Four graduate students from the Faculty of Natural Sciences received scholarships from the President of the Russian Federation

The Presidential Scholarship of the Russian Federation was awarded this year to 13 graduate students of Novosibirsk State University. This scholarship is awarded based on the results of a competitive selection for the third consecutive year. In 2024, it was awarded to 3 graduate students of the Faculty of Natural Sciences, and in 2025—to another 5. This year, the number of scholarship recipients was further increased by 4 young scientists of this faculty.

This year, the Russian President’s scholarship supported the research of postgraduate students at FEN NSU aimed at creating new high-tech materials and next-generation medicines, the development of hydrogen technologies, and the creation of organic ion-plastic crystals for the synthesis of solid electrolytes used in various electrochemical devices.

PhD students of FEN NGU, who became winners of the competition for the appointment of the RF President’s scholarship in 2026, told about their research projects.

Irina Bachkova(1st course), thesis topic — “The influence of chemical modifications on the biological properties of small interfering RNAs”, scientific supervisor — Doctor of Biological Sciences.Elena Leonidovna Chernolovskaya:

—Small interfering RNAs (abbreviated siRNAs) are molecules that highly effectively regulate gene function. Gene malfunction is the cause of many diseases. By changing the nucleotide sequence of siRNAs, theoretically it is possible to regulate the function of any gene and thus cure almost any disease, so siRNAs have high therapeutic significance. However, at present, the use of siRNAs in clinical practice is limited to diseases caused by gene malfunction in the liver, since siRNAs accumulate inefficiently in extrahepatic tissues.

The purpose of this work is to study the effect of previously untested chemical modifications and directing ligands in the composition of siRNA on the biological properties of siRNA. As a result, chemically structured siRNAs will be identified that possess increased stability in the organism and accumulation in tissues.

Identified structures improve the duration of the therapeutic effect of siRNA in the liver and potentially reveal the possibility of using siRNA in extrahepatic tissues. This significantly expands the spectrum of diseases that can be treated with siRNA and, thus, improves the quality of life of the population.

Dmitry Syrtsov(1st course). Dissertation topic — “Investigation of adsorption of isotopologues and spin isomers of molecular hydrogen on the surface of metal-organic coordination polymers”, scientific supervisor — Ph.D.Artem Sergeyevich Poryvaev:

—The research I am conducting is dedicated to studying the adsorption separation of hydrogen and deuterium—a promising direction that may further contribute to improving the energy efficiency of obtaining deuterium-containing compounds and the development of hydrogen technologies. Its novelty lies in studying the role of porous structure, active centers, and ortho-para hydrogen conversion in the process of adsorption and separation.Methods of EPR spectroscopy, gas chromatography, and low-temperature hydrogen adsorption are used to monitor how hydrogen molecules interact with the surface of materials.

The main objects of research in the work are metal-organic coordination polymers, whose properties can be purposefully modified to enhance the selectivity of separation.

The practical significance of the study is related to the possibility of using the obtained patterns to develop more efficient materials for hydrogen isotope separation and ortho-para conversion catalysts. In the future, this will allow increasing the efficiency of deuterium production, as well as the separation and transportation of liquid hydrogen.

Tatyana Savostyanova(3rd year). Dissertation topic — “Development of technology for obtaining and evaluating the antitumor potential of CD8+ T-lymphocytes with genetically modified TCR, specific to epitopes of mutant p53, as a prototype of cellular products for personalized immunotherapy of oncological diseases”, scientific supervisor — Doctor of Medical Sciences.Sergey Vitalyevich Sennikov:

—Adoptive T-cell therapy, based on the use of autologous antigen-specific T-lymphocytes for targeted elimination of tumor cells, has become a crucial strategy in cancer immunotherapy and one of the most in-demand cellular technologies in modern medicine. Special attention is paid to the creation of cellular products based on autologous T-lymphocytes, genetically modified by T-cell receptor sequences, recognizing tumor neoantigen peptides.

Mutations in the TP53 gene, which encodes the p53 protein with tumor suppressor function, are driver oncogenic events in approximately half of the cases of common epithelial cancers. Using NGS, 10 of the most frequently occurring mutations in TP53 were identified, which are currently actively included in diagnostic NGS panels for targeted somatic mutation detection in cancer.

Within the framework of the scientific work, we plan to identify genetic sequences of T-cell receptors that recognize neoantigenic peptides arising from the most frequent p53 mutations. We will use the sequences of candidate T-cell receptors for the genetic modification of cytotoxic T-lymphocytes to obtain prototypes of personalized T-cell products and assess their anti-tumor activity.

In case of success, the technology developed by us will become the basis for accelerated production of personalized immunotherapeutic drugs based on autologous genetically modified TCR-T lymphocytes recognizing any other targeted tumor neoantigens, which will bring this technology closer to implementation in clinical practice.

Ivan Stebnitsky(1 course). Dissertation topic — “Study of the patterns of physicochemical properties of organic ion-plastic crystals and solid electrolytes based on them”, scientific supervisor — Doctor of Chemical SciencesYuliya Grigoryevna Mateyshina:

—Organic ionic plastic crystals (OIPCs) are a new class of solid electrolytes for electrochemical power sources, possessing a unique combination of physicochemical properties: non-volatility and non-flammability, a wide electrochemical stability window, plasticity, and high ionic conductivity. At present, the development of OIPCs is hindered by the lack of correlations between chemical structure and functional properties.

My dissertation is devoted to the search for universal interrelations of “composition — structure — property,” allowing for the purposeful synthesis of new OIPCs with an optimal set of properties. In the future, new plastic crystals can also be used for the synthesis of solid electrolytes for various electrochemical devices, including lithium- and sodium-ion batteries, fuel cells, and supercapacitors.