Skoltech welcomed participants of the “Matter and Materials” conference, which focused on the latest research and advancements in materials science, chemistry, and related fields. World-famous scientists together with PhD and other students gathered at the Institute to share their findings and foster collaboration.

Skoltech President Alexander Kuleshov and Distinguished Professor Artem R. Oganov, who heads the Material Discovery Laboratory at Skoltech, greeted the participants. Alexander Kuleshov congratulated the professor on his 50th anniversary and emphasized that materials science today is one of the most critical and prestigious areas of scientific knowledge.

“Today I made a gift to myself — I invited leading scientists, my colleagues that were my students and postdocs, and now they are famous researchers. I also invited great scientists that I have always looked up to. For example, at this conference you will hear a lecture from Professor Yuri Oganessian — a legendary scientist that discovered 10 elements from the periodic table. One of them, oganesson, is named after him. You will also hear a lecture from Professor Ho-Kwang Mao — a patriarch of physics and high-pressure chemistry — and a presentation from Professor Michele Parrinello, a father of the modern computational chemistry,” commented Artem R. Oganov at the conference opening ceremony and called it a festival of science and friendship.

The two-day conference featured 23 keynote speakers and 600 participants in total. The poster session showcased 240 research items from PhD and other students from Russia, Belarus, China, Armenia, and other countries.

In the interview to BRICS TV, Professor Ho-Kwang Mao, who heads the Center for High Pressure Science and Technology Advanced Research in Shanghai, also spotlighted international cooperation in science. “We, researchers, find a lot of interesting things these days. These studies have reached the level when they cannot be carried out alone or even by one group. Even by one nation, because they require international cooperation.”

The conference also brought together other acknowledged scientists. RAS and Lomonosov Moscow State University Professor Igor Pekov gave a presentation on natural ion exchange in titanium and rare-metal minerals. The professor contributed to discovering 284 new minerals, with him being the lead author for 156 of them.

Skoltech Distinguished Professor Artem Abakumov, who heads the Energy Center at the Institute, focused on structural complexity of inorganic materials through crystallography of higher dimensions. In 2024, the professor became a co-laureate of the prestigious Vyzov award for researchers in the “Breakthrough” category. Together with Professor Evgeny Antipov, Artem Abakumov received recognition for new cathode materials for sodium-ion batteries with unprecedented capacity and cathode materials for lithium-ion batteries.

At the conference closing ceremony, Alexander Kuleshov and Artem R. Oganov awarded honorary doctorates to Professor Yuri Oganessian and Professor Ho-Kwang Mao. They became the first honorary doctorate holders in Skoltech history. Best poster awards went to Di Zhou, Daniil Poletaev, and Nikolay Chtchelkatchev.