News & Announcements

On the 21st June, the A.V. Zhirmunsky National Scientific Center of Marine Biology, Far Eastern Branch, Russian Academy of Sciences (NSCMB FEB RAS) held an online conference with Chinese representatives from the city of Dalian: Marine Strategic Planning and Economy Institute (Northeast China Belt and Road Strategy Development Institute) Dalian Ocean University.

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On June 20, a delegation of the Chinese Consulate General in Vladivostok headed by the Consul General of the People’s Republic of China Piao Yangfan paid an official visit to the A.V. Zhirmunsky National Scientific Center of Marine Biology, Far Eastern Branch, Russian Academy of Sciences (NSCMB FEB RAS), in order to meet the Administration and get acquainted with Center’s activities.

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On October 17–19, 2023, Institute of Oceanology, Chinese Academy of Sciences (IOCAS) and A.V. Zhirmunsky National Scientific Center of Marine Biology FEB RAS (NSCMB FEB RAS) will hold a bilateral workshop with main topic: Marine Biodiversity and Ecosystem in a Changing Ocean: toward Sustainable Development Goals in Qingdao, China. The workshop will combine oral and poster presentations, and discussions.

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Official reception at the Consulate General of the Republic of India On January 26, 2023 the Consulate General of the Republic of India in Vladivostok held a reception to mark the 74th anniversary of India's major national holiday, Republic Day. Representatives of the NSCMB FEB RAS and its branch, the Primorsky Aquarium, have been invited.

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A joint Russian-Chinese annual meeting was held online on November 30, 2022 to discuss a scientific project themed Marine Biodiversity Change and Ecosystem Health Assessment of Northwest Pacific Driven by Global Change¹ (Russian Federation-People’s Republic of China). The meeting was organized by the co-leaders of the project: Director of the Jiaozhou Bay Marine Ecosystem Research Station, CAS, Deputy Director of the Key Laboratory of Marine Ecology and Environmental Sciences, CAS, Professor of the Institute of Oceanology, CAS, Dr. Xiaoxia Sun and Head of the International Cooperation Department of the NSCMB FEB RAS, Head of the Laboratory of Systematics and Morphology of the NSCMB FEB RAS, PhD Konstantin A. Lutaenko, and by the three partner institutes: the Institute of Oceanology, Chinese Academy of Sciences; the A.V. Zhirmunsky National Scientific Center of Marine Biology FEB RAS; and the Yantai Institute of Coastal Zone Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences. The meeting was attended by 27 researchers from Chinese and Russian scientific institutions, including the former Director of the Institute of Oceanology, CAS, Prof. Song Sun.

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Marine Biology in the 21st Century: Systematics, Genetics and Ecology of Marine Organisms, an all-Russian Conference in memory of Academician Oleg G. Kussakin, has ended at the NSCMB FEB RAS (A.V. Zhirmunsky National Scientific Center of Marine Biology, Far Eastern Branch, Russian Academy of Sciences). The Conference was organized in the framework of the International Year of Basic Sciences for Sustainable Development (2022), the Decade of Science and Technology, and the International Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development. Its main goals were to encourage better collaboration between researchers and professionals and to promote the development of marine science and ocean literacy. The scientific program of the Conference covered the following fields of marine biology: the history of marine biology research; systematics and phylogeny of marine organisms; marine ecology, biogeography and biocenology; biodiversity of seas and oceans; biology of aquatic organisms as a theoretical basis for aquaculture and animal husbandry at public aquaria.

Over 150 participants from 11 cities of Russian Federation and 2 other countries (Republics of Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan) were registered for the Conference. The total number of participants together with co-authors of the presentations exceeded 200 people. Eighty oral presentations and sixty-two posters were presented at the event. Members of academic institutions and universities, as well as attendees from fishery research institutes affiliated with VNIRO (Russian Federal Research Institute of Fisheries and Oceanography), from nature conservation and management organizations and even from the Far Eastern Law Institute, branch of the Prosecution Service University of the Russian Federation, took part in the Conference. Over 40 regions of Russia were represented, from Astrakhan to Murmansk and from Sevastopol to Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky. The geography of studies encompassed most areas of the World ocean, from the Arctic to the Antarctic.

The Conference was a hybrid event with in-person and virtual attendance options. It also included a presentation competition for young scientists from the NSCMB FEB RAS. Day Three of the Conference was hosted at the Primorsky Aquarium – Branch of the NSCMB FEB RAS and covered topics of professional interest of Aquarium staff members who gave presentations as well. One of the sessions focused on aquaculture issues and featured a series of insightful presentations delivered by staff scientists from the Pacific Branch of the Russian Federal Research Institute of Fisheries and Oceanography. In addition, the Conference guests were taken on a tour to Vostok, a marine biological station, where, after the session, they had an opportunity to explore its infrastructure and capabilities for scientific research into marine life. The Conference participants appreciated the high level of presentations and acknowledged the tremendous efforts made by the Organizing Committee throughout the planning and running of the Conference.

Marine Biology in the 21st Century is steadily becoming an important event for the community of marine biologists in Russia, which is evidenced by the fact that the number of submissions this year exceeded the number of speaking slots available. The theme for the 2023 Conference is Marine Biology in the 21st Century: Embryology, Developmental Biology, Cell and Molecular Biology, Biotechnology of Marine Organisms, and it will be held in memory of Academician Vladimir L. Kasyanov.

During its official visit to Vladivostok, the Council of Young Scientists of the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus (NASB) visited the Primorsky Aquarium to meet with young scientists from the A. V. Zhirmunsky National Scientific Center of Marine Biology, Far Eastern Branch, Russian Academy of Sciences (NSCMB FEB RAS). In the course of the meeting, biologists reported on their current work and offered suggestions about collaboration to the researchers from related fields.

Sergei Turanov, a young geneticist from the NSCMB FEB RAS, spoke about the importance of bioinformatical techniques and about state-of-the-art strategies for collecting genetic material as well as about difficulties arising during the transfer of samples and information sharing aimed at enhancing global scientific research. Sergei also stated that physiology and medicine were areas where researchers from various fields of science could carry out joint projects.

Polina Mischenko, a staff scientist at the Primorsky Aquarium Shared Equipment Facility, told the delegation about her research focused on marine mammals. Her investigations include hormonal states of animals, their cognitive abilities and comparison of blood biochemistry of marine mammals kept in indoor pools and in sea-pen enclosures.

Stanislau Yuretski, Chairman of the Council of Young Scientists of the NASB, noted that the whole delegation was impressed by the present level of scientific activity at the institutions within the FEB RAS and a high potential for its further development.

"We visited institutions representing a range of scientific disciplines, and I managed to find some areas of common interest and new ideas for research almost in each of them," said Viktoriya Golovenchik, a staff scientist at the Scientific and Practical Center of the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus for Bioresources. "During this trip, we exchanged contacts and discussed opportunities for cooperation with a lot of young scientists."

On the completion of the science-related portion of the visit, the guests were given a tour of the Primorsky Aquarium. The Belarusian delegation appreciated the excellent educational environment of the facility and the beauty of its exhibits.