The “Baikal-Evolution” Floating University on board the RV “Akademik V.A. Koptyug” from 13 to 20 August 2021

The “Baikal-Evolution” Floating University on board the RV “Akademik V.A. Koptyug” from 13 to 20 August 2021

The Floating University included eight scientists as lecturers and ten students, mainly undergraduates or postgraduates in biology fields. During the work of the Floating University, its students listened to lectures for six to eight hours, got aquainted with practical aspects of the work of biologists at Lake Baikal and had excursions to the coast at the most interesting sites.

The programme of the University was very rich, and the response of the students was enthusiastic. The lectures on each day of the trip were devoted to a discussion of one or two aspects of evolutionary theory but in all details. They were accompanied by a lively and detailed discussion, in which young scientists participated actively. This created a unique and favourable professional atmosphere that undoubtedly helped all participants, regardless of their experience and age, to obtain new knowledge. Among the lecturers, there were scientists from Moscow State University, The Vavilov Institute of General Genetics, Russian Federal Research Institute of Fisheries and Oceanography, Koltzov Institute of Developmental Biology (Moscow), Institute of Cytology and Genetics, Institute of Molecular and Cellular Biology, Novosibirsk State University (Novosibirsk), Limnological Institute and Irkutsk State University (Irkutsk). The students of the Floating University were from the same institutions.

During the cruise, the RV “Akademik V.A. Koptyug” visited the central and southern basins of Lake Baikal. In the north, there were the Ushkany Islands, and in the southwest – Kultuk Bay and Shamanka Island. Scientific discussion and acquaintance with Baikal endemics amid diverse landscapes of Lake Baikal will forever remain with all 18 participants of the Floating University.

The link has a video report for each day of the cruise.