At the III Congress of Young Scientists in Sochi, held on November 28–30 on the federal territory of Sirius, the need to create new institutions to support scientific activities was discussed. This was the subject of the session “Challenge Accepted: An Alternative to the Nobel Prize and Prospects for Young Scientists” (moderated by Leonid Shlyakhover, President of the Foundation for the Development of Scientific and Cultural Relations “Challenge”).
One of the mechanisms for supporting science became the National Award in the field of future technologies “Challenge”.
Director for Digitalization of the State Atomic Energy Corporation Rosatom Ekaterina Solntseva in her speech emphasized that the award is a completely new institute for supporting science in Russia: “The time has come to create new international institutes for supporting scientists. And it is logical that they appear in our country, which was the first to do a lot. We were the first in space. It was we who created the first satellite. And we launched the first nuclear power plant. Today, a new institute for supporting scientists is being created in our country – the Challenge Prize. Let me emphasize that this is not an “alternative to the Nobel Prize,” not a “local initiative,” but a new international tool for supporting researchers working in breakthrough areas. Attempts to draw boundaries in the scientific community do not benefit global development. Therefore, Rosatom supports the initiative to make the Challenge Award international next year.”
Chairman of the scientific committee of the Challenge Prize, Skoltech professor Artem Oganov, explained what goals the prize sets for itself: “We strive to introduce an element of prediction and foresight into the approach to selecting laureates. The Challenge Award recognizes technological breakthroughs that are reasonably proven but may not yet be realized. We rely on technologies that have been proven to work, but have not yet been able to reach every home, and these can be both fundamental and applied discoveries. The main thing when choosing is to find discoveries that open a tunnel into the future.”
Deputy Chairman of the Scientific Committee of the Challenge Prize, Head of the Scientific Group of the Russian Quantum Center Alexey Fedorov explained that the winners of the prize were the scientists who proposed scientific solutions that have the greatest potential for practical implementation in the medium term.
“The Challenge Award was created for high-tech technologies that have the potential, in about ten years, to become a tool for the future improvement of people’s quality of life. This award is a sign of quality, which can give a business a signal that this area is worth investing in; it can become an impetus to put the idea into practice. When strong partners appear who can take ideas to a new technological level, science flourishes,” said Alexey Fedorov.
The session was also attended by the curator of the “Decade of Science and Technology” initiative Alexey Paevsky , Director of the Presidential Physics and Mathematics Lyceum No. 239 Maxim Pratusevich, Head of the Laboratory of Nanobiotechnologies at MIPT, Head of the Nanobiomedicine Department at Sirius University Maxim Nikitin.
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