Chemists and biotechnologists, specialists in new materials and artificial intelligence developers, bright and talented humanities, lawyers and engineers - all these are women of Tula State University, who celebrate their professional holiday on February 11. 

We are used to hearing the phrase "scientists", meaning “men of science” when we talk about experienced researchers. There are no established or at least some habitual “women of science” in our everyday life, but there are not a few remarkable ladies who move science forward and make important and useful discoveries. It is enough to look at the list of youth scientific laboratories of TulSU or the University Research Department. 

In 2025, the International Day of Women and Girls in Science will be celebrated for the tenth time. It was initiated by the International Telecommunication Union, and the idea was taken up by the UN. That is, this holiday is international, while it is symbolically adjacent to the “big” Day of Russian Science, which was widely celebrated on February 8. 

Statistics says that about a third of researchers all over the world are women. In Russia, women get higher education more often than men, but they are noticeably less likely to pursue a scientific career. In the total number of researchers in 2021, their share was 38.8 per cent.

Here are some examples from TulSU. The Young Scientists Council of the University is headed by Inessa Alexandrovna Grachyova, PhD in Technical Sciences, who is currently acting as the Head of the Research and Development Department. Inessa replaced Olga Anatolyevna Fomicheva, candidate of technical sciences, who now supervises the work of the Advanced Engineering School of TulSU “Intelligent Defence Systems”. 

Leading researcher of the Laboratory of Environmental and Medical Biotechnology, Deputy Director of the Natural Science Institute of TulSU, candidate of chemical sciences Darya Gennadyevna Lavrova previously headed the Student and Postgraduate Scientific Society of the University. Now she decided to focus on research and work in the directorate of her home institute.

- There is a good tradition in our institute to involve students in real scientific research, first through coursework, which is how my path started, and then through fulfilment of various state assignments of the Ministry of Education and Science of Russia, participation in grants, Darya said. - Of course, a huge contribution to the students enthusiasm is made by the scientific supervisor, who by his example energises them to search for and solve non-classical problems. 

Darya's scientific work is related to the creation and research of biohybrid materials that can be used in biosensors for rapid monitoring of water pollution and biofilters for wastewater disposal. The team is working on a new generation of biofilters that will replace the existing ones - in this way they improve the ecology and the world around us.

How can one measure the success of a scientist? There can be many answers to this question. According to Darya Lavrova, each successive victory - be it a published scientific article, a won grant or an internship - are the building blocks of a career. In 2024, under her leadership, a team of researchers won a grant from the Russian Science Foundation aimed at fundamental research into the influence of structural components of the cell surface of microorganisms on the formation of the structure of cell-to-shell material and the creation of effective biocatalysts for ecology and medicine on their basis.

- For me, scientific activity is an inexhaustible source of new knowledge and skills, - Darya sincerely admitted. - Therefore, in the future I will strive to learn and discover more and more new things, master new research methods, try to translate fundamental results into applications, win new grants and continue the traditions of the Natural Science Institute to involve talented young people in such an interesting science!

Anastasiya Vladimirovna Sycheva, Associate Professor of the Department of Sociology and Political Science at the Institute of Humanities and Social Sciences, PhD in Sociology, is a representative of the humanities camp. Sociologists are no less active in research than engineers and chemists, she says. In 2013, the young researcher received a master's degree in sociology, in 2015 she retrained as a high school teacher, and in 2018 she defended her PhD thesis on “Volunteer activities of modern Russian youth as a factor in the development of civil society”.

It all started with the traditional scientific TulSU conference “All-Russian Readings of Students, Postgraduates, Young Scientists with International Participation “XXI Century: Humanities and Socio-Economic Sciences””. Anastasiya was a first-year student, and together with her classmate they wrote their first scientific theses and received support, becoming the best in the nomination “Best Duet”.

- The first successful step is very important, says the teacher and researcher. - That is why I plunged into scientific work quite quickly and with great interest, travelled to different cities thanks to the university, took part in regional and all-Russian conferences. We were energised by our teachers and mentors. I remember how once I met Irina Alexandrovna Batanina, professor of our department, Doctor of Political Sciences, in the corridor. She came out of the directorate and asked in the corridor where the postgraduate students were, looking at me for some reason. I was then studying in the master's programme and honestly said that I was not a postgraduate student. ‘Then you will be!’ - said Irina Alexandrovna with a smile. And she was not mistaken!

Science is something you have to do all the time, literally 24 hours a day, and even more if you had the chance,’ says Anastasiya Sycheva. I want to have time for everything, because there are so many interesting things around. But even writing an application for participation in a regular event is a lot of work, which due to the current busy schedule, I don't always have time for.

- I also have great faith in our young people and hope that there will be more young researchers in our humanitarian fields over time: sociologists, political scientists, specialists in advertising, public relations, and media communications. Let them come to science, become part of our community, and we will always help them as we were helped in our time, Anastasiya Sycheva concluded. 

Dmitriy Litvinov