Floating University Programme
Educating the next generation of marine researchers and engineers
Floating University Programme
Educating the next generation of marine researchers and engineers
Our mission
The mission of the Floating University Programme is to form a community of young researchers and support their professional growth for the development of scientific potential in Ocean and Earth sciences. The Programme provides hands-on, practical training for students at sea and in laboratories, equipping them with the skills and experience needed to contribute to ocean research and sustainable development.
Our goals
Engage motivated students
Involve them in fundamental and applied research
Empower the marine scientific community with fresh talent
Brief history
The development of the Floating University as a unique educational technology began by building on the years of experience conducting fieldwork for students of Russian universities on research vessels. Based on this experience, in 1991, Lomonosov Moscow State University initiated the international program "Floating University: Training-through-Research (TTR)", which was supported by UNESCO (since 1993), gained widespread recognition worldwide and the status of an official program of the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission since 1996 (read more). Over the years, while advancing the scientific and educational technology under the name "Floating University," various projects focused on youth engagement on research vessels have been implemented at universities and research centers across the Russian Federation. In 2021, the efforts of various organizations were united into a single All-Russian Scientific and Educational Floating University Programme which is presented here. The renewed Programme once again received support from UNESCO, becoming an endorsed project of the UN Ocean Decade ECOP Programme. Since 2023, the Floating University Coordination Centre, opened at Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology, is responsible for the implementation of the Program.
Floating University Coordination Centre
- Natalia StepanovaPhD, head
Oceanographer, specialist in the thermohaline structure and water mass formation of the Baltic Sea - Liliya KhatmullinaPhD, partner relations manager
Oceanographer, specialist in laboratory and field studies of the vertical transport and distribution of microplastics in the water column - Daria SobaevaPhD, student affairs
Oceanographer, specialist in large-scale sea surface temperature anomalies and dynamics of the mid-troposphere and stratosphere
How the Programme works
Our impact in 2021-2026
- > 8000
applicationsto participate in the Winter Scientific School - > 3 000
studentsparticipated in the Winter Scientific Schools, including 107 international participants - > 50
partner organisationsincluding Universities, Scientific centers, and Industry have united efforts to train talented youth in different years - 14
expeditionscomplex expeditions to the Arctic ocean, Baltic sea and Russian Far East seas have been organised in 2021-2025 - 337
graduateshave accomplished the full cycle of Program - 65 research papers (12 Q1)based on the results of expedition research, including 42 co-authored by students
- 364
conference abstractshave been prepared and presented by students on 28 scientific events - 80% graduates stay in scienceaccording to the feedback surveys
Key publications of students and mentors of the Programme
Myslenkov S. A., Platonov V. S., Silvestrova K. P., Dobrolyubov S. A. Increase in Storm Activity in the Kara Sea from 1979 to 2019: Numerical Simulation Data. // Doklady Earth Sciences. 2021. Vol. 498. P. 502-508. https://doi.org/10.1134/S1028334X2106012X
Lobus N.V., Glushchenko A.M., Osadchiev A.A., Maltsev Y.I., Kapustin D.A., Konovalova O.P., Kulikovskiy M.S., Krylov I.N., Drozdova A.N. Production of fluorescent dissolved organic matter by microalgae strains from the Ob and Yenisei gulfs (Siberia) // Plants. 2022. Vol. 11. No. 23. P. 3361. https://doi.org/10.3390/plants11233361
Osadchiev A., Viting K., Frey D., Demeshko D., Dzhamalova A., Nurlibaeva A., Gordey A., Krechik V., Spivak E., Semilatov I., Stepanova N. Structure and circulation of Atlantic water masses in the St. Anna trough in the Kara Sea // Frontiers in Marine Science. 2022. Vol. 9. P. 915674. https://doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2022.915674
Tilinina N., Ivonin D., Gavrikov A., Sharmar V., Gulev S., Suslov A., Fadeev V., Trofimov B., Bargman S., Salavatova L., Koshkina V., Shishkova P., Ezhova E., Krinitsky M., Razorenova O., Koltermann K.P., Tereschenkov V., Sokov A. Wind waves in the North Atlantic from ship navigational radar: SeaVision development and its validation with the Spotter wave buoy and WaveWatch III // Earth System Science Data. 2022. Vol. 14. No. 8. P. 3615-3633. https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-14-3615-2022
Berezina A., Pakhomova S., Zhdanov I., Mekhova O., Polivanova T., Novikov M., Pogojeva M., Osadchiev A., Stepanova N., Yakushev E. Surface microplastics in the Kara Sea: from the Kara Gates to the 83N // Frontiers in Marine Science. 2023. Vol. 10. 1268879. http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2023.1268879
Kopyshov I.O., Kozlov I., Shiryborova A., Myslenkov S. Properties of Short-Period Internal Waves in the Kara Gates Strait Revealed from Spaceborne SAR Data // Russ. J. Earth Sci. 2023. Vol. 23. P. ES021. https://doi.org/10.2205/2023ES02SI10
Kozlov I. E., Kopyshov I. O., Frey D. I., Morozov E. G., Medvedev I. P., Shiryborova A. I., Gavrikov A. V., Ezhova E.A., Soloviev D.M., Plotnikov E. V., Zhuk V.R., Gaisky P.V., Osadchiev A.A., Stepanova N. B. Multi-Sensor Observations Reveal Large-Amplitude Nonlinear Internal Waves in the Kara Gates, Arctic Ocean // Remote Sensing. 2023. Vol. 15. No. 24. P. 5769. https://doi.org/10.3390/rs15245769
Myslenkov S., Kruglova E., Medvedeva A., Silvestrova K., Arkhipkin V., Akpinar A., Dobrolyubov S. Number of storms in several Russian seas: Trends and connection to large-scale atmospheric indices // Russ. J. Earth Sci. 2023. Vol. 23. P. ES3002. https://doi.org/10.2205/2023es000828
Stroeva A.R., Melnik A.D., Klyukina A.A., Pirogova A.S., Vidishcheva O.N., Poludetkina E.N., Akhmanov G.G., Bonch-Osmolovskaya E.A., Merkel A.Yu. Microbial Community Structure in the Bottom Sediments of the Barents and Kara Seas and Their Relation to Methane Discharge //Microbiology. 2023. Vol. 92. No. l. P. S63-S68. http://dx.doi.org/10.1134/S0026261723603639
Savin A.S., Krinitskiy M.A., Osadchiev A.A. Arctic Ocean derived from SMAP satellite data using machine learning approaches // Frontiers in Marine Science. 2024. Vol. 11. P. 358882. https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmars.2024.1358882/full
Zabudkina Z., Osadchiev A., Ivanov V., Makhotin M., Merkulov V. Interannual variability of the Barents Sea Branch Water in the northeastern part of the Barents Sea and the St. Anna Trough // Frontiers in Marine Science. 2025. Vol. 12. 1569186. https://doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2025.1569186
Lobus N.V., Glushchenko A.M., Osadchiev A.A., Maltsev Y.I., Kapustin D.A., Konovalova O.P., Kulikovskiy M.S., Krylov I.N., Drozdova A.N. Production of fluorescent dissolved organic matter by microalgae strains from the Ob and Yenisei gulfs (Siberia) // Plants. 2022. Vol. 11. No. 23. P. 3361. https://doi.org/10.3390/plants11233361
Osadchiev A., Viting K., Frey D., Demeshko D., Dzhamalova A., Nurlibaeva A., Gordey A., Krechik V., Spivak E., Semilatov I., Stepanova N. Structure and circulation of Atlantic water masses in the St. Anna trough in the Kara Sea // Frontiers in Marine Science. 2022. Vol. 9. P. 915674. https://doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2022.915674
Tilinina N., Ivonin D., Gavrikov A., Sharmar V., Gulev S., Suslov A., Fadeev V., Trofimov B., Bargman S., Salavatova L., Koshkina V., Shishkova P., Ezhova E., Krinitsky M., Razorenova O., Koltermann K.P., Tereschenkov V., Sokov A. Wind waves in the North Atlantic from ship navigational radar: SeaVision development and its validation with the Spotter wave buoy and WaveWatch III // Earth System Science Data. 2022. Vol. 14. No. 8. P. 3615-3633. https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-14-3615-2022
Berezina A., Pakhomova S., Zhdanov I., Mekhova O., Polivanova T., Novikov M., Pogojeva M., Osadchiev A., Stepanova N., Yakushev E. Surface microplastics in the Kara Sea: from the Kara Gates to the 83N // Frontiers in Marine Science. 2023. Vol. 10. 1268879. http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2023.1268879
Kopyshov I.O., Kozlov I., Shiryborova A., Myslenkov S. Properties of Short-Period Internal Waves in the Kara Gates Strait Revealed from Spaceborne SAR Data // Russ. J. Earth Sci. 2023. Vol. 23. P. ES021. https://doi.org/10.2205/2023ES02SI10
Kozlov I. E., Kopyshov I. O., Frey D. I., Morozov E. G., Medvedev I. P., Shiryborova A. I., Gavrikov A. V., Ezhova E.A., Soloviev D.M., Plotnikov E. V., Zhuk V.R., Gaisky P.V., Osadchiev A.A., Stepanova N. B. Multi-Sensor Observations Reveal Large-Amplitude Nonlinear Internal Waves in the Kara Gates, Arctic Ocean // Remote Sensing. 2023. Vol. 15. No. 24. P. 5769. https://doi.org/10.3390/rs15245769
Myslenkov S., Kruglova E., Medvedeva A., Silvestrova K., Arkhipkin V., Akpinar A., Dobrolyubov S. Number of storms in several Russian seas: Trends and connection to large-scale atmospheric indices // Russ. J. Earth Sci. 2023. Vol. 23. P. ES3002. https://doi.org/10.2205/2023es000828
Stroeva A.R., Melnik A.D., Klyukina A.A., Pirogova A.S., Vidishcheva O.N., Poludetkina E.N., Akhmanov G.G., Bonch-Osmolovskaya E.A., Merkel A.Yu. Microbial Community Structure in the Bottom Sediments of the Barents and Kara Seas and Their Relation to Methane Discharge //Microbiology. 2023. Vol. 92. No. l. P. S63-S68. http://dx.doi.org/10.1134/S0026261723603639
Savin A.S., Krinitskiy M.A., Osadchiev A.A. Arctic Ocean derived from SMAP satellite data using machine learning approaches // Frontiers in Marine Science. 2024. Vol. 11. P. 358882. https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmars.2024.1358882/full
Zabudkina Z., Osadchiev A., Ivanov V., Makhotin M., Merkulov V. Interannual variability of the Barents Sea Branch Water in the northeastern part of the Barents Sea and the St. Anna Trough // Frontiers in Marine Science. 2025. Vol. 12. 1569186. https://doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2025.1569186
Become a part of the Floating University
We are ready to work on the opportunities for international students to participate in the program. Please contact us if you are interested in collaborating
We work with
Icons by Tilda Publishing – https://tilda.cc/
The Floating University Programme is supported by the Ministry of Science and Higher Education of the Russian Federation.
The programme is organized by the Floating University Coordination Centre at the Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology. Programme is implemented within the framework of the United Nations Decade of Ocean Science, and as a part of the "Science to Win" initiative under the Russian Federation's Decade of Science and Technology.
The programme is organized by the Floating University Coordination Centre at the Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology. Programme is implemented within the framework of the United Nations Decade of Ocean Science, and as a part of the "Science to Win" initiative under the Russian Federation's Decade of Science and Technology.
