Artem Oganov, Chairman of VYZOV Prize Scientific Committee, to Host International Conference on His Anniversary

On March 3-4, the Skolkovo Institute of Science and Technology will host the "Matter and Materials" conference. The main organizer of this event is Artem Oganov, Chairman of the Scientific Committee of the VYZOV Prize, Professor at Skoltech, Professor of the Russian Academy of Sciences, and Member of the Academia Europaea. The first day of the conference will also mark his 50^th birthday, and he decided to gather colleagues and students from around the world to discuss the latest research in materials science, chemistry, and related fields.

Artem Oganov gave exclusive comment on the event to the Vyzov Foundation: "I decided that on my 50^th birthday I would like to bring together my friends from various fields of science whose research is related to matter and materials in one way or another. The level of guest speakers is exceptionally high. This conference can turn into a real celebration of science to which everyone is welcome."

Speakers will include leaders of research groups in major global research centers. Among them are Yuri Oganessian, renowned Russian scientist who discovered 10 elements of the periodic table, one of them now bearing his name; Igor Pekov, childhood friend of Artem Oganov and a corresponding member of the Russian Academy of Sciences who has discovered over 200 minerals; Michele Parrinello, Italian scientist known as one of the fathers of computational materials science; Yanming Ma, Academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and Vice-President of Jilin University; Yan Li, Professor at Peking University, who will present her original research on the origin of life stemming from nonliving matter.

The conference will also feature two reports that are not directly related to materials science but can contribute to its development and to the strengthening of international cooperation. One report will focus on the new scientific journal The Innovation. This journal is relatively young, but it has already earned a reputation in the academic community, and its impact factor is catching up with Nature and Science. The other report will be dedicated to the VYZOV National Prize for Future Technologies; it will be delivered by Aleksey Fedorov, Deputy Chairman of the Scientific Committee of the VYZOV Prize.

"We want to spread the word about the VYZOV Prize both in Russia and abroad so that all scientists, including the guests of the upcoming event, would strive to receive it. The conference and the VYZOV Prize share their openness to the world, so I think it that the participants of the conference will benefit from learning about the award," said Artem Oganov.

More than 230 scientists from China, India, Iran, Algeria, Armenia, Russia, and other countries have signed up for the conference. Artem Oganov believes that this number will double by the time the application process is complete.

The program of the conference is available here. Participation is free upon prior registration. Applications are accepted until February 1.