INRTU professors Larisa Rapatskaya and Zhan Seminskii received Mongolian State Awards for contribution to the development of geology

Zhan Seminskii and Larisa Rapatskaya, professors at the Department of Advanced Geology, Geophysics and Geoinformation Systems, were awarded the order "Merit of the Teacher" by the Ministry of Education and Science of Mongolia. The honorary awards were presented by Vladimir Smirnov, Vice-Rector for Academic Affairs.

The order "Merit of the Teacher" is awarded by the Ministry of Education and Science of Mongolia. INRTU professors were rewarded for their diligent work in training geological personnel and conducting joint Russian-Mongolian scientific expeditions. It should be noted that the conferment is dedicated to the 50th anniversary of the Kerulen International Geological Expedition. The anniversary was celebrated in the beginning of April at "Geosciences" forum. The Kerulen International Geological Expedition was founded according to the agreement on scientific and cultural cooperation between the Mongolian People's Republic and the Soviet Union. The scientific and field research of the expedition was a starting point for further research that was successfully implemented at the Mongolian University of Science and Technology.

Professor Larisa Rapatskaya made a great contribution to the development of the expedition and relations between the two countries. She has been working at Irkutsk Technical University since 1972. In 1977, Larisa Rapatskaya was invited to work at the Mongolian University of Science and Technology; she conducted lectures on geological disciplines in Russian for two years there. She also took part in the field work. Professor Rapatskaya emphasized that Mongolian colleagues used the results of her researches in the preparation and defense of candidate and doctoral dissertations.

The professor continues to collaborate with Mongolian colleagues. For example, two years ago her article on petroleum geology was published in one of Mongolian scientific journals. This year Larisa Rapatskaya plans to publish a monograph dedicated to the 50th anniversary of the Kerulen International Geological Expedition.

Zhan Seminskii has been working at INRTU since 1975. The professor has been conducting research on tectonics and the endogenous mode of ore formation in Siberia and Mongolia for 40 years.

Zhan Seminskii joined the Kerulen expedition team in 1983. He conducted a research on uranium, fluorite, and polymetallic ore deposits in Mongolia. The scientist described geological objects, determined the shape and mineral composition of ore bodies, and made microscopic descriptions of thin sections. He also prepared scientific articles together with his colleagues from Ulaanbaatar.

In addition to the participation in the field work, the professor gave lectures to future geologists. Zhan Seminskii considers his most valuable achievement in the international sphere is the training of scientific personnel. Six Mongolian postgraduate students defended under his supervision.