On 28 November 2021, the festive presentation of the VII All-Russian Award “For Loyalty to Science” was held in the State Kremlin Palace of Russia. Scientific Leader of the Flerov Laboratory of Nuclear Reactions JINR RAS Academician Yuri Oganessian became a laureate in the nomination “Special contribution made by scientists, journalists, teachers, and public figures.” A senior researcher of the Dzhelepov Laboratory of Nuclear Problems JINR Mark Shirchenko was also among the shortlisted candidates for the award in this nomination.

“From the bottom of my heart, I want to congratulate everyone on this stage, everyone who is sitting in this hall on a wonderful event. Our traditional competition has reached a new level this year. We are congratulating the winners in the Kremlin. It shows our attitude towards those who are involved in the popularisation of scientific achievements and who contribute to the development of Russian science. I congratulate all applicants, everyone who took part in this competition because there are no losers in it,” Minister of Science and Higher Education of the Russian Federation Valery Falkov highlighted presenting the awards to the laureates.

This year, Yuri Tsolakovich Oganessian has become a central figure of the project “Letter to the scientist” of the All-Russian competition for schoolchildren of 8 -10 years “Big Break”. Schoolchildren wrote paper letters with questions in the fields of science to Yuri Oganessian. The world-famous scientist answered each participant. Three finalists got the opportunity to meet him personally. Besides, the scientist has been recently awarded the UNESCO-Russia Mendeleev International Prize in the Basic Sciences.

“For loyalty to science” is an annual All-Russian Award presented for outstanding achievements in scientific communication, popularisation of science, and support of prestige of scientists and engineers in the Russian Federation. In 2021, it was awarded for the seventh time and attracted a record number of 744 applicants. The Award is presented to both scientists and journalists who cover Russian science, as well as other science popularisers, and business representatives. The organizer of the Award is the Ministry of Science and Higher Education of the Russian Federation supported by the Russian Academy of Sciences, National Research Centre “Kurchatov Institute”, and Lomonosov Moscow State University. The non-profit charitable organization “Art, Science and Sport Foundation” has been financing the award for more than five years in a row.

This year, the Award Council consisted of 42 experts. They are scientists, journalists specialising in science, representatives of the state bodies, private funds, non-profit organizations, universities, scientific and research institutes.