The Legislative Duma of Tomsk Oblast
|
|
Congratulations on the decade of the triumph of intellect, talent, risk and striving for victory!
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Deputies and winners of past contests shared their memories how it all started.
“I can see now that ten years ago a very important thing had been done, and a great advance in the development of our science and youth had been made,” said Aleksander Frenovsky, deputy of the Legislative Duma of Tomsk Oblast of the third, fourth and fifth convocations. “It has brought visible results and I hope that our future lies with the young people, young scientists!”
Natalia Zhilyakova, Associate Professor at the Tomsk State University Department of Journalism, Doctor of Philology, laureate of the 2003 Tomsk Oblast State Duma Award in the category “Young Scientists. Humanities”: “I have been in teaching and science for 10 years. It just so happened that I am really interested in the subject of journalism in pre-revolutionary Tomsk. I would never exchange my scientific work for business. Ten years ago I received the Duma Award. It was a significant impetus towards continuation of my work and proceeding to the doctoral thesis.”
Boris Maltsev, deputy of the Legislative Duma of Tomsk Oblast and president of the Tomsk Union of Construction Workers, and Petr Chubik, deputy of the Duma of the third convocation and rector of the Tomsk Polytechnic University, were titled “godfathers” of the laureates as they had founded the contest ten years ago.
“In 2002, when the contest saw the light of day, the social and economic situation was quite complicated,” recollects Boris Maltsev. “We had a lot of work ahead of us. A document was necessary and an adequate justification was required to convince the deputies that young scientists really needed that support. I am very thankful to the deputies of that convocation who unanimously backed our idea. A prominent politician said that the most difficult thing is to adopt a law that would be observed with pleasure. Well, this law has been observed with pleasure for already a decade.”
Petr Chubik, shared, “I feel like a co-author of a song. A hit song, a chart-topper which is performed in big concert halls by a choir of creative people who set the pace for the humankind’s advancement. I wish this song went on for many years to come and helped us build and live our lives. Dream on and deny yourselves nothing.”
Over its history the contest has had 2,087 participants and 299 laureates. Year over year the numbers of those willing to try hand at a fair contest of intellect and talent grew steadily.
The Award of the Legislative Duma of Tomsk Oblast has become a desired and high-prestige prize. Winners of the contest are justifiably proud of their status. Many laureates who came to the stage today just like several years ago, in their congratulatory speeches put special emphasis not on the monetary award but on scientific and public recognition. Many acknowledged that their victory in the contest was an important milestone in their career which had helped them “settle into a steady flight”.
Taisiya Merkulova, a laureate of the 2008 Duma Award in the Young Hopefuls category now presides the European Youth Parliament in Bulgaria. She made thousands of miles and completed her university session early in order to attend the ceremony.
Veniamin Kizeyev, a laureate of the 2004 Duma Award in the Young Hopefuls category has founded and currently manages a non-profit organization which promotes innovations and provides expert advice on youth entrepreneurship.
Elena Diakova, a laureate of the 2010 Duma Award in the Natural Sciences category is a professor at the Tomsk State University. She has successfully defended her doctoral thesis recently. Pavel Smolkin, a laureate of the 2011 Duma Award in the Technical Sciences category over the past year became the uranium processing plant manager at the Siberian Chemical Combine in Seversk and is currently working on a doctoral thesis.
“My heart is pounding today. You know, in 2002 many people in Tomsk Oblast did not know the word “innovations” and even more than that, they could not pronounce it right. And today we are working in a region which is recognized not only in its country but in many other countries of the world as a territory of innovative development,” Oksana Kozlovskaya said. “Yet there are still quite a few skeptics who keep saying that innovations in Tomsk are “soap bubbles”. But I am looking at the young people in this hall and I want to tell them thank you, thank you so much for being who you are, doing what you do and sharing your heart with Tomsk. Even those of you who do not live and work in Tomsk always remember about their roots here. I am thankful to those who make our region famous beyond its borders and abroad. Without that a land would not have a name. I congratulate you on the decade of the triumph of intellect, talent, risk and striving for victory!”
Lev Pichurin, the eldest deputy of the Legislative Duma of Tomsk Oblast, professor of 85 years old, predicted a long and healthy life for the contest.
“The contest will live much more than 85 years! I believe that a man dies when his brain stops working. Scientists’ brains are always boiling and that is why they live longer!”
The 10th contest for the Tomsk Oblast Duma Award enjoyed the greatest popularity since the foundation. In 2012, 269 applications were submitted, including 137 applications by school students, 40 by university students and 92 by young scientists, among them 44 candidates of sciences and 1 doctor of sciences. The most popular category was Young Hopefuls – 137 applicants; Technical Sciences received 49 applications; Natural Sciences 43 applications; and Humanities 40 applications.
Twenty young hopefuls and fifteen young scientists and students became laureates of the 2012 Award of the Legislative Duma of Tomsk Oblast.
© The State Duma of the Tomsk oblast, 2007-2024