This year the theme of the festival is “Ocean of Science. Your complete immersion! Scientists of the Institute and its friends spoke at lectures about: the history of research in the polar regions and their features, changes in the level of the World Ocean, wind waves and energy, earthquakes, oil, artificial intelligence, microplastics, diatoms.

For two whole days, young visitors and interested adults could enter the research institute and see the exhibition-storage of representatives of deep-sea fauna here, in the cradle of oceanology in Moscow. A small exhibition of our exhibits was also presented at the Expocentre Fairgrounds and the Moscow State University library. Each visitor could learn how to tie a bower knot and look through the binoculars of mini-foraminifera shells, learn what instruments are used in complex expeditions and communicate with young scientists.

The opportunity to visit a research institute traditionally arouses great interest among city residents; many personally want to see whether Monday begins on Saturday for the employees of the research institute, and whether exploring the ocean requires endless time, as in the famous story of the Strugatsky brothers. This increases the motivation of the Institute’s employees to talk about their work in accessible language. This year more than 200 people visited us, which is about a third more than last year. Many visitors had not heard anything about the Institute of Oceanology BEFORE the science festival, so they were pleasantly surprised. In the large hall, festival guests were told about underwater diving, river plumes and sea expeditions; they could also take part in a master class on water chemistry and bring a huge coelacanth to life using a smartphone (look for the QR code nearby!).

The festival ended with a performance by the world famous artist and friend of the IO RAS - Alexander Ponomarev. His exhibition “I’m Only Mad in the North-North-West” can be visited right now at the Tretyakov Gallery (September 28, 2023 - January 14, 2024) - come!

Alexander Ponomarev (born 1957) – sailor, artist, curator, organizer of the first Biennale of Contemporary Art in Antarctica in 2017; in 2006, Ponomarev’s submarine art boat surfaced right in the fountain of the Tuileries Garden opposite the Louvre Museum.

The organizing committee of the festival IO RAS thanks everyone who took part and helped in preparing the event. We hope that popularization of research will become a good tradition for all employees of the Institute. Perhaps, among the young visitors, future oceanologists are growing up, who will then go on voyages and write articles in highly rated journals.