Interdisciplinary centre of excellence for stratigraphy and paleogeoreconstruction

An interdisciplinary research Centre for study environmental evolution scenarios based on a reconstruction of the planet's history was established in cooperation with the leading international Centres for paleobiological, paleoclimatic, geochemical and isotopes research. KFU brand and unique objects relating to this field are connected with the following notions: Permian system, Kazanian Stage, Tatarian Series.

Laboratories

• Thermal Analysis and Calorimetry
• Rheological Properties of Crude Oil and Oil Products
• In-Situ Oil Conversion
• Physical Organic Chemistry of Crude Oil
• Combustion Front Monitoring Research

Partners

The following universities will be our benchmarks for research effectiveness in the area of:

Stratigraphy

• Institute of Reservoir-Petrology (Germany, Aachen);
• Boise State University, USA;
• Pretoria University, South Africa;
• Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg, Germany;
• Technical University Bergakademie Freiberg, Germany;
• New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science, Albuquerque, USA.

Paleoclimatic reconstructions

• Alfred-Wegener-Instituts, Helmholtz-Zentrum für Polar-und-Meeresforschung (AWI), Potsdam, Germany;
• Universität Potsdam, Germany;
• A. N. Severtsov Institute of Ecology and Evolution, the Russian Academy of Science, Moscow, Russia; 
•  Frei Universität Berlin, Germany

Ongoing projects

• One of the most important projects is the Global Carboniferous and Permian Non-Marine - Marine Correlation Project of the joint international group of both the International Subcommissions on Carboniferous and on Permian stratigraphy (Leading scientist - the Director of the research laboratory and the Vice-chairman of the International Subcommission on Permian Stratigraphy (SPS), Professor J.W. Schneider).
• Collaboration with Karoo Research Initiative (KARIN) for exploration of coal, unconventional hydrocarbons, i.e. shale gas and rare metals on the territory of the South Africa (http://www.up.ac.za/en/geology/article/2010973/ karoo-research). Leading scientist - Annette Goetz (Pretoria University, South Africa). The budget for drilling three deep drill cores and the seismic survey equals to about 2 mln. euros for 2015-2017. The key project sponsor is the Shell company.
• IGCP 630 Permian-Triassic climatic and environmental extremes and biotic response.
• Joint RFBR and South Africa National Foundation. Project No. 14-05-93964. Searching for common signatures in deep time: bio-correlation of Permo￾Triassic continental sedimentary successions with tetrapods from Russia and South Africa.
• German Research Foundation project DFG Schn 408/22- 1. Multistratigraphic framework for continental Permian-Triassic boundary sections of northern Pangaea: a key to a better understanding of the ecological consequences of the end-Permian crisis in the terrestrial realm.
• German Research Foundation project DFG Schn 408/21-1. Pilot study of the evolution of Late Palaeozoic insects of the Souss basin, Morocco.
• German Research Foundation project DFG Schn 408/20-1. Revision of the basal sphenacodonts (Haptodontinae): systematic and evolutionary implications.
• IGCP 609 project. Climate-environmental deteriorations during greenhouse phases: causes and consequences of short-term Cretaceous sea-level changes.
• International project Arctic Ecological Network: Modern and fossil bioindicators in the (sub-) Arctic (ArcEcoNet). 
• An interdisciplinary Russian-German project on the formation, turnover and release of carbon in Siberian permafrost landscapes.

Conferences

• Participation in the organisation of the international conference and school for young scientists 'Palaeolimnology of Northern Eurasia', Petrozavodsk 21-25 September 2014. “Paleolimnology of Northern Eurasia”.
• The first International Congress on Continental Ichnology (ICCI-2015),  Faculty of Sciences, Chouaïb Doukkali University, El Jadida, Morocco, April 21-25, 2015; https://sites.google.com/site/icci2015congress/ home
• The XVIII INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS ON THE CARBONIFEROUS AND PERMIAN (ICCP 2015), Kazan, RUSSIA, August 11-15, 2015 (http://kpfu.ru/iccp2015).

The congress will give an impulse to further developments and promote the advancement of research in this area (special editions of Web of Science journals to be published: “Episodes” (IUGS journal), “Stratigraphy. Geological correlation”, “Paleontological journal” ).

To improve the competences of graduates for working in international companies, institutes and teams a Double-Master Degree programme will be organised jointly by Kazan University and the Technical University (TU) Bergakademie Freiberg, Germany.

Within the Interdisciplinary Centre of Excellence for Stratigraphy and Paleogeoreconstruction Biocontrol research laboratory working in the field of Environment was organised (Director – Associate Professor Polina Galitskaya, Scientific adviser – Professor Svetlana Selivanovskaya; Professor of the University of Helsinki, Martin Romanchuk (HI=28), Professor of the University of Goettingen, Yakov Kuzyakov (HI=36), Professor of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Elisha Tel-Or (HI=21), Associate Professor of the University of Helsinki, Aki Sinkkonen (HI=8).

Biocontrol Laboratory concentrates its work on the analysis of processes observed in soil during hydrocarbon intake, including environmental changes, as well as microbial soil community functioning and structure. It serves as a basis for new biotechnologies of soil restoration. Research includes technologies of production, purification and application of the so-called “green” surfactants. Their application will permit to improve oil recovery and reduce ecological hazards of oil production processes.