The traditional 76th SUSU Student Research Conference was held at the Department of Food Technology and Biotechnology of the School of Medical Biology. This year the Food Technology and Biotechnology category was especially busy; Bachelor’s and Master’s students of the department presented their research results, including students from Zhejiang Oceanic University studying in the English-language Master’s programme in Industrial and Environmental Biotechnology (19.04.01).
The aim of this event is to support the exchange of scientific and practical experience in the development of innovative technological solutions for the creation of food systems and biologically active substances among students from different programmes offered by the department.
The conference was opened with a welcoming speech by the Director of the School of Medical Biology, Doctor of Sciences (Engineering), Professor Irina Potoroko. Scientists of the Department of Food Technology and Biotechnology and research associates of the Laboratory for the Synthesis and Analysis of Food Ingredients, Udey Bagale, Maruan Shemek, and Varisha Ayjun participated in the conference.
The presented scientific research touched on resource-saving technologies for the processing of food raw materials, import substitution, and food security, which are relevant both for Russia and for the People's Republic of China.
The Master’s students from China presented the results of their developments for the production of sustainable plant-based beverage systems using a new format of food ingredients, touched on the extraction of bioactive components from byproducts, and considered the microbiological treatment of wastewater from impurities of heavy metals.
Team spirit and support from scientific supervisors allowed the international students to achieve significant results in their research. All conference participants demonstrated a deep understanding of their assigned tasks and excellent presentation of their research results.
Certificate recipients at the conference, 2nd-year Master's student Wang Minley, and 4th-year student of programme 19.03.03 Foods of Animal Origin Anna Nikolina, shared their impressions of the event.
"The main goal of my research was to develop and analyze the bioactive properties of an enriched coconut-based drink. This conference highlighted existing shortcomings and gave direction to my future research," Wang Minglei says.
"At the conference, I presented my development of a specialized drink for diabetic nutrition. This event is very important for the exchange of thoughts and ideas and pushes the development of new areas of research for students of different years", shared Anna Nikolina.
The experts of the conference rated the presented developments highly, gave recommendations to the participants for further studies and improvement of their research, and wished the graduates a successful defence of their qualifying project.
At the end of the conference, the best reports were awarded certificates and recommended for publication in the peer-reviewed scientific journal Bulletin of SUSU in the Food and Biotechnology series.
