Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree awarding the State Prizes in the field of science and technology for 2019. Specialists in the field of anthropology, physics and biology became laureates.

The size of the premium this year has been increased from 5 to 10 million rubles. However, due to quarantine restrictions, the official award ceremony had to be canceled. 

North Development Driver

For their contribution to the study of the cultural heritage of the peoples of the Arctic, the prize was awarded to the director of the Museum of Anthropology and Ethnography. Peter the Great (Kunstkamera), corresponding member of the Russian Academy of Sciences Andrei Golovnev. 

For the first time in Russian science, he formulated the concept of an anthropological movement, within the framework of which he proposed not to consider nomadism (nomadism) as a trace of archaic. In his opinion, in the high mobility of nomadic peoples lies the primordial property of mankind, the driver of its development.

  • Laureate of the State Prize of the Russian Federation in the field of science and technology for 2019 Andrei Golovnev
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  • © ndrei.golovnev.9

Long-term research of the scientist revealed not only the richness of northern cultures, but also their high adaptability to environmental conditions and cultural, political and economic impacts.

“At the center of Andrei Golovnev’s work is a lifestyle based on reindeer husbandry, hunting sea animals and fishing. There are no longer such living creatures that have mastered life in the Arctic. Of course, people should know who lives and what they do in the Arctic and Subarctic. The scientist spoke about the life of people who lived there for millennia, ”said Valery Tishkov, colleague of the laureate, academician of the Russian Academy of Sciences in an interview with RT. 

According to scientists, the concept of the northern identity of Russia put forward by Golovnev deserves special attention, since the Russian Federation is the largest northern state with a geographical center on the Arctic Circle in the lower Yenisei.

Unique Nanotubes

In the field of physics, the prize winners were the heads and employees of the S. Kutateladze Institute of Thermophysics of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences Mikhail Predtechensky, Dmitry Markovich and Vladimir Meledin. They managed to create the basis of the global industry of single-walled carbon nanotubes and "scientifically substantiate new methods for the diagnosis and control of nonequilibrium systems." 

“Carbon nanotubes were discovered more than 20 years ago, and after a while it became clear that this is a completely new and unique material, which is a universal additive. Such an additive in small concentrations dramatically changes the materials and their properties, increases the material strength, multifunctional properties, ”said Mikhail Predtechensky in a conversation with RT.

According to him, Russia has created the world's only production of single-walled carbon nanotubes. The use of nanotubes has become economically viable in the production of asphalt.

  • Laureate of the State Prize of the Russian Federation in the field of science and technology for 2019 Mikhail Predtechensky
  • © sbras.info

The service life of the road, the scientist said, can be multiplied. Also, in his opinion, the use of nanotubes favorably affects the development of electric transport, since the use of this material in batteries significantly increases their capacity.

“Nanotubes are a new fundamental material, which in a sense will determine the material science of the present and the future,” the laureate said.

“Successfully replace western drugs”

Biologists Dmitry Morozov, Andrei Ulitin and Tatyana Chernovskaya received a prize for the development and implementation in clinical practice of a complex of drugs based on monoclonal antibodies for the treatment of cancer and autoimmune diseases. 

They created a unique scientific and industrial complex of finished dosage forms of monoclonal antibodies. According to experts, this study provides an opportunity to treat a large number of malignant and autoimmune diseases.

  • Laureate of the State Prize of the Russian Federation in the field of science and technology for 2019 Dmitry Morozov
  • © komitet2-2.km.duma.gov.ru

“The work for our country is outstanding. This is extremely important for the development of the domestic pharmaceutical industry in terms of the ability to produce the most modern drugs. In terms of accuracy, they are unparalleled and are successfully replacing Western drugs. Some of these drugs have proven to be very effective in saving people with COVID-19. They do not allow the development of a hypertrophied immunity reaction, ”Academician of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Rector of the Russian National Research Medical University named after RT told RT. N.I. Pirogova Sergey Lukyanov.