Director of the Shirshov Institute of Oceanology of RAS A.V. Sokov presented the report "Results of the IO RAS in 2020".

2020 has become one of the most difficult and alarming periods in the history of our Institute. Each of us had to adapt to a difficult epidemiological situation, worry about loved ones, change plans.

In the past year, we have lost 16 colleagues, 5 of them are heads of laboratories. This is an irreparable loss for our research team.

In conditions of social isolation, under the threat of disruption of expeditions and scientific research, we continued to work. And the staff of the Institute has achieved outstanding results:

• The high level of publication activity achieved in 2018-2019 has been maintained. We have published over 500 articles in peer-reviewed scientific journals. In 2020, the number of articles in the 1st and 2nd quartile journals continued to grow. The state task in terms of the publication of articles has been fully fulfilled.
• It was possible to almost completely fulfill the plan of expeditionary research. 12 sea expeditions were carried out within the framework of the state assignment. The actual duration of the expeditions was 417 days. 4 research vessels were involved. Only one autumn expedition to Antarctica has been postponed to the next year.
• The RV Akademik Ioffe, RV Akademik Sergei Vavilov, RV Akademik Mstislav Keldysh and RV Akademik Nikolay Strakhov were repaired.
• Within the framework of the program for updating the instrument base of the IO RAS, scientific equipment was purchased for more than 48 million rubles. The premises were repaired to accommodate new equipment.

In the coming months, the task is to start creating a carbonic polygon on the territory of the Southern Branch of the IO RAS.

A competition was held and a contract was signed for the creation of modernization projects for the RV Akademik Nikolay Strakhov and RV Akademik Sergei Vavilov. In the fall of 2021, modernization of these vessels will begin.