Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) -- On 16-17 December 2021, the third "Festival of Science and Atom" was held in Uzbekistan, designed to tell young people about the latest achievements in the field of nuclear science and technology, as well as to popularize engineering specialties among schoolchildren and students.

The event was held at two sites: in the Tashkent branch of the National Research Nuclear University MEPhI and in the Information Center for Nuclear Technologies.

This year, the organizers of the festival presented a two-day program of events with interactive formats, including a quest from intellectual games, an excursion for schoolchildren around the new campus of NRNU MEPhI, scientific discussions, as well as speeches by experts and students - future nuclear physicists and power engineers. At the same time, ICAT held master classes in robotics for schoolchildren, interactive games, experiments with electric current and excursions around the Information Center.

On the first day of the festival, 180 schoolchildren from Tashkent schools visited the NRNU MEPhI branch. The children had the opportunity to learn about modern laboratory equipment for nuclear physics, optics, chemistry and much more. The format of the event allowed the guests to communicate with the teachers and students of the branch in order to find out more about the advantages of studying at NRNU MEPhI.

In the assembly hall of the branch, the "Scientific battle" was presented, which was held by the students of the branch. In a creative form, they presented their areas of study at the university and told the children about their studies and future work.

On the second "student" day of the festival, students from Tashkent State Technical University and NUUz visited the branch of NRNU MEPhI to participate in scientific discussions "Global nuclear energy" and "The future of nuclear energy". For many students who made presentations, this festival was the first experience in conducting independent research work and scientific presentation in front of their future colleagues.

A special guest of the festival was Dmitry Gorchakov, a well-known Russian popularizer of atomic science, nuclear physicist, scientific blogger. In his speech, he spoke about the trends in the development of nuclear energy in the world, directions of development of nuclear energy in the future.

Ruzmat Sotivoldiev, a 2nd year student of the “Heat power engineering and thermal physics” direction of the NRNU MEPhI branch, winner of a scientific discussion, shares his impressions: “Holding this annual festival on the territory of the MEPhI branch gave me the opportunity to make a presentation. I am very glad that my report was noted by the well-known expert Dmitry Gorchakov. First, I gained invaluable experience and the start of my scientific career. To prepare a report, I had to read a lot of scientific literature, draw conclusions, formulate my thoughts in scientific language. Second, in order to perform in front of a large audience, I learned to control my excitement. Such events make student life even more vibrant and unforgettable. Student life consists not only of lectures, tests and tests. Such events are needed to give students the opportunity to speak, express themselves, do something important with their own hands. "

The winners of the scientific quest, "Scientific battle", as well as the best speakers were awarded valuable prizes.

In addition to offline events, scientific conversations and discussions with well-known experts from Russia, Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan were held within the framework of the festival, which will be available to a wide audience on the ICAT pages in social networks.

The organizer was the Information Center for Nuclear Technologies (ICAT) in Tashkent with the support of the Uzatom Agency and the State Atomic Energy Corporation Rosatom.