On 6 February 2019, a festive opening ceremony of the International Year of the Periodic Table of Chemical Elements in Russia will be held in the Presidium of the Russian Academy of Sciences.

Minister of Science and Higher Education of Russia Mikhail Kotyukov, RAS President Alexander Sergeev as well as other outstanding scientists and leaders of ministries, scientific and public organizations from different countries will take part in the event.

The programme of the opening ceremony of the International Year of the Periodic Table includes the speech of RAS President Alexander Sergeev “Design of the world: from outer space to new materials”. The report will cover the issues of origins of chemical elements – in space, human biochemistry and modern synthesis. Vice-President of the Royal Society, the author of “The Periodic Table of Videos” Sir Martyn Poliakoff will read his lecture “Mendeleev’s Gift to Education”.

Moreover, in the frames of the opening ceremony, a mobile international exhibition will be presented dedicated to chemistry and its latest achievements. The exhibition has been already presented at the opening ceremony of the International Year in Paris, in the UNESCO headquarters. Now, it has moved to Moscow and will wait for visitors from 5 to 7 February. Then, during the whole year, this mobile chemical exhibition headed by UNESCO will travel around the world.

Russia, Great Britain, France, Netherlands, the USA, Switzerland, China, Japan and Scotland will present their exhibition stands in Moscow. Among unique foreign items, there will be the oldest copy of the Periodic Table (Vienne, 1885) that was found in the University of St. Andrews in Scotland. In addition, visitors of the exhibition will have an opportunity to see various installations of the Periodic Table – from macrame to computer games.

Leading universities of the country will take part in the exhibition: the Moscow State University, the Mendeleev University of Chemical Technology of Russia, scientific-research and innovation organizations, such as the Joint Institute for Nuclear Research (in recognition of the achievements of JINR scientists, new elements of the Table were named dubnium, flerovium, moscovium, and oganesson) and others. Exhibition stands will show the achievements of leading Russian scientific and research teams in the fields of chemistry and material sciences, there will be an opportunity to speak to scientists and take part in scientific experiments.

Photos: Press Office of the International Year of the Periodic Table of Chemical Elements in Russia

To go beyond the frames of traditional school experiments and participate in experiments on the development and characterization of modern materials! – this is what the unique MSU scientific exhibition will show. The format of the exhibition allows explaining scientific achievements – sometimes difficult to understand – to the visitors in simple and bright words. At each exhibition stand, visitors will have an opportunity to speak to leading scientists and researchers, post-graduates and students of MSU carrying out their research in the fields of synthetic chemistry and modern material science.

The all-Russian Science Festival NAUKA 0+ will be the official operator of the opening ceremony of the International Year of the Periodic Table of Chemical Elements in Moscow. The Mendeleev’s Periodic Table is announced to be the main theme of the Scientific Festival in 2019. The general partner of the International Year of the Periodic Table in Russia is the “Arts, science, and sports” Charity Foundation.