and scientific organizations, is developing two SKIF materials science user stations. A design bureau has been established at the university, whose specialists are developing unique high-tech equipment for the SKIF CUC, including a crystal monochromator, a monochromatic beam shutter, a block of cooled slots and more. NSTU-NETI actively integrates into the educational process programs aimed at training specialists and scientific personnel for the SKIF Central Research Center. The basic faculties are the Faculties of Mechanics and Technology, Physics and Technology, as well as the faculties of Radio Engineering and Electronics and automation and computer engineering.
The general framework for the interaction of the university community with the CUC "SKIF" in the format of the association being created during the round table was set by Jan Zubavichus, Deputy Director of the CUC "SKIF" for scientific work. Reminding the audience of the background to the creation of the project, the speaker presented the current status of implementation and the opportunities that the installation provides to Russian universities.
"We believe that the support of the association of Russian universities being created will allow us to successfully resolve the issues of staffing SKIF, which is a powerful center of attraction for Siberian science. Among the key areas of personnel interaction is the saturation of the SKIF operational service with engineering specialists, specialists in the operation of complex technological equipment. Another important aspect is the development of the user community of the synchrotron radiation source, conducting scientific research in various areas. Of course, it is important to strengthen joint work on the popularization of natural sciences among schoolchildren. I think that thanks to the association we are creating, we can achieve serious results in the designated areas of work," said Jan Zubavichus.
The operation of high-tech equipment in round-the-clock operation, as well as the further development of the SKIF Central Research Center, require a constant influx of highly qualified personnel from a wide range of specialties, Pavel Piminov, Deputy Director of the SKIF Central Research Center for Scientific Work, stressed during the round table. According to him, by 2027, the SKIF Central Research Center will require more than 120 researchers, more than 150 engineers and more than 100 laboratory assistants and technicians.
As a result of the discussion within the framework of the round table, the main areas of work of the interuniversity association for cooperation with the CUC "SKIF" will be scientific cooperation of the country's universities in the field of research at the stations of the CUC "SKIF" with an emphasis on research and innovative activities of students; using the capabilities of the CCP in university educational programs, creating a database of relevant programs and courses. Among the priorities, the participants of the round table also identified the CUC "SKIF", network educational programs related to megascience installations, training of engineering personnel and researchers for the CUC "SKIF" and other Russian installations of the class "megascience", cooperation in the development of equipment for the CUC SKIF, cooperation with industrial partners using the possibilities of installation and creation of an interuniversity campus around the SKIF Central Research Center.
A separate important area of the association's work is the use of megascience class installations to develop new approaches to teaching physics at school and special programs for schoolchildren to popularize natural science disciplines. In this regard, it is planned to organize in Novosibirsk, Tomsk and a number of other cities a series of seminars with teachers of universities, colleges, schools of the Russian Academy of Sciences and develop a program to popularize Russian installations of the megascience class among schoolchildren of different ages.
The agreement on the establishment of an association of educational institutions for cooperation with the SKIF Central Research and Development Center is planned to be signed at the XI International Forum of Technological Development Technoprom-2024, which will be held in Novosibirsk on August 27-30.
Recall that the SKIF Collective Use Center is a complex of 34 buildings and structures, as well as engineering and technological equipment. They will conduct advanced research with bright and intense X-ray beams in a variety of fields: chemistry, physics, materials science, biology, geology, and the humanities. Previously, Russian scientists conducted such experiments mainly on foreign sources. SKIF will also help solve the urgent tasks of innovative and industrial enterprises. The construction of the Siberian ring photon source is being implemented within the framework of the national project "Science and Universities". The total financing of the project is 47.27 billion rubles. Work on the creation of SKIF should be completed by the end of 2024.