Gazprom Neft and St Petersburg State University have announced the winners of their “Mathematical Progression” programme, supporting mathematically gifted young people, with 94 students and post-graduates receiving awards in recognition of their achievements.
This year’s winners included winners from the International Mathematics Competition for University Students (the maths “Olympiad”), as well as finalists and prize winners from the Google Hash Code and other well-regarded programming competitions. Programme prize winners are chosen every year by academics from St Petersburg State University and the Russian Academy of Sciences, with this expert committee chaired by Fields Medal winner Stanislav Smirnov, Head of the Chebyshev Laboratory and Research Director at the Faculty of Mathematics and Computer Science, St Petersburg State University.
Seven hundred scholarships have been awarded since the Mathematical Progression initiative was established, with more than 30 graduate and post-doctorate students receiving funding for specialist research. Almost 100 young academics have completed internships abroad. Masters-programme alumnus Nikita Karogodin took second place in the prestigious August Möbius Contest in 2021. Prize winners at this year’s Mathematical Progression awards also include winners from the International Mathematics Competition for University Students.
The Mathematical Progression initiative forms part of Gazprom Neft’s “Home Towns” programme, running since 2013. The company invests in developing mathematical sciences and education not just to support basic mathematics, but also by way of addressing practical technological challenges.
“The Mathematical Progression initiative has become one of our most successful projects in supporting education and science. On the one hand, senior high school students throughout Russia are being given the chance to continue their education in mathematics, with the best students being offered personal scholarships, young academics travel grants, and research teams R&D resources. On the other hand, university mathematicians, together with Gazprom Neft engineers, are working on developing digital models and using AI-analytics. We are using mathematical models in automating production, in managing Arctic maritime logistics, and in analysing geological-prospecting data.”
Alexander Dybal Member of the Management Board, Gazprom Neft
“We are very grateful to Gazprom Neft and its ‘Home Towns’ programme for their support. This has helped take mathematical education at St Petersburg State University to a new level, and helped us attract many good students, across the entire country. It’s symbolic that we should be meeting at the end of 2021 — designated Russia’s ‘Year of Science and Technology’, and on the eve of the UN’s ‘International Year of Basic Sciences for Sustainable Development’, as part of which St Petersburg will be hosting the International Congress of Mathematicians — one of the longest-standing and most important scientific congresses. Science — and mathematics, in particular — is now more important than ever before.”
Stanislav Smirnov Head of the Chebyshev Laboratory and Research Director at the Faculty of Mathematics and Computer Science, St Petersburg State University, Professor, University of Geneva, and “Home Towns” ambassador
The “Home Towns” initiative, Gazprom Neft’s CSR (social investment) programme, has been running since 2012. The programme aims to improve living standards in those locations in which the company operates — both in Russia and abroad — by supporting local community initiatives (as well as its own projects) in culture, education, sport, and by developing the creative industries. The programme also includes a number of long-term environmental projects.
The Chebyshev Laboratory at St Petersburg State University was established in 2010 as part of a Russian Government programme directed at developing key areas in mathematical research, as well as supporting young academics. More than 2,500 academic courses, lectures, seminars and conferences have been held through the centre over the past 11 years, as well as more than 270 visits from leading international scientists and academics. The St Petersburg State University Faculty of Mathematics and Computer Science was established at the laboratory in 2019, with Gazprom Neft’s support, offering undergraduate and masters’ degrees in “Modern Mathematics”, with postgraduate studies being offered from 2021.
The Fields Medal is the most prestigious international award in mathematics, awarded to academics under 40 every four years at the International Congress of Mathematicians.
