The "Science Around" Project Wins Russia’s Premier Education Award in Adygea

The "Science Around" project was honored as the best educational initiative by the Knowledge Award in Adygea. The award ceremony was held during a meeting of the Council under the Head of the Republic of Adygea, focused on Higher Education, Science, and Scientific and Technical Policy. Elena Kukva, the coordinator of the "Science Around" project and Director of the Research Initiatives Department at Adyghe State University, was presented with the award by Galina Izmailova, Director of the Adygea branch of the Russian Society "Knowledge."

The Knowledge Prize is an esteemed educational award presented by the Russian Knowledge Society, recognized as Russia's premier accolade in the field of education. Established in 2021, the prize honors outstanding achievements by public figures, educators, lecturers, authors, bloggers, science communicators, as well as innovative educational projects and organizations across diverse disciplines

This year, for the first time, the top regional educator and the most outstanding educational project were recognized in each of Russia's 89 regions. The winners of the regional awards were selected by the Znanie.Premia Expert Council, comprising over 300 representatives from across the country. Each application was carefully reviewed and evaluated by five experts. 

The All-Russian scientific and educational project "Science Around," conducted by Adyghe State University, has been recognized as the best educational project in Adygea. Vladislav Krechetnikov, a student at the Polaris-Adygea Regional Center for the Identification and Support of Gifted Children, a division of the Republican School of Natural Sciences and Mathematics, was honored as the best educator.

The "Science Around" project was implemented by Adygea State University in 2024 with the support of a grant from the Russian Ministry of Education and Science, as part of the federal initiative "Popularization of Science and Technology." The project focused on three main areas: organizing traveling science festivals at the Orlyonok All-Russian Children's Center, creating an open media library of popular science lectures, and conducting a series of online lessons in natural sciences and mathematics for school students. Its primary aim is to promote the achievements of Russian scientists in the fields of natural sciences, mathematics, and information technology.

The speakers who participated in the project were renowned Russian scientists and science communicators, including mathematicians Alexey Savvateev, Andrey Raigorodsky, and Nikolay Andreev; astrophysicist Dmitry Vibe; chemist Artem Oganov; neurophysiologist Alexander Kaplan; bioethicist Elena Bryzgalin; and science journalists Alexey Paevsky and Anna Khoruzhay. They explained complex scientific concepts in simple and accessible language, illustrating how modern science describes the world, human existence, and the pressing problems scientists are currently tackling.

An open media library of popular science lectures, created in partnership with the TASS news agency, has amassed over 4 million views. The online series of lessons titled "How It Works" was watched by 240,000 schoolchildren, and an additional 16,000 children from 14 countries participated in science festivals at the Orlyonok All-Russian Children's Center.