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Discussion of the second IAS Snowflake roadmap with The Governor of Murmansk Region, Andrey Chibis

On July 16th, Rector of the Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology (MIPT) Dmitry Livanov and Governor of Murmansk Region, Andrey Chibis discussed the details and plans pertaining to the construction of a second Arctic station, named “Snowflake," in the Murmansk region.

“At the meeting we clearly outlined the main deadlines for “Snowflake-2’s” construction within the Murmansk region. The agreements related to the project will be enshrined in a road map, which will be provided to the Russian government in October. It is also fundamentally important for us to develop cooperation between MIPT and Murmansk State Technical University (MSTU) in order to train employees for Arctic projects. MSTU and MIPT have recently signed a cooperation agreement and we are grateful to MIPT for actively supporting our initiatives and projects to develop the Arctic”, - said Governor of Murmansk Region, Andrey Chibis.

The International Arctic Station “Snowflake-2”, when completed, will cover an approximate area of about 3000 square meters and will be built near the Teriberka settlement in the Murmansk region. Geographical and climatic features of the Murmansk region will enable it to create a fully-fledged educational and scientific platform, as well as to conduct marine, seismic and environmental research.

“The “Snowflake-2” project is unique, primarily because it has some major differences compared to a station located in Yamal. The two stations differ especially when comparing the technology, logistics and research conducted within the stations. Working cooperatively with the regions is very important to us and we are glad that MSTU is one of the first members of our consortium of leading technical universities in Russia. The goal of our cooperation is to improve the level of STEM disciplines teaching, to give applicants the opportunity to study in our joint programs and, in the future, to successfully build a career in their home region. I am sure that our project and educational cooperation will develop rapidly”, - noted MIPT’s Rector Dmitry Livanov.

MIPT, as the initiator/coordinator of the Snowflake project, takes part in all aspects: from project development to research at the station, afterwich any developments will be put into operation.

“Despite the challenge of building two stations at the same time, one in Yamal and one in the Murmansk region, I am glad that the Snowflake project will become a comprehensive Arctic platform where Russian, international developers, engineers and industrial companies, will be able to implement future technologies into practice even today”, commented Yury Vasiliev, Executive Director of the Institute of Arctic Technologies.