On 10 December 2020, MEPhI hosted an online round table of the interdisciplinary group "Earth observation, space and the environment — Engineering and Instrumentation" under the aegis the French-Russian University — a consortium of leading Russian and French educational organizations. The round table was chaired by MEPhI First Vice-Rector Oleg Nagornov and moderated by the Head of the Office of International Protocol, Marketing and Exhibition Activities of MEPhI Department of International Cooperation Viacheslav Romanychev.
The event was attended by representatives of universities-members of the network consortium: MEPhI, RUDN, RANEPA, ITMO, the University of Aix-Marseille (France) and the University of the Cote d'Azur (France).
The participants discussed modern trends and challenges in physical science: laser, plasma and nanotechnologies, astrophysics and cosmology, described the implementation of master's programs.
Professor of MEPhI and Aix-Marseille University Andrey Kabashin spoke about the use of nanomaterials in biomedicine.
An associate professor, the acting head of MEPhI Plasma Physics Department Yuri Gasparyan and Professor of MEPhI and Aix-Marseille University Jean-Marc Layet presented the research direction on thermonuclear fusion and plasma physics.
Andrey Mayorov, a research engineer of MEPhI Department of Experimental Nuclear Physics and Cosmophysics, a project manager of MEPhI Institute of Cosmology reported about the university's participation in international experiments such as PAMELA, ARINA and VSPLESK.
The Director of the Institute for Physics of the Universe, University of Aix-Marseille,Eric Kaifasz presented the unit created in 2020. The Institute's work is aimed at research and education in particle physics, astrophysics, and applied theoretical physics. Dr. Kaifasz noted the significant potential for cooperation between the Aix-Marseille University and MEPhI in the analysis of research results of collaborations (for example, ATLAS and IceCube), the study of dark matter and potential creation of exchange programs for PhD students.
Orelyan Creeda, a researcher of Lagrange laboratory of the University Côte d'Azur, presented the master's program in astrophysics, realized since 2017. He described the procedure for selecting candidates for the program, described the curriculum structure and available research and educational infrastructure.
The head of Office of International Projects and Programs of RUDN Academy of Engineering Ksenia Benevolskaya presented the activities of Academy, in particular the creation of a new generation of space infrastructure and its effective application in industries and environmental management.
Alexandra Kachur, a researcher of MEPhI Research and Educational Center NEVOD, spoke about one of the most promising research areas – muonography of the atmosphere.
The presentation of MEPhI professor Sergei Popruzhenko was focused on the history and the main vectors of laser technologies in Russia and the world as well as on international projects implemented by the Institute of Laser and Plasma Technologies.
The final presentation of the round table was reported by Alexander Trusov, the Head of the International Laboratory for Mathematical Methods for Researching Social Networks of RANEPA, in which he briefly highlighted methods of remote data analysis on the night surface of the Earth.
During the debate, the participants discussed how the research agenda of France and Russia correlates with global trends and made proposals for further cooperation and possible interdisciplinary projects.
Summing up the results of the round table, an ex-vice-president of the University of Aix-Marseille, Prof. Pierre Chiapetta noted that universities have a long history of academic cooperation and expressed the hope that cooperation will continue to develop in the future, including for the development and implementation of programs student exchange for master's and postgraduate programs and double degree programs.
