31 March 2016

Melnikov Prize Awarded to Nick Torgovkin

Nick Torgovkin, a junior research scientist at MPI Laboratory of Groundwater and Geochemistry, has been awarded the P.I. Melnikov Prize for his research project, “Geoenvironmental characteristics of precipitation and soils in urban areas on permafrost: a case study of Yakutsk” (supervisor: Dr., Prof. Vladimir Makarov). The P.I. Melnikov Prize was established in 2007 by the MPI administration to encourage and stimulate young scientists of the Permafrost Institute and to motivate students of the North-Eastern Federal University to pursue careers in permafrost science. This monetary award is presented annually to the best research projects conducted by junior researchers, post-graduate students and undergraduates. Torgovkin received this year’s prize of R 50,000 in a stiff competition among twelve young researchers, with only few points ahead of his nearest rivals Lyudmila Lebedeva ("Assessing water input into the Kolyma HPS reservoir in the changing climate") and Ivan Vakhrin ("Effect of cryogenic structure and ice content on properties of thawing soils").