XXXVI reading of academician V.I. Vernadsky "Scientific and technological leadership – the main factor of the strength of the state and society": how it was

On March 17, 2026, the XXXVI readings of Academician V.I. Vernadsky "Scientific and Technological Leadership – the Main Factor of the Strength of the State and Society" took place in the building of the Presidium of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine. Recall that this event is held annually at the Academy and is dedicated to the birthday of its founder and first President, Academician Volodymyr Vernadsky (1863–1945).

With an opening speech to the participants, Academician of the NAS of Ukraine Vyacheslav Koshechko, member of the Presidium of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine and head of the NASU Commission on the Scientific Heritage of Academician V.I. Vernadsky, addressed the gathering:

"Allow me to congratulate you on the opening of the XXXVI readings of Academician Volodymyr Ivanovych Vernadsky – an outstanding scientist, thinker, great organizer of science, and the first president of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine. His scientific heritage, the depth of philosophical generalizations, and strategic vision of the role of science in the development of humanity remain an important guide for the scientific community today.

The theme of this year's readings – "Scientific and Technological Leadership – the Main Factor of the Strength of the State and Society" – is extremely relevant, in my opinion, for the modern world. In the 21st century, it is science, innovation, and high technologies that determine the economic power of states, their security, competitiveness, and ability for sustainable development. Scientific knowledge becomes a key resource shaping a new quality of social progress.

For Ukraine, this topic has special significance. In the difficult conditions of war, our state is increasingly convinced that scientific and technological potential is one of the fundamental factors of national resilience and defense capability. Today, Ukrainian scientists are actively working on creating new materials, technologies, means of protection (i.e., defense), information and energy solutions that help strengthen state security and support its economy.

At the same time, science must play a key role in the future restoration of Ukraine. Innovations, modern technologies, the development of high-tech industries, and integration into the European and global scientific space must become the foundation of post-war modernization of the country. In this context, the ideas of Volodymyr Ivanovych Vernadsky about the decisive role of scientific thought in the evolution of humanity and about the formation of the noosphere as a space of responsible and rational development of civilization acquire new resonance.

The Vernadsky readings traditionally serve as an important scientific platform for discussing strategic problems of the development of science, technology, and society. They promote interdisciplinary dialogue, unite researchers from various fields of knowledge, and form new approaches to solving the complex challenges of our time.

I am confident that the XXXVI readings of Academician Vernadsky will become a platform for meaningful discussions, new scientific ideas, and practical proposals aimed at strengthening Ukraine's scientific and technological potential, developing innovation, and enhancing the role of science in ensuring the resilience of our state."

Wishing all participants fruitful work, interesting reports, constructive discussions, and new creative achievements, Academician of the NAS of Ukraine Vyacheslav Koshechko gave the floor to the President of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, Academician of the NAS of Ukraine Anatoliy Zahorodniy for greetings.

"Dear colleagues, dear friends, I am very pleased to welcome all participants of the XXXVI readings of Academician V.I. Vernadsky on behalf of the Presidium of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine. Our Academy has always paid great attention to the study of the scientific heritage of Volodymyr Ivanovych. It could not be otherwise," said Academician of the NAS of Ukraine Anatoliy Zahorodniy. "I remind you that for the 150th anniversary of his birth, our Academy published, I dare say, the most comprehensive edition of the works of Volodymyr Ivanovych, along with two volumes of his correspondence. The scientific heritage of Volodymyr Ivanovych Vernadsky is fantastic and inexhaustible. It is worth continuing to work with it. And we will do so. We will be inspired by his ideas, which, as we see especially today, remain very relevant. Because if we want to win and rebuild, we have no choice but to rely exclusively on the latest technologies. And this is impossible without science. The fact that today we again hold readings in honor of Academician Vernadsky is very appropriate, probably. I repeat, it could not be otherwise, since Volodymyr Ivanovych was both the organizer, founder, and first president of our Academy. He is an outstanding philosopher, scientist, and great naturalist who can be placed alongside the classics of natural science.

The fact that we hold this important event today is largely due to the NASU Commission on the Scientific Heritage of Academician V.I. Vernadsky and its head, Academician Vyacheslav Hryhorovych Koshechko. For many years, our respected Academician Oleksiy Semenovych Onyshchenko has done and continues to do a lot for this. It is hard to imagine the work of the Commission without him. Many issues related to ensuring its activities have rested and still rest on his shoulders.

The fascinating program of today's readings is further evidence that our Academy truly maintains a high level of scientific research and adheres to the legacies of its first leader. I wish everyone successful work, interesting reports, fruitful discussions, goodness, and health!"

Then the attendees applauded the long-time head of the NASU Commission on the Scientific Heritage of Academician V.I. Vernadsky, advisor to the NASU Presidium, Academician of the NAS of Ukraine Oleksiy Onyshchenko, on his birthday, which he celebrates on March 17.

Next, the participants listened to seven scientific reports.

"On the Current State of Biosphere Evolution in the Conditions of Forming Scientific and Technological Leadership of the State" was dedicated by Advisor to the Directorate of the Institute of Geography of the NAS of Ukraine, Academician of the NAS of Ukraine Leonid Rudenko:

"Strategies and directions for the development of an independent and free Ukraine, as well as the formation of its conditions, today concern a very important part of research at the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine. Previously, the focus was mainly on temporary problems – the establishment of state independence, economic difficulties of the early 1990s, development of sectoral strategies, and individual social development projects. Today, we work with a more distant perspective. But society must also understand why long-term strategies matter. Various surveys have shown insufficient awareness among the population, especially younger generations, for example, regarding sustainable, balanced development. Thus, the problem of enlightenment exists. Scientists and educators must spread knowledge about what is happening on our planet. And everything that happens on the planet, I remind, happens in the biosphere. The classical definition of the biosphere was proposed by Austrian geologist Eduard Suess in 1875: the biosphere is the living shell of the Earth, encompassing the lower part of the atmosphere, the entire hydrosphere, and the upper part of the lithosphere, inhabited by living organisms. It is a global ecosystem whose composition and energetics are determined by the activity of living beings, including humans. Scientists have long concluded that the Holocene, as a stage of nature’s development, has ended and a new epoch – the Anthropocene – has begun. But humans, as a biological species, have become dangerous to themselves. Volodymyr Ivanovych Vernadsky wrote: 'The primary cause of the crisis is the eternal conflict of the material and spiritual in man.' This hinders understanding many acute problems. Humans are greedy; they want to consume more and more natural resources and social benefits. The main modern postulates of societal development are to take more resources, use them more intensively and quickly, penetrate further, higher, and deeper. The consequences are disturbances in the properties of nature’s components and the structure of natural landscapes, pollution of nature’s components at global and regional levels. About 20 years ago, our Institute published a special monograph titled 'Ukraine: Main Trends in the Interaction of Society and Nature in the 20th Century (Geographical Aspect).' What are the trends in society-nature interaction today? Several can be singled out: manifestation of permanent stresses and increased frequency of their occurrence in the interaction process during the 20th century; expansion of interaction areas, transition from local to global levels; disruption of self-regulation and equilibrium restoration mechanisms in the natural environment, as well as ecological functions of geosystems; exceeding ecologically permissible levels of anthropogenic impact on nature. In some rather large territories, this has so changed natural environmental conditions that living there becomes increasingly difficult for humans. To these challenges, one can add the danger of thermonuclear war, limited development resources, critical state of the natural environment, global climate change, as well as intercivilizational and religious conflicts. Thus, all this has already changed and continues to change the biosphere – the environment in which, I repeat, humans live, among others. Thirty years ago, trends such as reduction of natural environment area, increase in primary biological production consumption, desertification and land degradation, disappearance of biological species, qualitative depletion of water and land, deterioration of life quality were identified. These trends have not disappeared; they not only persist but intensify, especially due to climate change, significantly reducing the quality of the natural environment.

Next, I would like to focus on two points. The first concerns scientific research of the properties and changes in the state of the Earth's shell, as well as living conditions for humans and living organisms. Over the years of human existence, a clear orientation towards constant use of nature’s components has formed, affecting their state and biodiversity. Radical changes in the species composition of global and regional biota and their ratios have become evident. Known biochemical cycles have been disrupted. The impact of human activity on major natural resources has increased, leading to their partial depletion, quality changes, and losses. Everyone wants to live well, have gas, oil, and other critical minerals. To these costs are added resources for waging wars. According to the World Bank, about two billion tons of solid waste are generated worldwide annually. According to the Ministry of Environmental Protection and Natural Resources of Ukraine [now part of the Ministry of Economy, Environment, and Agriculture of Ukraine], Ukraine has recorded 6,000 legal landfills and 27,000 illegal ones. The government, with support from NAS scientists, does a lot to preserve the natural environment, open new national parks and reserves, etc. But many problems will have to be solved in the coming years. For example, dealing with construction waste generated by Russian attacks on our infrastructure.

The public, intellectuals, and world leaders, reacting to environmental pollution, have prompted the adoption of many documents to mitigate and halt environmental impact. In 1992, the Agenda 21 was adopted, and in 2000, the Millennium Development Goals (in 2015 – Sustainable Development Goals 2030) were approved. But these documents must not only exist in literature and scientific publications but also in our lives.

Scientists understand that after global catastrophes and another great extinction, nature on Earth can eventually recover. It will transform, as it did many millennia ago; other species of fauna and flora may appear. But what will happen to humanity? Even small changes in the quality of the natural environment significantly affect human health and development. Thus, all subsequent generations are in danger. Humanity has not realized the consequences of Hiroshima, Nagasaki, Chernobyl, and nuclear weapons testing. Therefore, it does not think not only about descendants but also about itself now.

The state of the Earth's geosphere has long been recognized as unsatisfactory and alarming. Therefore, scientists face the task of developing the essence of ecological modernization as a new model of society-nature interaction aimed at halting the deterioration of human living conditions. To determine the steps of ecological modernization, Chinese scientists analyzed trends of individual ecological effects over the last 300 years and singled out the following aspects of global ecological modernization: ecological modernization is not easy; it is a sustainable historical trend; it requires coordination within each state; it requires international cooperation; currently, there is no best model of ecological modernization.

Besides combining efforts for joint research, we scientists must also formulate proposals for certain state legislative acts to increase environmental responsibility of territorial communities during the development of strategic community development plans. In our opinion, an effective mechanism for implementing ecological modernization should be a Strategy for Balanced Economic, Social, and Environmental Development of the State. Of course, such a strategy does not exist during wartime. But we need to think about the fact that the war will end someday, and we will face the issue of rebuilding our state and restoring our living conditions.

The second point of my report concerns the systemic crisis of society and civilizational discord. The modern world is characterized by the spread of new geopolitics with special attention to the space in which peoples with different civilizational identities function. I constantly speak about this space and what happens in it: humans live, industry, transport, energy develop, etc. This new geopolitics has long required closer study. Recently, the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine has published several national reports addressing these issues. But further research is needed. It is important to remember that the period of bipolar world order (or the so-called Cold War period) has ended, and new political-economic groupings (BRICS, Global South) have formed, which now view the delimitation of their spheres of influence in various world regions differently than before.

I will cite more results of Chinese research, this time on modernization of economic development in 131 countries worldwide. Using common indicators for all these countries, the authors identified two historical stages of societal modernization: primary (transition to industrial society) and secondary (transition to knowledge-based society). According to this research, only 29 countries have entered the secondary modernization phase, 12 have an agrarian orientation, and 90 are still in the primary phase. We at the Institute of Geography of the NAS of Ukraine have completed a large project tracking the formation of the urban network in our country from 1897 to 2022. I can say that during this time, there have been huge shifts in the settlement structure of Ukraine, especially the urban settlement structure.

Scientists should consider methodological approaches to understanding and practical application of certain achievements and traditions in the directions of movement toward secondary modernization, which is especially important for Ukraine’s recovery program. In this context, I refer to another Chinese scientific material – "Traditions and Modernization of Civilization." It covers economy, society, politics, culture, ecology, individual behavior in traditional societies, as well as societies of primary and secondary modernization. I believe this can be useful for consolidating efforts of all scientists, especially in geoecological, social, and technological directions.

Unfortunately, Ukraine does not belong to the countries of secondary modernization. Changes in ruling elites have not led to the establishment of a clear course and development guidelines. Unlike many other countries, we do not have a nationwide development strategy, although we have sectoral strategies (on water resources, nature reserve development, demographic development, etc.; they can be viewed, for example, on the Government portal), which, however, did not contain broader visions. "Without your own strategy, you fall under the influence of someone else's tactics," says Anatoliy Amelin, Director of the Ukrainian Institute of the Future. In his opinion, in the early stages of independence, our country solved mainly local problems such as curbing inflation, establishing its own currency circulation, conducting privatization, but the lack of strategic goals and plans has taken its toll, leading to what is happening to us now. I remind you that Austria, Belgium, the United Kingdom, Greece, Denmark, Estonia, Ireland, Iceland, Spain, Italy, Cyprus, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands have their own development strategies. And these strategies work. Later, the European Union's strategy was developed based on them.

In Ukraine, unfortunately, political geography issues are studied very sluggishly and mostly remain outside researchers' attention. But Zbigniew Brzezinski, considering geopolitical movements on various continents, wrote: "Eurasia is a chessboard on which the game for global supremacy will continue, and this struggle includes geostrategy – the strategy of managing political interests." He identified France, Germany, Poland, and Ukraine as the critical core of security. These statements remain relevant because today's Russia has returned to its old tactics – colonizing neighboring territories. It has done so before, annexing lands and almost never developing them. For example, in the 1920s, Russia took part of Ukraine's ethnic lands and attached them to Kursk, Voronezh, and Belgorod regions. A hundred years ago, over 80% of the population in these territories were Ukrainians. Colonization and barbaric attacks and threats have long been the main principles of Russian geopolitical doctrine. Samuel Huntington was mistaken in believing that Ukraine and Russia (Muscovy) belong to the same civilizational space. In reality, this is not so. Today, several scenarios exist for ending the Russian-Ukrainian war, but the best among them is, of course, the return to the 1991 borders. Civilizational subjectivity is the ability for independence and freedom, the capacity to be oneself, develop, and unfold hidden potentials.

The enormous damage caused to the environment and society by the war, which is already known, requires science to strengthen its participation in developing consolidated approaches, primarily to:

• strategizing the new administrative-territorial structure of the state based on improving functional zoning of the territory amid a fundamental change in the geopolitical situation based on assessing the integral potential of the territory;
• modernizing regional policy in new territorial units;
• developing a Strategy for Balanced Economic, Social, and Environmental Development of Territorial Communities.

In wartime, pragmatic functions of science come to the fore. This entails:

• studying geopolitics and military geography issues (preparing programs, textbooks, specific actions);
• strengthening (renewing) political geography with an emphasis on studying changes in geopolitical movements, strengthening military potential, and analyzing the formation of possible interregional conflict situations.

The changes taking place require a radical revision of educational programs in schools and universities – directing young people towards an ecologically oriented society and technological modernism. Therefore, educational activities and improving their quality are indispensable. In this regard, scientists should:

• promote the development (and even insist on it) of new educational programs for educational institutions at all levels (from kindergarten to universities) with the specified development goals;
• activate participation in developing balanced development strategies for communities and regions and in preparing implementation plans for these strategies;
• promote the formation of globalized thinking and awareness of modern geopolitical development vectors.

We already have some achievements for this. For example, in 2012, the Institute of Geography of the NAS of Ukraine, commissioned by the then Ministry of Ecology and Natural Resources of Ukraine and with the participation of colleagues from several other NASU scientific institutions and the State Ecological Academy of Postgraduate Education and Management, conducted research and prepared the National Report "State of Implementation in Ukraine of the Provisions of Agenda 21 (2002–2012)," which carefully assessed the achievements and problems of our state on this path. Preparing for the "Rio+20" summit (also in 2012), specialists from the Institute of Geography of the NAS of Ukraine, together with representatives of other scientific institutions and public organizations, on an initiative basis and according to the UN Development Program in Ukraine, prepared the "Draft Report of Ukraine to the UN Conference on Sustainable Development 'Rio+20'."

...In 2000, speaking from this same tribune, I said that we, as humanity, must do everything to stop environmental problems at the stage where we still drink bottled water and do not breathe through gas masks. Unfortunately, negative trends persist.

I would like to conclude my speech with the words of Yuval Noah Harari: "The decisive factor in conquering the world was the ability to unite many people. Therefore, we must unite the efforts of all earthlings to overcome the planet's destruction from human waste."

"Synergy of Artificial Intelligence, Mathematical Modeling, and Defense Technologies" was presented by the Director of the Educational and Scientific Complex "Institute of Applied Systems Analysis" of the National Technical University of Ukraine "Igor Sikorsky Kyiv Polytechnic Institute" of the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine and NAS Ukraine, Corresponding Member of the NAS of Ukraine Pavlo Kasyanov:

"Today, artificial intelligence, mathematical modeling, and defense technologies no longer exist separately from each other. It is at this intersection that a new quality of scientific research and practical solutions is formed, aimed at ensuring technological resilience, security, and strategic advantage of states. Artificial intelligence enables working with large volumes of data, detecting hidden patterns, and supporting decision-making in complex and dynamic conditions. Mathematical modeling, in turn, provides depth, rigor, and reliability of such decisions, allowing not only to describe complex processes but also to predict their development, assess risks, and find optimal action strategies. Defense technologies are the sphere where this synergy acquires special significance, as it concerns not only innovations but also the preservation of statehood, human lives, and the country's ability to respond effectively to modern challenges. Therefore, the synergy of artificial intelligence, mathematical modeling, and defense technologies is not just a relevant scientific direction but a strategic necessity. It opens opportunities for creating intelligent decision support systems, adaptive control of complex objects, analysis of uncertainty of various kinds, forecasting critical scenarios, and developing new approaches to security and defense. In my report, I will briefly focus on this approach, where fundamental mathematics, modern AI algorithms, and applied defense tasks reinforce each other, forming the basis for next-generation solutions. I will talk about cooperation with our foreign colleagues and the tasks set in Ukraine.

First, about the fundamental component. Since 2010, under the chairmanship of Academician of the NAS of Ukraine Mykhailo Zghurovskyi and with partners from the USA, we began joint research in mathematical methods of decision-making and stochastic optimization methods. We developed the so-called mathematical theory of partially observable Markov decision processes. We obtained a series of theorems on the existence and methods of finding optimal strategies for these processes. We found sufficient conditions for both existence and partially observable situations, generalized this, proved it to the level of criteria, and applied it to a number of tasks partially related to industry and robotics. These were the years 2013–2014. At that time, a scientific direction appeared, now very popular and underlying AI methods – reinforcement learning. Its application even then gave an effect in our research, mainly for inventory control, information transmission, network fault elimination, etc. (We were not yet engaged in security issues – this happened later, when the war began).

Then the "AI winter" passed – and the "spring" began, so to speak. In 2013, when Google acquired DeepMind, theoretical technologies embedded in reinforcement learning methods began to be implemented for various tasks where humans were less successful than these algorithms. We also joined similar research, including molecular dynamics tasks related to high-performance modeling of protein environments. The complexity principle was that we could not solve equations directly because proteins may contain tens of thousands of molecules, and each molecule contains certain components. In dynamics, this was described by a huge number of nonlinear equations that had to be solved simultaneously. Our partners from the University of Kansas (home to one of the world's most successful computational biology centers) invented GRAMM – an alternative way to solve these equations not by standard classical methods (finite element methods or others) but using so-called MCMC algorithms, i.e., Markov Chain Monte Carlo algorithms. Joining this activity, we also contributed and, together with American colleagues, accelerated this work by several orders of magnitude. As a result, the public server GRAMMCell was created. This AI platform allows computational biologists to verify their calculations, currently only for a limited list of protein types. Additional servers in New York state support these studies, enabling scaling our work. So far, these tasks interest our foreign partners more than Ukrainian ones. But we have specialists, including those who worked or work in NAS institutions, who pay attention to this direction, even opening companies in Ukraine and abroad and are interested in cooperating with us.

In 2021, we began research in Military Operations Research and, together with American colleagues from the US Naval Postgraduate School (NPS) and Stony Brook University (New York, USA), won a grant to develop methods of multi-step analysis under uncertainty and risk. What is special here and how did our organization join this activity? As I mentioned, during 2013–2015, a new wave of AI technology intensification began, and what was previously considered more theoretical and even "toy" became accessible to many people and worked in practice – thanks to the development of computational capabilities and software products. Also in 2021, DeepMind specialists published the article "Rewards are enough," emphasizing that the task of building sufficient artificial intelligence can be formalized as a stepwise decision-making problem. Roughly speaking, as a partially observable Markov decision process with given state and action spaces, where transition probabilities may be unknown but the reward is known. In these cases, certain algorithms can build a sufficient AI system that solves a given problem. This proved effective. We were also involved in some research. What results were achieved?

Take, for example, a network intrusion scenario. Suppose there is a node from which information can be infiltrated or read. The task is to maximize this information over a certain time interval, introducing convenient criteria – entropy or others. How to arrange this? The task turned out to be purely mathematical. A theorem was proved that if these nodes have a linear structure and their number is finite, there is a mathematically justified algorithm that until a certain moment information should be infiltrated, and then collected. This is the most optimal case. A more interesting case is when the system is nonlinear. Then this task is formalized using the multi-armed bandit problem and solved quite successfully using algorithms related to reinforcement learning and the so-called UCB algorithm. A similar task is the routing of image resources, which we solved with NPS. When is it practically applied? For example, if it is necessary to automatically and contactlessly configure a drone's video camera with the command center to operate in various modes so that it collects the maximum information per mission according to a certain criterion. This is calculated similarly and does not require large resources. Another task was related to supply chains for marine expeditionary units. It was also formalized using nonlinear optimization and successfully solved based on developed methods. A similar task is the search problem, where in a large space it is necessary to find a certain object by some characteristics, guided by a limited number of sensors. This is not a technical solution but how to organize the search to get the result with the highest probability given certain capabilities.

Additionally, several online decision support platforms were created. One is the AI platform "Dysruption" for dynamic support and maintenance of infrastructure networks. Another is a situational-analytical platform for modeling invasion scenarios.

All these scientific results are reflected in publications in specialized international journals, including the Journal of Convex Analysis (on convergence for integral functionals) and Naval Research Logistics (generalizations on game theory). There are also articles on Markov decision processes and autonomous systems.

In recent years, we have taken on somewhat atypical tasks and carry out projects both on commission from organizations and with support from the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine and the National Research Foundation of Ukraine (under the leadership of Academician Mykhailo Zghurovskyi). This continues the research I mentioned. They concern creating a general theory of an applied platform for cognitive autonomous systems whose functioning is ensured by artificial intelligence, with corresponding applications."

"Biocolloid Chemistry for Innovative Technologies and Advanced Materials" was reported by the Director of the F.D. Ovcharenko Institute of Biocolloid Chemistry of the NAS of Ukraine, Doctor of Technical Sciences Vitaliy Prokopenko:

"The outstanding ideas of Volodymyr Ivanovych Vernadsky about the role of living matter in the development of our planet brought revolutionary changes to the scientific worldview and profoundly influenced the formation of the modern scientific outlook.

They opened new ways of understanding the material world based on the concepts of the biosphere and noosphere. Vernadsky paid special attention to the relevance of the interaction between 'living and inert' (his definition) matter at the colloidal state level, especially in the processes of forming natural organomineral complexes.

Here, in our opinion, an extremely important event that developed these ideas was the discovery by our scientists – Academician F.D. Ovcharenko, Z.R. Ulberg, M.V. Persov, and V.R. Estrela-Llopis – of the phenomenon of selective (heterocoagulation) interaction of living microorganisms with mineral dispersed particles, as well as the phenomenon of diffusiophoresis, registered as discoveries No. 361 and 376 in the State Committee for Inventions registry.

Research conducted by our Institute in this field has yielded significant fundamental and applied results in a short period and laid the foundation for a new branch of colloid science – biocolloid chemistry, which has its objects and subjects of research, corresponding methods and methodology, conceptual apparatus, and is based on fundamental concepts of colloids.

Biocolloid processes are determined by four factors that fundamentally distinguish them from traditional ones.

First – a highly concentrated and complex dispersion medium (e.g., blood plasma).

Second – a significantly more complex structure of the outer cell membrane, which contacts other cells and/or mineral particles.

Third – continuous change of the dispersion medium composition due to the activity of 'living' dispersed phases.

Fourth – the reaction (response) of living cells to environmental changes, which in turn causes new changes in the composition and structure of near-surface formations, significantly affecting the structure and properties of such a biocolloid system as a whole.

These four factors define the main content of this science – the study of interaction processes between living and non-living nature objects, which Vernadsky emphasized as one of the key issues (paragraph 81 of the work "Biosphere").

The concept underlying the mechanisms of biocolloid processes is based on the natural selective interaction of biological cells with colloidal mineral particles and first considers in complex:

• directed movement of mineral particles near a living cell – diffusiophoresis;
• reversible and irreversible adhesion on the cell surface;
• penetration inside through the plasma membrane;
• 'embedding' into cellular structures.

Studying these processes and their mechanisms allowed formulating the concept of metallophilicity as a genetically inherent property reflecting the system of interactions of cells with micro- and nanoparticles of mineral nature.

Together, these ideas enabled developing methodological principles of several applied directions and innovative solutions in a wide range – in mining and beneficiation, agro-industrial production, environmental safety, health care, and veterinary medicine.

I will give several blocks from the above.

Clarifying primary mechanisms of metal accumulation or their compounds and selectivity, as well as transition to nanoscale systems, allowed understanding mechanisms and processes of interaction of nanoparticles of several metals with different types of cells (eukaryotic and prokaryotic) and their structures and components.

Thanks to the obtained theoretical and experimental data, corresponding works are carried out at the Institute.

Briefly, this concerns the development of pharmaceutical substances and methods and technologies of their application, diagnostic tools, and targeted therapy (including cancer), certification of metal nanoparticles as biologically active substances according to EU standards.

Scientists of the Institute synthesized a wide range of nano- and microparticles with high biological activity.

Special roles are played by nanosystems based on gold and silver.

Our scientists developed technological methods for obtaining particles of various geometries (sizes, shapes), using, among others, cell metabolites – exopolysaccharides of certain molecular weight (allowing control of particle sizes and shapes).

This is often crucial for their pharmaceutical properties and biosafety (regarding the latter, a package of regulatory documents on obtaining nanoparticles and controlling their biosafety has been developed).

This enabled forming new unique approaches to key problems of nanomedicine, nanobiotechnology, and nanopharmacy.

Primarily, I mean combating socially dangerous diseases – tuberculosis, septic lesions, and others. The danger and risks of their active spread during wartime and post-war periods are very serious.

Our Institute has developed and is developing active substances for treating tuberculosis, including resistant forms, based on metal nanoparticles and their conjugates (with isoniazid). For this, biosafe metal nanoparticles with high tuberculocidal activity against clinical isolates were synthesized.

Methods to overcome antibiotic resistance of bacteria within probiotics using nanobiocomposite materials based on lactobacilli and biogenic silver nanoparticles are also being developed.

I will give examples of agents with nanoparticles for medicine, veterinary medicine, and cosmetics. For example, the experimental agent "Nano-Ag/Au" is significantly more effective than decamethoxine and chlorhexidine bigluconate. It also significantly accelerates bone tissue regeneration, including maxillofacial bones after fractures.

Another development from this pool of medical materials is the antimicrobial, hemostatic, and wound-healing agent "CoaguloX N," produced in pilot batches. It has accelerated hemostatic action, effectively cleans wounds, prevents secondary infection, and features controlled release of incorporated drugs.

Based on developed hybrid hydrogels, materials have been created, including for anti-burn therapy, restorative and reconstructive implant surgeries in the oculo-orbital region and face in general (so-called soft implants), which is especially relevant due to the significant increase in patients affected by hostilities.

Our joint development with the L.V. Pisarzhevsky Institute of Physical Chemistry of the NAS of Ukraine is a biocomposite material for bone restoration in military and civilian medicine. Model implants with controlled resorption rates and high antibacterial properties were created, and a one-stage technological process for obtaining granulated material was developed.

It was found that nanoparticles can be active modulators of microbiota metabolism.

On real systems, including industrial bacterial strains (Clostridium and E. coli), together with the Institute of Veterinary Medicine of the National Academy of Agrarian Sciences of Ukraine, we proved that nanosized spherical copper and iron particles of certain sizes increase biomass growth by more than three times, which is a way to significantly intensify the process critical in producing industrial microorganisms – producers of veterinary immunobiological agents.

This is an important factor for post-war livestock recovery.

I cannot omit such an important topic as disease diagnostics and biosensorics.

Together with the R.E. Kavetsky Institute of Experimental Pathology, Oncology and Radiobiology of the NAS of Ukraine, we found that using gold nanoprisms modified with polysaccharides is effective for biodetection of cancer cells and biopolymers associated with various diseases. Cancer cells aggregate with gold nanoprisms, and these aggregates can be easily detected by optical microscopy due to plasmon resonance.

Our gold particles of various geometries allow creating composites and nanofilms that significantly enhance the efficiency of electrochemical sensors for detecting metabolites of socially dangerous human diseases. Their principle of action is based on specific chromogenic reactions of metal nanoparticles with pathogenic bacteria, accelerating the reaction sixfold and providing high sensitivity compared to control.

A device for quantitative determination of coliform bacteria concentrations and corresponding software outputting data to a regular iPhone or smartphone has been created.

Moving to another block of results – developments for the agro-industrial complex and food production, lying in the field of state food security.

One of the obtained results is clarifying that nanoparticles on planar electrode surfaces significantly increase sensitivity and specificity of analyte determination on standard devices.

Here, our scientists created a series of express biosensor analyzers for soil condition and food quality based on contamination indicators. Advantages of these developments are low cost, no need for specially trained personnel, high sensitivity, portability, and expressiveness (total analysis time of selected samples does not exceed 30 minutes).

We believe such mobile and express devices should be an important element of military sanitary services and corresponding agroecological services.

It is known that currently, significant areas of productive lands are depleted, polluted with toxic substances, and have destroyed structure. The Institute has created nanocomposites and developed corresponding processes for remediation of degraded and low-productivity lands, as well as lands polluted with explosive residues.

We propose nanobiosubstrates created by converting sludge waste into gel compositions based on humic and fulvic acids, alginate composites, polymetallic nanoparticles, and exopolymers, which have high structuring ability, high water retention properties, and sorption activity for heavy metal ions and other toxic substances with the possibility of controlled release of plant protection agents.

Finally, about another pool of the Institute's developments in food processing. The use of pulsed electroprocessing of biomass increases product yield by more than 50%, ensures high quality and purity of extracts, reduces their degradation, processing time, energy consumption, and environmental impact.

The next block of developments is biocolloid technologies for enriching mineral raw materials. They are currently in our plans considering the relevance of restoring Ukraine's mining and beneficiation industry, especially for precious and rare-earth metals. Methodological principles of several innovative colloid biotechnological solutions called "BioSelect" have been developed. Based on this, processes for extracting and enriching a wide range of mining and beneficiation complex objects can be developed, including enrichment of metals like gold, platinum, tungsten, niobium, etc., from ores and other dispersed raw materials.

According to the technology, using specially developed methods, microbial associates are obtained, used as highly selective flocculants and sorbents in standard flotation processes during extraction, including gold, scheelite, and wolframite. This technology is proposed as an alternative to the gravity process at the Muzhiyivske deposit in Ukraine. It increases the extraction of these metals by 5–25% and can also be used for extracting radionuclides and a wide range of toxic compounds from natural and technogenic waters.

Our "BioCitan" technology implements the patterns of microbial conversion of metal ions into separate dispersed phases for microbiological destruction of especially toxic reagents – cyanides and thiocyanates as components of hydrometallurgical waste solutions – with obtaining additional amounts of metals that were lost.

Another interesting solution, in our opinion, is the creation of iron-containing biocomposites based on cells, for example, microalgae (Chlorella vulg.) and iron-oxygen-containing mineral phases formed by these cells on their surface and inside due to reductive sorption of iron from aqueous iron salt solutions.

Such a biocomposite can extract, for example, dispersed gold from ore and accumulate gold particles both by the membrane and iron-oxygen-containing phases, and also allow magnetic separation of the formed aggregate with high extraction rates (85% by mass and more).

In conclusion, I want to affirm that systematic deep study of the "subtle" mechanisms of interaction between biological objects and "inert" (Vernadsky's term) matter, carried out by our scientists and illustrated by the results of only our Institute's work presented here, gave a significant impetus to the development of knowledge about the biosphere and its development processes. Already today, thanks to the obtained results, one can speak of their high potential not only for expanding fundamental knowledge and applied solutions in the mentioned fields of science and economy but also for obtaining new knowledge in other fields, such as geochemistry, more precisely – biogeochemistry, on which Academician Vernadsky worked. Interesting results can be predicted in studying bioaccumulation and transport of colloidal phases in the hydrosphere, soils, migration of colloidal minerals, formation of differentiated lateral zonality in biogenic sedimentary formations, formation of new types of biogeochemical barriers in sedimentogenesis processes, etc.

Thus, the thoughts and ideas expressed by Academician Volodymyr Ivanovych Vernadsky remain significant and relevant today – as the basis for the development of both fundamental science and practical implementation, directly related to scientific and technological leadership and the resilience of our country and its society."

PRESENTATION

Professor of the Department of Inorganic Chemistry of the Chemical Faculty of Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv, Doctor of Chemical Sciences, Associate Professor Kateryna Terebilenko delivered a report titled "Melts as a Universal Platform for Creating Next-Generation Luminescent Materials".

"It is a great honor for me to represent the large scientific school led by Corresponding Member of the NAS of Ukraine Mykola Semenovych Slobodyanyk, who is present here today," the scientist emphasized. "The presented report is dedicated to certain fundamental and applied aspects of melt chemistry, particularly the role of melt processes in creating new luminescent materials. The conceptual basis of the research is the thesis formulated by Anatoliy Hlibovych Zahorodniy that science and innovation must become the foundation of our defense capability and post-war recovery.

In this context, technological solutions developed in institutions of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine and higher education establishments are considered an important factor in improving society's quality of life. Our main task is not only to multiply existing achievements but also to ecologically realize our limited materials and resources. My report pays special attention to approaches to improving technologies used for a long time, over two decades, to increase their efficiency and sustainability."

First, the speaker outlined the fundamental principles of the operation of modern LED light sources. She noted that a typical LED design includes two key components: a semiconductor chip that generates radiation in the blue spectral region and a functional coating that converts this radiation into white light. Such coating is usually a polymer matrix with dispersed phosphors that modify the spectral characteristics of the output radiation.

Despite technological simplicity and availability of individual components, especially blue LEDs, a significant limitation of such systems remains the instability of the polymer matrix. As Kateryna Terebilenko emphasized, polymer materials widely used in industry undergo intensive photodegradation under prolonged operation. This leads to gradual deterioration of the optical characteristics of the phosphor layer, including reduced brightness and emission intensity. The average effective operating time of LEDs with polymer coating is about 200–400 hours, after which their functional properties significantly decrease, necessitating the search for more stable materials and technological solutions.

Next, the speaker presented an approach aimed at eliminating the key limitation of modern LED systems – the instability of the polymer component. According to her, it was proposed to replace the polymer matrix with inorganic glass as a thermally and photochemically more stable medium for forming the phosphor layer.

The idea of using glass as a matrix for phosphors is not fundamentally new. Previously, silicate glasses with dispersed phosphors were proposed. However, such approaches are accompanied by several technological limitations, including the need for high-temperature processing (above 1600 °C), which significantly narrows the range of suitable phosphors, as well as a multi-stage process complicating achieving a uniform distribution of the active phase and negatively affecting the optical properties of the material.

As an alternative, it was proposed to use modified phosphate glasses containing special components that reduce synthesis temperature and optimize the material formation process. The scientist emphasized that this approach allows implementing a single-stage process of obtaining a functional coating with simultaneous formation of the luminescent phase directly in the glass volume during synthesis.

The fundamental novelty of the proposed approach lies in abandoning the stage of dispersing a pre-synthesized phosphor in the matrix. Instead, the concept of targeted design of the initial system composition is realized, whereby during thermal treatment, in situ formation of the phosphor phase occurs in the glass matrix volume due to spontaneous nucleation.

Kateryna Terebilenko stressed that this approach provides a more uniform distribution of the active phase and is accompanied by a synergistic effect of interaction between glassy and crystalline components. This, in turn, creates prerequisites for increasing the stability, reproducibility, and efficiency of luminescent materials.

The speaker also considered fundamental aspects of material structure formation using the example of the dependence of the reaction medium volume on temperature, illustrating the competition between two limiting states of matter – amorphous (glassy) and crystalline. In the melt system, order and disorder constantly "compete" – and the task is not to choose one but to make them work together. As the researcher emphasized, these states reflect opposite tendencies of matter organization: from structural disorder of glass to the long-range order characteristic of crystals.

Chemists from Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv showed that during melt cooling, the process character depends on the system composition. If the composition is selected so that crystallization is thermodynamically or kinetically hindered, cooling occurs gradually without sharp phase transitions, forming an amorphous structure characterized only by short-range atomic order.

In systems with the same components but different ratios, a crystalline phase may form. In this case, the cooling curve clearly shows the crystallization temperature corresponding to the transition to an ordered state with long-range order.

Kateryna Terebilenko emphasized that these processes are traditionally considered competitive. At the same time, the proposed approach aims to combine them: creating a material in which the amorphous matrix contains a uniformly distributed crystalline (phosphor) phase. Such structural organization allows achieving high luminescence efficiency while controlling crystallite sizes and their spatial distribution, meeting modern requirements for lighting materials.

The speaker paid special attention to approaches to implementing this concept at the level of choosing the glass matrix composition. She emphasized that glass is considered an inorganic polymer system based on phosphate tetrahedra. The degree of their interconnection and spatial organization of the polymer network are determined by the nature and concentration of introduced modifiers.

It was noted that traditionally, alkali metal oxides and rare earth element oxides are used as modifiers, mainly affecting the structural characteristics of glass. Meanwhile, the presented work proposed using functionally active components capable of combining the roles of structure modifiers and luminescence sensitizers. Such components include molybdenum and tungsten oxides.

Kateryna Terebilenko emphasized that within the scientific school founded by Mykola Semenovych Slobodyanyk, materials based on combined phosphate-tungstate systems are studied. In such materials, the amorphous matrix acts as a disordered medium providing isotropy of properties and promoting the formation of necessary structural heterogeneity.

The report highlighted approaches to fundamental research aimed at clarifying the relationship between composition, structure, and functional properties of materials. In particular, the methodology of analyzing three-component systems with composition diagrams was used, allowing identification of areas of glassy and crystalline phase formation depending on the ratio of initial components.

The speaker paid special attention to the role of the molybdate component in such systems. "Traditionally, molybdate was considered an inert solvent; thanks to such an inert solvent, emeralds were grown in the 1970s and 1980s, assuring that molybdenum does not affect crystallization," noted Kateryna Terebilenko. "However, we found areas where molybdenum and tungsten not only participate in crystallization but can become part of the crystal as impurities from 1% to 10% (and this can also be controlled) and can enter the crystal lattice as full participants in interaction, forming unique crystal architectures. Examples of such compounds are phosphate molybdates of alkali and rare earth elements, which became model systems for our further research.

We found that phosphor materials based on these crystal lattices have high luminescence efficiency. In particular, for europium-activated phosphotungstates, quantum yields close to 99% were achieved, related to efficient absorption of excitation radiation by tungstate groups.

Based on the obtained results, we identified such phosphors as promising components for creating next-generation coatings. At the same time, we showed that molybdate and tungstate groups remaining in the amorphous matrix retain the function of luminescence sensitizers, providing additional energy exchange channels in the system."

The speaker paid particular attention to the role of impurity inclusions in crystalline structures formed in complex oxide systems. According to her, the development of modern physico-chemical research methods has significantly expanded the possibilities of controlling crystallization processes and allowed obtaining materials with predetermined characteristics.

Using the potassium-bismuth-vanadium-molybdenum-oxygen system as an example, it was found that during crystallization from molybdate melts, a controlled amount of molybdenum is introduced into the bismuth vanadate structure. This leads to a change in the local environment of vanadate tetrahedra and causes a reduction in the symmetry of the crystal lattice – from scheelite tetragonal to monoclinic type. Such structural transformation opens prospects for creating new luminescent materials with high quantum yields determined by impurity concentration.

Kateryna Terebilenko emphasized that crystal-chemical engineering methods allow targeted modification of both cationic and anionic sublattices by introducing cations of different valences. This provides the possibility of fine-tuning the symmetry of the structure and the local coordination environment of active centers.

Experimentally, the influence of molybdenum concentration and crystallization rate on crystal morphology and impurity distribution was clarified. In particular, needle-like bismuth vanadate crystals with uniform impurity distribution were obtained, and the formation of core-shell two-phase structures in pre-crystallization zones was revealed. The properties of such materials are determined by the synergy of interaction of related crystal lattices.

As the speaker informed, it was shown that the cooling rate of the melt is a key factor influencing the degree of impurity incorporation into the crystal structure.

A separate research direction is devoted to molybdate- and tungstate-based glasses. It was found possible to introduce tungstate components into phosphate melts at high concentrations, accompanied by changes in metal coordination environment. Two types of tungsten coordination polyhedra (with coordination numbers 4 and 6) were identified, with tetrahedral forms stabilized in a narrow concentration range. This tetrahedral tungsten environment plays a key role in luminescence sensitization processes. It was found that this concentration range also corresponds to the formation of the most stable glasses in the system. It was shown that europium-activated phosphate-tungstate glasses have high luminescence intensity and are promising materials for optical applications.

"The obtained results open new opportunities for creating functional materials with controlled optical properties and have significant potential for implementation in modern technologies," Kateryna Terebilenko emphasized.

The speaker separately emphasized the applied aspect of research aimed at creating efficient luminescent coatings for LED light sources.

Among other things, the task was set to simplify the technology of obtaining phosphors by developing coatings for blue LED chips capable of efficiently converting their radiation into white light. A decisive factor here is achieving high spectral purity and optimal overlap in the 380–420 nm range, corresponding to the undesirable component of "cold" blue radiation characteristic of low-quality LEDs.

A significant result of the work, as noted by the scientist, was obtaining conditions under which within a single technological stage, crystallization of the phosphor occurs directly in the amorphous matrix, forming a material with high quantum luminescence yield. The obtained glass-crystalline systems can be directly used as functional coatings for LED modules, ensuring white light formation.

Using scanning electron microscopy and electron density mapping methods, it was found that the activator (europium) is mainly localized in phosphor particles, while some of it remains in the amorphous matrix. This component provides an additional sensitization effect and enhances the role of the tungstate component in energy transfer processes.

"The obtained results allow concluding that the key task – forming a composite luminescent material in one stage – has been successfully implemented. Further research development involves scaling the technology, expanding the system composition, and in-depth study of nucleation and crystal phase growth processes," Kateryna Terebilenko said.

She emphasized that the central object of research is the melt as a universal initial system from which crystalline, amorphous, or composite materials can form. The melt composition and its thermal treatment regimes determine the final structure and functional properties of materials.

The scientist believes that a promising direction of further work is the development of compositional engineering approaches, considered a key paradigm for creating new materials with specified characteristics. "The melt is the moment of material freedom. And it is at this moment that we determine its future," the speaker said.

In conclusion, she emphasized that in modern melt chemistry, the melt should be considered not only as a synthesis medium but as a subtle tool of crystal-chemical design, opening broad possibilities for creating both crystalline and amorphous materials with predictable properties.

PRESENTATION

"Formation of Spatial Structure of Meta-Assemblages of Freshwater Algae and the Phenomenon of Water 'Blooming'" was presented by Leading Researcher of the Department of Sanitary Hydrobiology and Hydroparasitology of the Institute of Hydrobiology of the NAS of Ukraine, Doctor of Biological Sciences Nataliya Semenyuk:

"Water 'blooming' is the excessive development of planktonic algae (including blue-green algae or cyanobacteria), which colors the water and can lead to serious negative consequences. Among such consequences are reduced water transparency, oxygen deficit in bottom layers, fish kills, negative impacts on trophic networks, and the introduction of toxic substances into the water column.

The Institute of Hydrobiology of the NAS of Ukraine has been studying the problem of water 'blooming' since the 1960s and has a number of findings clarifying the causes and patterns of mass cyanobacteria development in Ukraine's aquatic ecosystems.

The main causes of cyanobacterial water 'blooming' are considered global climate change, namely increased air and water temperature, and anthropogenic eutrophication, i.e., increased nitrogen and phosphorus content in water. For example, since the 1980s–1990s, there has been an increase in average annual air temperature and phosphate content in water. Accordingly, there is an increase in the maximum biomass of cyanobacteria in phytoplankton.

A necessary condition for mass cyanobacteria development is also low flow velocity. That is why cyanobacterial biomass in a lowland reservoir gradually increases from its headwaters to the lower part, with the maximum recorded in the dam area.

Cyanobacteria have several biological features that give them a competitive advantage under climate warming and eutrophication. First, optimal temperatures for cyanobacteria development are higher than for algae of other divisions (green, diatom). Second, they have an advantage in competition for solar energy. Cyanobacteria cells contain gas vacuoles, allowing algae to rise to the water surface during stratification and form dense 'bloom' films. These films shade other algae species with lower buoyancy due to higher cell density and residing in the water column. Moreover, cyanobacteria can accumulate carbohydrates as ballast, enabling vertical migrations in the water column, periodically obtaining biogenic elements from deeper layers and rising again to the surface. Cyanobacteria have a large set of additional photoprotective pigments protecting them from intense solar radiation.

Third, they have an advantage in competition for biogenic elements. Under intense photosynthesis, free CO₂ availability may decrease. Cyanobacteria at the water surface can assimilate CO₂ directly from the atmosphere. Some cyanobacteria species can fix atmospheric nitrogen and store phosphorus in cells.

Colonial forms of cyanobacteria dominating during water 'blooming' are not vulnerable to zooplankton grazing. Additionally, cyanobacteria can form resting stages (spores, akinetes), allowing them to survive unfavorable conditions.

Today, the geographical expansion of cyanobacteria is a well-known phenomenon. It is believed that the increase in frequency of water 'blooming' events is related not only to global warming and regional eutrophication but also to algae's ability to be transported over long distances and adapt to various ecological conditions, facilitating their successful spread.

While many studies focus on the impact of climate change and eutrophication on cyanobacteria development, the link between cyanobacteria dispersal and the spread of water 'blooming' phenomena is much less studied.

This issue is precisely what our department studies; we investigate spatial dynamics of hydrobiota assemblages using new meta-assemblage theory approaches.

Meta-assemblage is a set of local assemblages connected by dispersal of several potentially interacting species.

There are two opposing views on microalgae dispersal.

The first argues that for organisms up to 1 mm in size, geographical barriers to dispersal practically do not exist. Their distribution is determined by two factors: unlimited dispersal and local environmental conditions.

The second holds that microscopic organisms show biogeographical distribution patterns similar to macroscopic ones. That is, their assemblages are influenced by both local and regional factors.

According to meta-assemblage theory, algae assemblage formation can be described by four paradigms: patch dynamics, species sorting, mass effect, and neutral paradigm. In phytoplankton, manifestations of two paradigms predominate:

• species sorting (species occupy the most favorable sites depending on ecological conditions);
• mass effect (species occur in atypical habitats due to high dispersal rates from other areas with high abundance).

We found that spatial dynamics of cyanobacteria, including the 'mass effect,' can be influenced by unpredictable water level fluctuations caused by military actions.

For example, in 2022, anomalous water level fluctuations were observed in the Kaniv Reservoir due to unstable operation of the Kyiv Hydroelectric Power Plant (HPP). In particular, high water levels were recorded in June. Additionally, in the second decade of October that year, an abnormally high water level (according to the Borys Sreznevsky Central Geophysical Observatory of the State Emergency Service of Ukraine, half a meter above the normal retention level) was noted, and in the third decade of October, an abnormally low level (35 cm below the normal retention level) occurred.

Under such conditions, the usual summer cyanobacterial water 'blooming' in 2022 shifted to start in September. Until mid-September, both total phytoplankton biomass and cyanobacteria share decreased, related to water temperature decline. However, in mid-October, despite further temperature decrease, the Cyanobacteria biomass share increased compared to September. Accordingly, the absolute cyanobacteria biomass doubled to almost 1 g/m³. Such biomass is atypical for October when water temperature was about 12–13 °C and, in our opinion, explained by several reasons.

First, it is known that in autumn, cyanobacteria begin to descend from surface water layers to bottom layers and sediments. Second, the main water release from the Kyiv Reservoir through the HPP dam occurs from bottom layers. Thus, during abnormally high water release through the Kyiv HPP dam on October 12, 2022, a significant amount of cyanobacteria colonies from bottom layers of the Kyiv Reservoir entered the Kaniv Reservoir, i.e., the 'mass effect' phenomenon – species occurring in atypical habitats – was observed.

Phytoplankton assemblage formation and water 'blooming' cannot be considered separately from interactions with benthic algal assemblages developing on substrates – phytoepiphyton (assemblages on higher aquatic plants) and microphytobenthos (assemblages on the bottom). Our research results show a significant share of common species between planktonic and benthic assemblages.

Considering this, we developed a comprehensive approach to studying algae meta-assemblages in three-dimensional space: the first two dimensions are geographic coordinates (latitude and longitude), and the third dimension is the 'vertical,' i.e., the system 'water column – bottom – higher aquatic plants.' Potential species exchange can occur:

• horizontally (e.g., phytoplankton of different sites);
• vertically (between phytoplankton, phytoepiphyton, and microphytobenthos of the same site);
• in three-dimensional space (between different types of algal assemblages of different sites).

Examining species exchange between phytoplankton and microphytobenthos in more detail, the lowest similarity level is recorded in summer, which may be a manifestation of species sorting – species occupying the most favorable habitats. In spring and autumn, similarity increases, possibly reflecting the 'mass effect' due to water mass mixing.

Interestingly, the highest Sørensen species similarity coefficient for 'different-type' algal assemblages was recorded between spring microphytobenthos and autumn phytoplankton. We believe this is explained as follows. In autumn, both typical planktonic forms and forms that moved into the water column from phytoepiphyton at the end of higher aquatic plant vegetation or from microphytobenthos are present. In winter, all these species settle on the bottom, so in spring, before higher aquatic plant thickets form, many of these species can be found in microphytobenthos.

Studying water 'blooming' patterns requires detailed analysis of the influence of both ecological and spatial factors on phytoplankton species composition. Our research on phytoplankton and other related algal assemblages covers large hydrologically connected water bodies (Kyiv, Kaniv reservoirs, Desna River, and floodplain lakes). For analyzing spatial distribution patterns of phytoplankton, we used the metacom package of R Studio and performed ordination of the species presence-absence matrix by reciprocal averaging, grouping species with similar spatial distribution and stations with similar species composition. Ordination allows revealing a hidden ecological gradient along which species composition changes, e.g., hydrochemical regime. The greatest differences in species composition are observed between phytoplankton of the lower Kyiv Reservoir and floodplain lakes.

Using the Metacommunity function of R Studio based on obtained data, it was determined that phytoplankton meta-assemblage has a quasi-Clementsian structure. Features of quasi-Clementsian structure are that most species have wide ranges covering most of the ecological gradient. That is, changes in ecological factors along the empirical gradient are insignificant compared to species niche widths in the meta-assemblage. We believe the quasi-Clementsian structure of phytoplankton may also be related to planktonic algae freely floating in the water column and thus transported by currents to atypical localities ('mass effect'). Moreover, species causing water 'blooming' usually have a wide tolerance range to ecological factors.

To assess the relationship between species spatial distribution and ecological factors, we applied regression analysis, using ordination scores of local algae assemblage matrices as the response variable and spatial and abiotic characteristics and their combination as explanatory variables.

For phytoplankton species spatial distribution, significant influence of abiotic factors and combined spatial and abiotic factors was observed. For phytoepiphyton, significant influence of spatial and abiotic factors separately was found, and for microphytobenthos – only spatial factors.

Based on the obtained data, variance partitioning and Venn diagrams were constructed, showing the share of variance in the response variable explained by spatial factors, abiotic factors, and their combined effect. For phytoplankton, the largest share is explained by abiotic factors (56%), for phytoepiphyton – spatially structured abiotic factors (57%), and for microphytobenthos – spatial factors (38%).

Thus, in forming water 'blooming' phenomena, the interaction among all components of algae meta-assemblages (phytoplankton, microphytobenthos, phytoepiphyton) plays an important role, and our future research will be devoted to this. The unstable operation regime of reservoirs due to military actions leads to unpredictable negative water 'blooming' phenomena in time, for forecasting which a comprehensive approach using meta-assemblage theory may be useful."

At the end, Nataliya Semenyuk thanked colleagues for joint research and materials partially used in the report.

PRESENTATION

"Problems of Micromycete Development on Historical Objects" was the subject of a report by the head of the Testing Laboratory of Fungal Resistance and Microbiological Research of Technical, Medical Products and Materials of the D.K. Zabolotny Institute of Microbiology and Virology of the NAS of Ukraine, Candidate of Biological Sciences Yuliya Pysmenna.

The scientist presented research results dedicated to studying the role of microscopic fungi in biodeterioration processes of materials of historical objects and substantiating approaches to their control and prevention.

"The research was conducted in the Testing Laboratory of Fungal Resistance and Microbiological Research of Technical, Medical Products and Materials of the D.K. Zabolotny Institute of Microbiology and Virology of the NAS of Ukraine, whose activities include assessing material fungal resistance, determining fungicidal and antibacterial activity of preparations, studying coating biostability, and monitoring microbial contamination of air in premises," Yuliya Pysmenna said. "The laboratory is accredited according to ISO/IEC 17025 standards, ensuring reliability and reproducibility of obtained results.

It was shown that micromycetes are one of the leading factors of biological degradation of materials used both in modern constructions and cultural heritage objects. This problem is especially relevant for historical buildings, museum collections, archives, and libraries, where favorable conditions for fungal development often form, including high humidity, limited ventilation, and temperature fluctuations.

It was found that material damage is caused by active colonization of their surfaces by microscopic fungi, dominated by genera Aspergillus, Penicillium, Cladosporium, as well as certain highly toxigenic species, including Stachybotrys chartarum. A significant portion of isolated cultures can produce mycotoxins and act as etiological agents of allergic and opportunistic human diseases, further increasing risks of using affected premises.

Special attention was paid to studying air contamination by microscopic fungi. It was shown that accumulation of spores and volatile metabolites leads to increased microbiological load, which, if exceeding permissible levels, can negatively affect both material condition and human health. This is especially important for cultural heritage objects functioning as open spaces for visitors.

It was proven that the key mechanism of material biodeterioration is enzymatic activity of micromycetes. The ability of studied cultures to synthesize a complex of hydrolytic enzymes, including cellulases, proteases, lipases, and amylases, which break down main organic components of materials – cellulose, proteins, lipids, and polysaccharides – was clarified. Alongside this, fungi produce organic acids causing additional physicochemical changes in substrate structure. Together, these processes lead to reduced mechanical strength of materials, changes in color and structure, destruction of decorative coatings, and loss of operational properties.

Results confirm that materials of organic origin, widely represented in cultural heritage monuments, such as paper, textiles, wood, and adhesive compositions, are especially vulnerable to biodamage. Considering this, fungal resistance of various material types was studied using standard artificial inoculation methods with micromycete test cultures. It was shown that materials can be differentiated by their degree of biostability, opening prospects for assessing effectiveness of restoration materials and protective coatings.

An important research direction is assessing the effectiveness of antifungal treatment of paper, crucial for preserving archival documents and library collections. The work used paper samples provided by the Conservation and Restoration Center of the V.I. Vernadsky National Library of Ukraine, approximating experimental conditions to real storage conditions of cultural heritage objects.

Effectiveness of both physical methods (drying, freezing) and chemical treatment using modern antimicrobial compounds was studied. It was found that physical methods can only partially limit micromycete development and do not provide long-term protective effects. In contrast, guanidine-containing polymer preparations, particularly polyguanidine compounds, showed the most pronounced antifungal activity, characterized by high solubility, prolonged action, and ability to effectively inhibit microorganism growth by damaging cell membranes.

Based on the research, it was found that using polyguanidine-containing compositions significantly increases paper fungal resistance even under high humidity and background mycobiota presence. The practical significance of obtained results is confirmed by the fact that one of the developed compositions based on guanidine-containing oligomers is patented as an antimicrobial and fungicidal agent. This opens prospects for its use in restoration practice and documentary heritage preservation systems.

Research on micromycete enzymatic activity showed that some cultures, including Aspergillus versicolor, Aureobasidium pullulans, Penicillium aurantiogriseum, P. chrysogenum, P. funiculosum, can simultaneously synthesize several types of enzymes with high activity. Such microorganisms pose the greatest threat to cultural heritage materials, as they ensure complex degradation of their structural components.

Summarizing the results, it should be noted that micromycetes have high adaptive potential and ability to colonize a wide range of substrates, which combined with their enzymatic activity results in significant biodeteriorative potential. This necessitates developing comprehensive approaches to controlling their development on cultural heritage objects.

It was shown that using modern laboratory methods for studying material fungal resistance with test cultures of micromycetes with high biodeteriorative potential allows modeling real biodamage processes and increases objectivity of degradation risk assessment.

The obtained results can be used to create scientifically grounded methods for monitoring microbiological status of historical buildings, archival documents, and museum collections, as well as for developing effective antifungal protection measures. Further research in this direction will contribute to preserving cultural heritage objects and improving restoration and conservation measures effectiveness."

PRESENTATION

"Scientific and Technological Leadership as a Combination of Freedom of Thought and Maturity of Human Worldview: The Challenge of Artificial Intelligence" was presented by Leading Researcher of the Department of the H.S. Skovoroda Institute of Philosophy of the NAS of Ukraine, Head of the Department of Scientific and Educational Methodologies and Practices of the NASU Center for Humanities Education, Corresponding Member of the NAS of Ukraine Nazip Khamitov:

"Volodymyr Vernadsky was not only an outstanding scientist but also an outstanding philosopher. Therefore, I will address the issue of scientific and technological leadership in the context of challenges and prospects of artificial intelligence from a philosophical perspective.

I believe that scientific and technological leadership determines the subjectivity of a country. Moreover, it determines the civilizational subjectivity of a country, subjectivity in all its dimensions – economic, political, scientific, and spiritual-cultural. In this regard, the issue of such leadership is extremely relevant. My esteemed colleague and co-author, Academician of the NAS of Ukraine Serhiy Ivanovych Pyrozhkov, and I wrote about this in the monograph "Civilizational Subjectivity of Ukraine." Developing Vernadsky’s ideas about the noosphere, we came to the concept of noospheric civilization. Noospheric civilization is a civilization of reason, innovativeness, and humanism. Today, it largely becomes a civilization of interaction between humans and artificial intelligence, and primarily it depends on scientists how constructive it will be in the future.

Here we move to the issue characteristic of social-humanitarian knowledge, including philosophy. If natural sciences answer the questions "What?" and "How?" and sometimes "Why?", then social-humanitarian knowledge (including philosophy) answers the question "Why?" This is an extremely important question that can limit humanity in its desire to master nature and subjugate it. It is extremely important to realize under what conditions science can cross certain boundaries beyond which dangers for humanity begin.

In this context, the maturity of the worldview of a scientist, scientific and technical leader, who paves the subjectivity of their country, lies not only in independence, criticality, creativity, and integrity but also in humanism. A worldview with these traits, which I call a philosophical worldview in my research, makes a scientist wise enough to foresee ethical and social consequences of their research, sometimes to set boundaries, and sometimes to direct their research into a channel that will not be destructive for the country and humanity as a whole. A scientist's freedom of thought is always limited by their ethics as a scientist and as a person. This ethical limitation, probably, is one of the most important aspects of academic integrity, which is not reduced only to the absence of textual plagiarism. Yes, a scientist must produce scientific novelty, but it must not become deadly for humanity.

Here we come to the issue of challenges and prospects of artificial intelligence. I deliberately say "challenges," not "threats," because today it is still about challenges. The task of philosophy is to understand at what boundary a challenge becomes a threat, and a threat – a crisis. I believe that today artificial intelligence is a huge challenge for all of us, primarily for education and science. Chat GPT, this "collective compiler," often replaces conceptual and creative human activity, generating essays, articles, and other scientific texts on students' and graduate students' requests. Even diploma works and dissertations. As a result, cognitive and creative degradation occurs. I consider this a danger for Homo sapiens. If this is ignored, eventually a generational gap will occur, and the next generation simply will not be able to continue the traditions of predecessors.

Therefore, the philosophical worldview I mentioned is needed and should be inherent not only to philosophers. In my opinion, it is acquired during dissertation preparation when a doctoral candidate makes even a small discovery in a certain field, proving that they have risen to philosophical generalizations and at least somewhat changed the paradigm. This philosophical worldview will remain with the scientist further, inspiring their creative activity, helping to respond to AI challenges, fostering the dignity of a creative and moral person who will not pass off AI achievements as their own, using, as Hegel said, the "trick of reason." Such a person will also not cross the boundary beyond which a scientific discovery can be destructive for humanity. Scientists developing fundamental theories and those developing applied theories and technologies, including AI, based on them, must look ahead and think about social, ethical, and, if you will, anthropological consequences of their activities. Only then will the stage of evolution Vernadsky called the noosphere become a true noosphere – a sphere of reason, real innovativeness, responsibility, and humanism.

With my colleagues and students, I work on the problematics of meta-anthropology of artificial intelligence. Meta-anthropology is a philosophical theory of different dimensions of human being, spiritual, moral development: from the everyday dimension generated by the will to self-preservation and reproduction, through the extreme being formed by the will to power and the will to knowledge and creativity, to the higher, meta-extreme, transboundary dimension of human being, generated by the will to freedom, love, and co-creativity in partnership with another. In my opinion, it is the personality of meta-extreme being capable of resisting AI challenges and even turning them into prospects. In this regard, it is extremely important to actualize in our colleagues (especially young scientists) not only sincere will to knowledge and creativity but also the will to co-creativity, to co-creative interaction and creating such relations and atmosphere in collectives where plagiarism, compilation, and falsification of research are unacceptable. We must have zero tolerance for this.

How to overcome temptations of "misuse" of AI in education and science? What could be ethical principles of human-AI interaction? These are important and complex questions. That is why next year, in the Department of Scientific and Educational Methodologies and Practices of the NASU Center for Humanities Education, which I head, we are launching a scientific topic "Human and Artificial Intelligence: Challenges and Prospects," where we will analyze and develop this problematics.

Finally, I would like to thank esteemed Academician Oleksiy Semenovych Onyshchenko for our discussions on human-AI interaction. He inspired me to deeply engage in this problematics. In fact, meta-anthropology of artificial intelligence, as the development of the general theory of meta-anthropology, arose under his creative influence."

At the conclusion of the readings, Academician of the NAS of Ukraine Vyacheslav Koshechko noted the diversity of topics of the presented reports, the high innovative component of the highlighted research, and their focus on solving serious applied problems relevant to our state.

"Today, we have seen that research in academic institutions is conducted at a very high level. And, it seems to me, we have a good margin of safety in scientific pursuits," emphasized the Academy President, Academician of the NAS of Ukraine Anatoliy Zahorodniy, thanking the organizers, speakers, and listeners of the readings and wishing everyone further success.

According to information from the NASU Commission on the Scientific Heritage of Academician V.I. Vernadsky,

Educational and Scientific Complex "Institute of Applied Systems Analysis" of the National Technical University of Ukraine "Igor Sikorsky Kyiv Polytechnic Institute" of the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine and NAS Ukraine,
Institute of Geography of the NAS of Ukraine,

F.D. Ovcharenko Institute of Biocolloid Chemistry of the NAS of Ukraine,

D.K. Zabolotny Institute of Microbiology and Virology of the NAS of Ukraine,
Institute of Hydrobiology of the NAS of Ukraine,

H.S. Skovoroda Institute of Philosophy of the NAS of Ukraine,

Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv

and the NAS Ukraine Press Service

Photo: NAS Ukraine Press Service