Science 0+: at TSPU, Week of Discovery and Inspiration

From October 27 to November 1, Tomsk State Pedagogical University hosted a series of events as part of the nationwide «Science 0+» Festival — Russia’s largest popular science project. Over the course of the week, hundreds of visitors of all ages joined lectures, workshops, experiments, and interactive sessions, both on campus and online.

The event started with two creative sessions organized by the Faculty of History and Philology: a seminar «Fathers and Children in Contemporary Teenage Literature» and a workshop «Impressionism: A Dive into the World of Light, Sound, and Word». During the seminar, participants explored how modern authors interpret the timeless theme of generational conflict, using Dina Sabitova’s novella «Three of Your Names» as an example. They practiced close reading and text analysis, comparing classical and modern literary approaches..

The Impressionism workshop guided guests through the movement’s essence and its unique expressions in painting, music, and Russian literature — and offered a chance to analyze its literary imagery firsthand.

Meanwhile, students from the Institute of Foreign Languages and International Cooperation held an online workshop «Verification of Linguistic Data». They demonstrated how to evaluate the accuracy of terminology and introduced various methods of academic research.

The festival continued with a lecture «The Main Directions of Soviet Foreign Policy in the 1920s–1930s», offering a historical overview of the USSR’s international relations in a time of growing global tension.

The Faculty of Technology and Entrepreneurship offered a practical online session «Building an Investment Portfolio», showing how thoughtful investing can help increase passive income.

Natural sciences took a special place in the schedule. This field, as noted by Russia’s Minister of Education Sergey Kravtsov, is gaining increasing popularity among young people. At the Faculty of Physics and Mathematics, young educators hosted a science show «Air Molecules in Our Quantum Universe». School students watched live experiments that revealed the fascinating behavior of air under different conditions.

Another highlight was a public lecture «Elementary Particles and the Evolution of the Universe», delivered by Professor Iosif L. Buchbinder.

At the TSPU Quantorium technopark, the youngest visitors got to play engineers for a day — building and programming LEGO robots and guiding the little robot Matata through simple tasks and challenges.

At the A.M. Volkov Scientific Library, Tomsk school students discovered the history of bookmaking and got a rare look at some of the library’s most rare and valuable editions.

On Wednesday, the Siberian Research and Education Center for Children’s and Youth Literature organized two events. Students and teachers attended an in-person lecture and workshop «Big Ideas in Small Stories: Miniatures of Contemporary Writers», while an online audience joined «Books for Children and Parents on Child Safety», which showcased new family reading titles that teach children the basics of safety.

Thursday’s events included an exhibition «Siberian Traditions in Student Creativity» from the Faculty of Technology and Entrepreneurship, featuring decorative and applied art created by future teachers, and a hands-on chemistry workshop «Computer Modeling in Chemistry» from the Faculty of Biology and Chemistry, which introduced participants to quantum-chemical simulations.

Preschoolers and younger pupils joined a physics-themed quest «Journey into the MicroWorld of Quantik», organized by the Institute of Childhood and Art Pedagogy — their first fun step into the world of science.

Another exhibition, «The Art of 3D Graphics», showcased student projects in interior design and visualization.

TSPU’s Quantorium also hosted an online roundtable for preschool teachers — «Mentors of Future Engineers: Effective Practices». The discussion focused on early approaches to introducing children to technical creativity.

Finally, the week closed with the project session «Technologies of the Future», organized by the TSPU Business Incubator. Students learned how technological entrepreneurship drives change across industries — from education and healthcare to manufacturing — and teamed up to design and present their own tech-based projects.

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