Academician Vagif Farzaliyev: “The Institute of Chemistry of Additives makes an important contribution to the creation of the science-education-innovation triangle in our country”
One of the research institutes of Azerbaijan National Academy of Sciences of (ANAS), transferred to the Ministry of Science and Education in accordance with the Resolution “On some measures related to the improvement of management in the field of science and education in the Republic of Azerbaijan”, signed by the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan, Mr.Ilham Aliyev on July 28, 2022, is academician Ali Guliyev Institute of Chemistry of Additives (ICA).
As you know, Azerbaijan is historically the birthplace of oil production, its processing on an industrial scale, the production of fuels and lubricants, so the development and production of additives in the former USSR was first carried out in Baku. The first additives that improve the quality of lubricating oils in the Soviet Union were created in 1945 as a result of the fruitful work of the laboratory team led by Academician Ali Guliyev, one of the outstanding scientists of Azerbaijan. In 1948 and 1950 A.Guliyev and his staff were twice awarded the State Prize of the USSR for the creation of additives and their use in industry. At the suggestion of the USSR Academy of Sciences, which took into account the successes in the field of creation and use of additives and the importance of the problem, in 1965 the first specialized Institute of Chemistry of Additives of Azerbaijan Academy of Sciences was established on the basis of this laboratory. Suffice it to say that 20% of all produced in the former USSR, additives and lubricating oils, including oils for special purposes, were created by ICA. Today the Institute also retains its former glory. In spite of the fact that the Institute of Chemistry of Additives is one of the three scientific centers in the field of additive chemistry in the Soviet Union, today it is the only specialized scientific institution that continues its activities on a scientific basis in the Commonwealth of Independent States. With the director general of the institute, academician Vagif Farzaliyev, we mainly talked about the activities of the scientific institution during the period of independence and its achievements.
As a research, educational and innovation centers…
– Vagif muallim, first of all, as the Institute of Chemistry of Additives, what are your views and opinions on the integration of science and education?
– Science and education form a unity, it is impossible to imagine them separately from each other. The fact is that as far as our country was a part of the Soviet Union for a long time, research institutions which were mainly concentrated in the Academy system were engaged in academic science, and universities were considered rather as higher education centers. Unlike us in the US and Europe, universities are primarily formed as research centers, research institutes operate at these centers, and the educational process is based on scientific innovations. In other words, science-education-innovation form a triangle in these countries, and development is achieved in their unity. Science should develop along with education, as Azerbaijani science is on the path of integration into world science.
It should also be taken into account that the exact and natural sciences were considered the main academic science in Azerbaijan in all periods, and the transfer of the main potential of ANAS to the Ministry of Science and Education created great opportunities for the high development of science and education in Azerbaijan in this direction. Because important results, both fundamental and applied, were obtained mainly in research institutes specializing in exact and natural sciences. Imagine that in 2022 alone the ICA achieved 7 important scientific results in the field of fundamental and applied scientific research. 2 applied works have been tested in different organizations, recommended for use, the application of 2 works has been continued. Institute scientists published 2 monographs, 47 articles, including 20 abroad, 16 articles were published in journals included in the Web of Science database. 10 articles were included in groups Q1-Q4 of the Clarivate Analytics database. A total of 190 articles and abstracts were published. These statistical figures clearly show the contribution of Azerbaijani science to world science, as well as to the country’s economic growth and increasing its defense capabilities. At the same time, universities will be formed as leading scientific, educational and innovative centers to meet the demands and needs of society, together with research and production enterprises.
Research institution with the most patents
– Please inform us about the inventions (patents) of the Institute
– Since its establishment, the ICA has received patents for important inventions in the field of applied work in addition to fundamental research and has made a great contribution to the country’s economic growth, including its defense capability, applying them in the real economy both during the Soviet era and in years of independence.
It is worth noting the fact that in the post-Soviet period, the ICA was a research institution that received the largest number of patents for the results of scientific research, applied and recommended for use throughout the country. Over the past 10 years, 132 patents have been received. In 2022 alone, the institute got positive decisions to publish 12 Azerbaijani patents and 15 inventions.
At present, several patents can be especially noted, which are used to ensure the country’s economic growth and increase its defense capabilities. Thus, one of the most successful applied works of the ICA and its scientists during the period of independence is the creation of additive – “Depressor AKI”, which provides long-distance transportation of highly paraffinic oils through pipelines by reducing the pour point and dynamic viscosity. This additive is produced by Science Production Union (SPU) “Ashgar”, organized in the Soviet Union, and to this day is successfully used in the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan Oil Pipeline. This additive received Azerbaijani classified patent. This means that in obtaining oil revenues, which are the main share in the formation of the state budget, there is a certain contribution by the ICA scientists.
On the other hand, ICA created a special-purpose motor oil, organized its production at a pilot plant and supplied tons of products to the Ministry of Defense of the Republic of Azerbaijan. This oil was also used in the Karabakh war. The special engine oil, created for the latest generation of diesel engines, is protected by an Azerbaijani classified patent and tested with positive results on real vehicles in the Ministry of Defense of the Republic of Azerbaijan, and is considered appropriate for use in special equipment engines. The Ministry of Defense of the Republic of Pakistan is also interested in this engine oil.
The republic has created a technology for the regeneration of used motor oils for various types of internal combustion engines and creating an environmental burden. Based on this technology, lubricating compositions for various purposes, including special ones for diesel engines, have been created on the basis of regenerated oil and appropriate additives. The used oil regeneration technology and a special-purpose lubricant composition based on regenerated oil are protected by the Classified patents of the Republic of Azerbaijan due to their strategic importance.
As a result of this productive activity, five patents of the institute became winners of the I-V Republican competitions held by the State Committee for Standardization, Metrology and Patents of the Republic of Azerbaijan for achievements in the field of invention in 2013-2018.
In the ranking list of world scientists
– What can you say about the activity of employees in journals with an impact factor, as well as participation in international scientific exchange programs, access to international scientific resources?
– Recently, the Ministry of Science and Education compiled a rating list, assessing the publication activity of both universities and research institutes separately for 2012-2022 in international scientometric databases. According to this study, the number of journal articles included in the Web of Science database of the Institute of Chemistry of Additives was 87, and the number of journal articles archived in the Scopus database was 98. In these indicators, ICA ranks 13th place among existing institutions. Over the past 10 years, the scientific works by our employees have been cited by world scientists 1136 times, and according to this indicator, we are in 7th place among the institutes. With h-index of 19, we occupy 6th place our plac in the ranking compiled by the Ministry of Science and Education.
We are in the top three in terms of the average number of article citations. Recently, another international scientific assessment – a scientometric assessment by non-profit organization using data collected in the academic databases “Google”, “Publons”, “Scopus”, “Crossref” and “ResearchGate”, based on the principles adopted in world science, has appeared. According to the results of this study, the ICA is ranked among the top five existing research institutes in terms of the number of articles published in prestigious journals and the number of references to them. Also, several scientists of our institute were included in the rating of world scientists as experts in science, who have the most cited scientific works. ICA attaches great importance to joint international research with the world’s leading scientific centers. At present, 4 international joint research groups have been established with many leading scientific centers of the world. The research related to at least 3-4 modern topics that are in the focus of scientists of the world belongs to the scientific research conducted by ICA scientists in the joint research groups of leading scientific centers in the United States, Italy, Turkey, Russia, Belarus and other countries.
Regular activities are carried out in the field of expanding international scientific relations. For example, in 2022, an interdepartmental agreement was signed with Bartin University – one of the well-known universities in Turkey, in connection with the Erasmus program, which provides for the mutual training of highly qualified personnel (master’s, doctoral, post-doctoral studies) and, thus, we have become the first among the scientific institutions of Azerbaijan to conclude this agreement.
A number of support measures are implemented to increase the quantity of publications by the ICA scientists in journals with a high index of well-known publishers in the world. Thus, in order to encourage the Institute’s researchers and create healthy competition among them, profile pages were created primarily in such academic networks as Google Scholar, ResearchGate, Mendeley.com, Academia.edu, etc. Based on data taken from these academic networks (number of articles published in journals included in the scientific databases “Web of Science”, “Scopus” and “RİNU”, their references, H-index, etc.) according to scientometric criteria at the end of the year, an evaluation is carried out, a rating of scientists is compiled and they are awarded diplomas and money according to the respective places.
Taking into account the need to attract young scientists and specialists for trainings in prestigious scientific centers abroad in the direction of integration into world science, short and medium-term internships were organized for our youth in scientific centers in Turkey, Portugal, Belarus, Russia and other countries, it became possible to use brought to the country advanced technologies related to organic synthesis, modern methods of physical and chemical analysis.
Master preparation at the Institute of Chemistry of Additives
– What can you say about the cooperation projects of the Institute of Chemistry of Additives with higher educational institutions of the country?
– At present, the institute has close cooperation relations with Baku State University, Azerbaijan Medical University, Azerbaijan Technical University, Azerbaijan State University of Oil and Industry, Baku Engineering University, Baku branch of Lomonosov Moscow State University, Azerbaijan State Pedagogical University and Ganja State University. It can be noted that one of the most important aspects of the integration of science and education is the preparation of masters in research institutions. Since 2016, the ICA, like other research institutes, has been providing training at the master’s level. This process is also considered the threshold of big science. This is due to the fact that undergraduates acquire the skills of scientific research, begin to comprehend the secrets of science and constantly rise through the ranks.
In order to create the unity of science and education, to form research skills among students and undergraduates, and most importantly, to ensure the influx of talented young specialists into science, only in the ICA among chemical research institutions there is Base Department – a branch of Petrochemistry and Chemical Technology Department of BSU, which is the flagship of the universities of our country. Bachelors and masters of Baku State University perform diploma and term papers here.
The Institute conducts joint international research with the Baku Engineering University in the field of “Computer Chemistry”, and also cooperates in the field of joint training of highly qualified personnel. ICA provides scientific and technical support to doctoral students, dissertators and undergraduates of the Azerbaijan State University of Oil and Industry and the Azerbaijan State Pedagogical University in the implementation of the experimental part of their dissertations.
Specially gifted children on the path of science
– What is the level of cooperation between the institute and educational institutions?
– As you know, the unity of science and education should be not only with universities, but also with secondary schools. In each our region there are especially gifted children, and we need to develop programs that could look for them in younger age groups and send them to science. Therefore, as an academic institution, ICA organized various scientific olympiads, subject evenings, science days and other motivational events in capital and regional schools. For example, in 2017, a knowledge competition called “Think logically about chemistry” and “Evening of the subject of chemistry” was organized as part of the project “Today’s Schoolchild is a Tomorrow’s Scientist” in secondary school No 251 of Baku.
In 2018, within the framework of the VII Republican Competition “Scientists of Tomorrow”, organized by the Ministry of Science and Education, two schoolchildren – the X grade students of secondary school No 251 of the Nizami district completed their scientific project in the ICA. One of them was selected for the final stage of the international competition “OXEF-2018”, held in 2018 in Izmir, Turkey, and won a bronze medal for our country in this Project Olympiad, which was attended by 450 participants from 38 foreign countries.
In 2019, two XI grade students of secondary school No 251, trained as part of the VIII Republican Competition “Scientists of Tomorrow”, were in the final stage of the international competition “OKSEF-2019”, held in Izmir, Turkey. The experimental part of the project was carried out in the Laboratory of Additives to Cutting Fluids of the Institute of Chemistry of Additives.
At the IX Republican Competition “Scientists of Tomorrow” in the section “Medicine and Health”, the project “Obtaining medicinal almond oil from bitter almond”, carried out by 2 students of Samad Vurgun secondary school No 16, Mingachevir, in the Laboratory of Physiologically Active Compounds was awarded a diploma of distinction of the competition.
An innovative project in chemistry prepared by 2 students of Samed Vurgun secondary school No 16 and the Lyceum with a natural, mathematical and humanitarian profile in Mingachevir with the ideological and scientific support of the Institute of Chemistry of Additives as part of the “International Scientific Competition BUCA IMSEF-2021”, held on 26 November 2021 online in Izmir, Turkey, among 166 projects from 27 countries was awarded a bronze medal. At the same time, they participated in the XI Republican Competition “Scientists of Tomorrow”, held in 2022 in the “Chemistry” section and took 3rd place. ICA participated in the creation of the “Science Corner” of the Department of Chemical Sciences of the Academy at the European Secondary School, and also regularly provided scientific support to the “Small Academy” operating in Etibar Aliyev secondary school No 162 of the Sabail Region.
At the same time, scientists of the institute participated as speakers in educational seminars held with the aim of involving young people in the profession in the schools of the liberated regions located in different regions of our republic (Barda, Yevlakh, Absheron) and gave their suggestions and recommendations. After that, the quantitative and qualitative indicators of such work will be expanded.