Large Volga university bets on bio- and additive technologies
Lobachevsky UNN, the largest university in Nizhny Novgorod, in the mid-Volga area, has set up its own Institute of Biology and Biomedicine and agreed with a major federal fund on cooperation in additive technology development.The new Institute of Biology and Biomedicine has brought together the expertise developed over the past decades at UNN’s Biology Department and three of the university’s think-tanks, including the Research Institute of Molecular Biology and Regional Ecology, the Research Institute of Living Systems, and the Research Botanical Garden.
In addition to its primary focus on biology and biomedicine, the Institute will engage in biotech research. According to Nikita Avralev, UNN’s Vice Rector for Public Relations, this new focus "…is expected to give us a competitive edge and usher us in the years to come into a global Top-150 list of leading universities.”
Dr. Alexey Semyanov, a UNN professor and the director of the new entity, said that the Institute will be developing the areas that lead to unlocking processes that cause a range of grave diseases. Professors will not only teach students but will also collaborate with them as research fellows.
According to Mr. Semyanov, UNN has already received about $4.6m in funding for research in neurosciences, including the development of an exoskeleton and research into neurodegenerative diseases, such as Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s, and others.
On top of that, last month UNN inked an agreement with the federal Advanced Research Fund (ARF).
Under terms of the agreement, UNN’s Research Institute of Physics and Technology will have its laboratory to focus on additive technologies and material design. The effort is aimed at developing technology for layer-by-layer laser synthesis of polymetallic products using 3D CAD models, and at creating an operational prototype of a machine to do so.
In this project, UNN is collaborating with the Research Institute of Special Electronic Equipment based in Zelenograd just outside Moscow. The three-phase endeavor is expected to end in 2018. ARF is reported to be allocating about $4.6m for the effort.
The Advanced Research Fund has been set up by the Russian Government to support potentially disruptive and high-risk R&D, including projects in the field of defense and national security.
14 январь 2015 14:37
