Accepting the Challenge: in Moscow, scientists were awarded for the most breakthrough developments

The Manezh in Moscow hosted a ceremony of awarding prizes to the winners of the National Award in the field of future technologies "Challenge". This year, the organizers honored the best scientists in five nominations: four Russian and one international. For the winners in each category there is a cash prize of 11 million rubles for achievements that in the near future can significantly change the lives of many people. This year the contest received about 600 applications, including candidates from 33 countries. Specially for Izvestia, the award winners told about their discoveries.

The Challenge Award Ceremony

On December 19, the Manezh in Moscow hosted the award ceremony of the National Award in the field of future technologies "Challenge". The host of the evening was Igor Vernik. This year the award is presented for the second time. It is awarded for the most breakthrough knowledge-intensive developments that can significantly change people's lives and can be put into practice within the next 10 years. To the traditional nominations for Russian scientists, the organizers added one more - international.

The event began with the announcement of greetings to the guests and laureates of the prize from Russian President Vladimir Putin. It was read from the stage by Dmitry Chernyshenko, Deputy Prime Minister of the Russian Federation and member of the Board of Trustees of the Challenge Prize. In his opening speech he noted the important role of this award in the Decade of Science and Technology.

- I would like from all of us to thank the President for the fact that the Decade of Science and Technology was established in 2022. The International Prize "Challenge" is a pearl in a series of other very important events that popularize science and technology, - said Dmitry Chernyshenko.

According to Artem Oganov, Chairman of the Scientific Committee of the prize, such awards are necessary to support the best scientists and research breakthroughs. However, in modern conditions science often becomes a victim of politicization. And awards lose objectivity, so it was very important for the organizers of the Challenge to create an independent award.

- We created a prize without politics, without outside influences, extremely honest, and we succeeded. We have assembled a unique scientific committee consisting of the most respected scientists who work in various fields of knowledge. Among them are members of the Russian, Belarusian and European academies of sciences and popularizers of science. In the first year of the prize we received 218 applications, and this year we have already received 594, and all of them have been carefully considered," he said.

According to him, 112 applications from foreign scientists were received for the international nomination "Discovery".

For what was awarded the prize "Challenge"

A cash prize of 11 million rubles is provided for the winners in each category. This time the competition received applications from more than 50 regions of Russia. And scientists from 33 countries claimed the prize in the international Discovery nomination.

The winner in the "Perspective" nomination was the head of the laboratory of nitrogen-containing compounds at the N.D. Zelinsky Institute of Organic Chemistry. Leonid Fershtat, Head of the Laboratory of N.D. Zelinsky Institute of Organic Chemistry of the Russian Academy of Sciences, won "for advanced research in the field of creating organic functional materials for multi-purpose on the basis of high-nitrogen molecular architectures". We are talking about high-energy compounds such as, for example, gunpowder. They combine high energy intensity with low sensitivity and can be used in aerospace, mining and many other fields, as well as in medicine.

- Our research consists in creating a powerful fundamental basis for the directed assembly of special organic molecules that contain many nitrogen and oxygen atoms. Obtaining such organic structures is usually non-trivial and requires some non-standard solutions. We have succeeded in developing reliable methods for synthesizing such substances with high nitrogen and oxygen content, and these substances are important components of materials for the mining and aerospace industries due to the chemical energy stored in them," the award winner told Izvestia.

In the category "Engineering Solution" for the development of a compact neutron gas pedal source suitable for a wide range of research, including neutron capture therapy, the prize went to Sergey Taskaev, head of the laboratory of boron-neutron capture therapy at Novosibirsk State University. He created what was considered impossible for many years - a compact high-intensity source of neutrons. Previously, they were produced by nuclear reactors.

- I created a compact high-intensity accelerating neutron source, which is in demand for many scientific and practical applications, including the treatment of malignant tumors by neutron-capture therapy, and also created a large team of young people ready to roll mountains. To accomplish this, many challenges had to be overcome. The main one is the need to constantly generate new crazy ideas to do something new and useful and attract young people," the scientist said.

In the "Breakthrough" nomination, the prize was awarded to Evgeny Antipov, Head of the Department of Electrochemistry at the Faculty of Chemistry of Lomonosov Moscow State University, and Artem Abakumov, Director of the Center for Energy Technologies at the Skolkovo Institute of Science and Technology. They were recognized for creating the fundamental and practical basis for the development and production of electrode materials for new-generation metal-ion batteries.

- We have developed a whole line of cathode materials for batteries with increased and even record-breaking specific energy (the amount of energy per unit mass) and energy density (the amount of energy per unit volume). I deliberately do not use the term "lithium-ion battery" in this context because our developments also relate to sodium-ion battery technology. These are so-called post-lithium electrochemical systems, which are much cheaper than traditional lithium-ion systems and in the future should ensure the independence of the Russian Federation from expensive and rather labor-intensive lithium mining and processing, - said Evgeny Antipov.

Valery Tuchin, Head of the Laboratory of Laser Diagnostics of Technical and Living Systems of IPTMU RAS, was recognized as the Scientist of the Year for his outstanding contribution to the field of life sciences and biophotonics. And in the international Discovery nomination the prize for the creation of a method of functional magnetic resonance tomography was awarded to Nikos Logothetis, Director of the International Primate Brain Research Center.