From the student’s bench – to science. How to Become an Innovator in College

On January 25, our country celebrates Tatiana’s Day, which is also the Day of Russian Students. The number of young people entering universities is growing every year. To keep the trend, in 2021 the Ministry of Science and Higher Education of the Russian Federation increased the number of places at all levels by 11.6 thousand. This is consistent with the goals of the national project “Science”, which involves the rejuvenation of scientific personnel in the country.

There are wonderful examples showing that you can start your way in science and even try yourself in innovative entrepreneurship even before writing a diploma.

Nizhny Novgorod: “smart greenhouse”

Student of the Faculty of Chemistry, UNN Roman Blagin invented the Carpophorus project. It is a modular plant growing system that is a multifunctional seedling complex suitable for industrial year-round cultivation.

Such a complex uses the technology of vertical agriculture. This is a very promising direction, it will find application in the megalopolises of the future, when urban farms and agro-industrial farms will be located right on the roofs and walls of skyscrapers. They will grow plants and raise animals. The main difference from traditional greenhouses and livestock farms is an economical approach to the use of the territory due to the vertical multi-tiered arrangement of plantings. They do not require a large area, but at the same time they provide high quality products.

Now this technology is used to care for plantings and trees in parks, as well as in phytozones of shopping centers and offices. And the first vertical farm in the world appeared in Singapore in 2012, after which South Korea, China, the United Arab Emirates, the USA, and France became interested in the construction of agricultural skyscrapers. City farmers will have to work on such farms – they will fully service and harvest them. This is one of the promising professions for the near future.

Kemerovo: a new method for detecting cancer

Student of the Institute of Biology, Ecology and Natural Resources of Kemerovo State University Elizaveta Baranova Together with the scientists of the Department of Physiology and Genetics, she completed a three-year cycle of research work on the project “Relationship between the composition of the respiratory microflora and the activity of the genome and mutagenic effects in residents of the coal industrial region.” The project received financial support from the Russian Science Foundation in the amount of 18 million rubles.

The researchers were able to study the full composition of bacteria that live in the human respiratory tract in normal conditions, as well as evaluate its characteristics in miners who suffer from professional lung fibrosis, as well as in patients with lung cancer. Based on the results of the work carried out, for the first time, it was possible to prove a direct relationship between the increased content of certain microorganisms in the respiratory tract of patients with the level of mutations in blood cells.

It is expected that based on this research, a genetic test system will be created in the coming years. It can be used to assess the likelihood of developing lung cancer in people at risk – those who smoke, work in hazardous industries, have chronic lung diseases. Bacterial biomarkers can be a powerful tool for early detection of tumors.

And this is very important. As you know, early diagnosis of cancer can reduce mortality from this disease.