The Russian Science Foundation has announced individual scientific groups competition winners that will receive support in 2017 and the extension of the 2014 projects. Five NSU projects were awarded support.
Among the winners in the competition for individual scientific groups:
· Sergey Foss, Doctor of Physical and Mathematical Sciences, project “One-and multi-component random walks and processes in changing and random environments” (Laboratory of Applied Probability MMF NSU)
· Sergey Kobtsev, Doctor of Physics and Mathematics, project “Development of physical bases for short-pulse fiber radiation sources with resonators based on new topologies” (Novosibirsk State University Department of Laser Physics and Innovative Technologies)
· Dmitry Zharkov, Doctor of Biological Sciences, project “Functions of non-catalytic domains of enzymes of excision repair of DNA bases” (Laboratory of Genomic Technologies, NSU Natural Sciences Faculty)
“This is a joint project with Steklov Mathematical Institute (Moscow), University of Augsburg (Germany) and Heriot-Watt University (Edinburgh, UK). – says Sergey Foss, Doctor of Physical and Mathematical Sciences. – We aim to study asymptotic properties of various complex stochastic systems, including multivariate random walks with boundaries and in changing environment, multi-component branching processes and stochastic networks with heavy-tailed distributions”.
“In our project, we plan to find an answer for the first time to the question of how the topologies of fiber laser resonators with the synchronization of the radiation modes affect the properties of laser generation and the properties of the output radiation”, explained Sergey Kobtsev, Head of the Novosibirsk State University Department of Laser Physics and Innovative Technologies and SAU expert “Nonlinear photonics and Quantum technologies”.
“The rapidly developing fiber-optic technologies provide fundamentally new possibilities for configuring fiber laser resonators. These are not only advanced sources of radiation, but also a convenient modern research tool that allows modeling many physical processes in environments characterized by a combination of different dynamic, nonlinear, dispersion and other properties. The new, young scientific direction proposed in this project is based on the study of topologically-related properties of promising schemes for the generation of short pulses by fiber sources of radiation. These undoubtedly rich, new scientific results will be used in the educational process at NSU”, continued Kobtsev .
Talking about his project, Dmitry Zharkov, Doctor of Biological Sciences, Scientific Director of NSU SAU “Synthetic Biology“ and NSU Head of the Laboratory of Genomic Technologies explained:
“Our work is devoted to the analysis of the functions of the auxiliary domains of DNA repair proteins. At first glance it sounds incomprehensible, but in reality everything is very simple. Everybody knows that DNA is the main carrier and custodian of genetic information. At the same time, proteins are “working” cells. They perform almost all other functions there: they synthesize different substances, transmit signals, are responsible for the movement of the cell and its parts. That's why proteins act as targets for the vast majority of modern medicines. Proteins, as a rule, contain the central (main) part, which is directly responsible for performing the required work, and additional parts are the same auxiliary domains that help in carrying out this basic work. Imagine a computer in its basic format: a processor with a hard disk, a monitor and a keyboard. This is enough for it to be considered a computer - this corresponds to the bulk of the protein. However, if you want to print a document, you have to connect a printer, if you want to go online, you need a network card, if you want to play a modern game, you need a graphics card ... those are the auxiliary domains. Some of them are responsible for interaction with other proteins, some regulate the activity of our protein, some are needed to deliver it to the right places inside the cell.
Modern scientists have studied the functions of the main domains of many human proteins quite thoroughly. But the auxiliary domains in many ways remain a mystery. In a project funded by the RNF, we study enzymes for DNA repair. These are proteins responsible for the removal from the DNA of damage that occurs constantly due to the action of different reactive chemical compounds, even those produced by the cell itself. Strange as it may seem, the two most important enemies of our DNA are oxygen and water, so it is impossible to avoid DNA damage. That means life without the enzymes of reparation is impossible. On the other hand, suppression of these enzymes is an excellent way to kill cancer cells and bacteria. Like all other proteins, we can fairly well imagine how the main domains of repair enzymes work, but there is very little information about their auxiliary domains. Our goal is to establish what these auxiliary parts are needed for. Perhaps this will help develop new drugs that will target precisely these mysterious but important parts of protein molecules”, explained Dmitry Zharkov.
It must also be noted that the Russian Science Foundation supported the extension of two NSU projects launched in 2014:
· Vladimir Zakharov, Academician of the Russian Academy of Sciences, the project “Wave turbulence: theory, mathematical modeling, experiment” (Laboratory of Nonlinear Wave Processes, Faculty of Physics, NSU)
· Valery Vernikovsky, Academician of the Russian Academy of Sciences, the project “Creation of a new laboratory Geodynamics and Paleomagnetism of the Central and Eastern Arctic” (Laboratory of Geodynamics and Paleomagnetism of the Central and Eastern Arctic. Faculty of Geology and Geography, Novosibirsk State University)
