The project of Arina Klebleeva, a student of the Institute of Petroleum, Chemistry and Nanotechnology at KNRTU, "The use of plant components in the production of bitumen binders", presented at the finals of the open scientific and technical conference on logistics, processing and marketing of Gazprom Neft in St. Petersburg, was highly appreciated and awarded the first prize of the Alexander Sannikov grant. The amount of the grant provided for further research is three million rubles. The Sannikov Grant is a nomination intended for projects of talented students studying chemical technology and other areas related to the conference topic.

— The event was held in the St. Petersburg Loft Hall. The final stage was a face-to-face defense: each participant presented their project to the expert commission, after answered clarifying questions. In my presentation, I shared the results of my research and justified the prospects of using plant modifiers in bitumen binders. According to the results of the work and by the decision of the expert commission, my project won" Arina said.

Arina Klebleeva is a graduate student at the Department of Chemistry and Technology of Oil and Gas Refining, and previously completed her bachelor's degree at the same department. Her interest in the topic of bitumen was formed in the process of studying and working in the laboratory in her third year: "This field combines chemistry, technology, an environmental approach and practice-oriented tasks of the industry, which is especially important to me. Also, students of our bitumen field constantly win competitions, forums and championships, which motivated me to conduct research on this particular topic and in this scientific group," she shared the motivation for her choice.

In the near future, the young researcher would continue scientific work, expand the experimental part and conduct additional laboratory tests. The grant funds will be used to develop the project: purchase necessary reagents, materials, equipment for experiments and ensure the completeness of scientific work.

According to Arina, the positive result was possible thanks to consistent work and a careful approach to each stage of the study.

— I would like to express my deep gratitude for the help and support during the preparation of the project to my supervisor, Associate professor Bulat R. Vagapov and, of course, to my parents, — says Arina Klebleeva.