Despite the pandemic, AltSU develops cooperation with Saitama University (Japan)

Saitama University is one of the oldest partner universities of Altai State University from Land of the Rising Sun. At the origins of the cooperation, which has been going on for more than 30 years, were professors Akeo Misaki (since 2018 – a visiting professor at Altai State University) and Head of the Department of Radiophysics and Theoretical Physics Anatoly Lagutin. Since 2016, within the framework of the HiSEP (Hi-Grade Science Education Program), academic exchanges have been carried out between universities. Twice (in 2016 and 2018) delegations of Saitama University took part in summer schools jointly organized on the basis of Altai State University.

Unfortunately, in 2020 full-time visit of Japanese professors and students to Altai was impossible. However, the collaboration has not stopped.

On October 29, Vice-Rector for the Development of International Affairs, Associate Professor of the Department of Radiophysics and Theoretical Physics of Altai State University Roman Raikin gave an open lecture in English dedicated to high-energy astrophysics for students of Saitama University. The lecture was organized by videoconference.

Astrophysics is one of the most impressive and dynamically developing areas of scientific knowledge in recent years. New breakthrough discoveries in the field of astrophysics are invariably leading in the rankings of the world's most important scientific achievements; among the Nobel laureates of the last 20 years, astrophysicists are almost the majority.

Literally in recent years, breakthrough results have been obtained in the "Science of the 21st century", the so-called multichannel astrophysics, which, as scientists hope, will shed light on the key unsolved mysteries of the Universe, thanks to a comprehensive study of electromagnetic radiation, gravitational waves and elementary particles (neutrinos, cosmic high energy rays) emitted by the same extraterrestrial sources. RomanI Raikin told the first-year students from different faculties of Saitama University about the most prominent discoveries of multichannel astrophysics and the prospects for the development of research in this area, as well as about what astrophysicists deal with at Altai State University.

The organizer of the seminar from the Japanese side, Professor Naoya Inoue, noted that cooperation with AltSU does not stop, and as soon as the epidemiological restrictions are lifted, our universities will resume work on the preparation of Russian-Japanese summer schools in full-time mode.