Samara – Samarkand: Moving towards Each Other

Rector Vladimir Bogatyrev and Academician of the Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Uzbekistan, Foreign Member of the Russian Academy of Sciences Mukhsin Ashurov discussed prospects of collaboration between Samara National Research University and Sharof Rashidov Samarkand State University. The guest visited scientific laboratories of the aerospace field, educational spaces of the Advanced Aerospace Engineering School, Academician S.P. Korolev Museum of Aviation and Cosmonautics, as well as Academician N.D. Kuznetsov Aircraft Engine History Center. Academician Ashurov was accompanied by Albert Gareev, the Head of Samara University’s Research Unit.

At the Centre for Nanosatellite Technologies, Academician Ashurov got acquainted with the process of developing and manufacturing cubesats, as well as with the equipment of the Centre’s laboratories. Andrey Kramlich, Associate Professor of the Inter-University Department of Space Research, told about the International Summer Space School to have been held since 2003, about the career guidance work related to outer space with schoolchildren, including Samara University’s four laboratories permanently operating at the International Children’s Centre “Artek.”

During his school years, Mukhsin Khuramovich turned out to be lucky enough to visit Artek, it happened in 1962. The photo of the pioneers with the first cosmonaut of the planet Yury Gagarin, who visited Artek twice that year, has been preserved from that memorable shift.

In the ground-based control complex for small spacecrafts, Academician Ashurov got acquainted with the history of Samara University’s orbital satellite grouping, examined models of small spacecrafts “AIST,” “AIST 2D,” “AIST 2T” and “AIST ST,” observed the work of the centre for receiving and processing outer-space data.

Then Academician Ashurov was shown the nanosatellite testing and development centre, as well as the center for additive technologies, which aroused his great interest. Andrey Balyakin, an engineer at Samara University’s Engineering Centre told about capabilities of the equipment and the technological processes mastered. In memory of visiting the Centre, the honoured guest was presented with an original souvenir puzzle — the unassembled gear-shaped plastic cube made on an additive machine.

At the Advanced Aerospace Engineering School (AAES), Academician Ashurov was shown two interactive advanced engineering training complexes “VR Technologies” and “Mechatronics and Robotics,” as well as the Laboratory of the industrial Internet of Things. The AAES personnel talked about competencies to be received by students in the field of digital technologies, as well as training students to apply these technologies in real production.

After the excursion around the University’s educational and research units, the guest was met by Rector Vladimir Bogatyrev.

“There is the word “research” in your University’s name, which fully corresponds to what I’ve seen today in the laboratories and educational rooms,” shared Mukhsin Ashurov his impressions.

Vladimir Bogatyrev spoke about prospects for career growth in science provided by Samara University for international students and postgraduate students.

“At Samara University, there are 12 Dissertation Councils, which, following the results of the defense, issue state-issued diplomas. We have rather huge practice of foreign candidates’ defense, and, to my mind, this could become one of the areas of our collaboration,” noted Vladimir Bogatyrev.

It is the prospects of collaboration between Samara University and Sharof Rashidov Samarkand State University that became the scarlet thread of the dialogue between Vladimir Bogatyrev and Mukhsin Ashurov. Academician Ashurov, a graduate of this university’s Faculty of Physics, currently heads the Supervisory Board at his alma mater.

The two universities’ collaboration may also result in holding the 11th International Conference ITNT-2025 and the ITNT-2025 Youth School in Samarkand. This idea came to Academician Mukhsin Ashurov and Samara University’s President, Academician of the Russian Academy of Sciences Viktor Soifer during the 10th International Conference ITNT-2024, which took place on May 20–24. The scientists are united by joint work in the Conference Program Committee to be chaired by Viktor Soifer, as well as by the fact that they had the same mentor — Aleksander Prokhorov, Academician of the USSR Academy of Sciences, Nobel Laureate, one of the founders of quantum electronics and laser physics.

Vladimir Bogatyrev, Chairman of the Organizing Committee of the International Conference “Information Technologies and Nanotechnology” (ITNT), has a lot of work to do, when organizing the Conference at the new venue. To date, the Conference was held ten times on the basis of Samara University and the Branch “Image Processing System Institute – Samara” of the Kurchatov Crystallography and Photonics Complex of the Kurchatov Research Centre.

Vladimir Bogatyrev and Mukhsin Ashurov discussed various areas of organization of the educational process and scientific research in Russia and Uzbekistan. They touched upon the issues, such as expediency of developing a branch network of technical universities, the network learning and dual diploma programs, publishing scientific journals included in the Scopus base at the universities, and much more. They also discussed formal issues of preparing the cooperation agreement between Samara University and Samarkand University.

For reference:

Ashurov Mukhsin Khuramovich was born on November 19, 1949. Doctor of Physical and Mathematical Sciences, Academician, Chief Researcher at the Institute of Nuclear Physics of the Academy of Sciences of Uzbekistan. In 2022, he was elected a Foreign Member of the Russian Academy of Sciences.

He is a recognized specialist in solid-state physics, spectroscopy of laser crystals, radiation physics of inorganic materials, crystal growth, and alternative energy sources. He is the co-author of 194 scientific papers, the author of two monographs and the co-author of 16 patents.

The major scientific results of Academician Ashurov:

- identification of violation of the stoichiometry of the garnet-structured crystal homological series, detection of the effect of mutual influence of rare earth ions in garnet-structured crystals;

- pioneering spectroscopic studies of centres of colouring and radiation resistance of refractory oxide crystals;

- solving the problem of increasing radiation resistance of the most important types of laser crystals to be the basis for creating active and passive elements of solid-state lasers, which do not lose their generation and modulation properties at radiation doses up to 109 roentgens;

- development and implementation of the technology for producing in industrial scale technical silicon out of quartzites mined in Uzbekistan.