Zimin Foundation

Zimin Foundation is a philanthropic nonprofit organization established by Dr Dmitry Zimin and his son Boris Zimin with the aim of supporting science, education and spread of information.

Zimin Foundation
Founded2015
FounderDmitry Zimin, Boris Zimin
TypeNon-Profit Foundation
LeaderBoris Zimin
Websitewww.ziminfoundation.org

History

In 2002 Dmitry Zimin started Dynasty Foundation, an organization focusing mainly on Russia. The foundation became the first private Russian nonprofit supporting science and education in the country through programs for gifted schoolchildren and university students, young physicists, mathematicians, biologists, and teachers.

In 2015 Russian Ministry of Justice put Dynasty Foundation on the list of foreign agents, effectively forcing it to wrap up its activities. Since then the Zimin family has continued its philanthropic effort through the Zimin Foundation. No longer limited to Russia, the organization’s activities have extended to other countries.[1]

After Dr. Zimin’s death on December 22, 2021, his son Boris Zimin took over as the leader of Zimin Foundation’s charitable efforts.

Main projects

Zimin Institutes[2]

Zimin Institutes are a Zimin Foundation initiative pursued in partnership with universities worldwide. It was designed to identify and support applied research projects that are likely to translate into real-world live-improving technologies.

The Zimin Institute for Engineering Solutions Advancing Better Lives at Tel Aviv University was launched in 2018.[3]

The Zimin Institute for Smart and Sustainable Cities opened in 2020 at Arizona State University in the United States.[4]

In June 2022 Israel Institute of Technology and the Zimin Foundation established the Zimin Institute for AI Solutions in Healthcare at the Technion.[5]

Each institute specializes in a different area while maintaining research collaboration to develop applied technological projects with real-world implications.

The Enlightener Prize[6]

The Enlightener Prize (Prosvetitel in Russian) was established in 2008 by Dr. Dmitry Zimin and is awarded annually to the best non-fiction book written in the Russian language. Its purpose is to motivate Russian-speaking scientists and science journalists writing about the latest discoveries and research.

Since 2015 the Prize has been supported by the Zimin Foundation.

School of Molecular and Theoretical Biology[7]

School of Molecular and Theoretical Biology (SMTB), sponsored by Zimin Foundation, connects motivated high-school students to operating biological labs, where they can participate in real scientific experiments. At SMTB students listen to lectures, learn research techniques and calculations and explore current ideas in molecular and theoretical biology.

Other projects

The Foundation also provides support in the areas of education and free access to information.

Education

Together with Boris Nemtzov Foundation (named after Boris Nemtsov), the Zimin Foundation offers scholarships for Ukrainian students in Prague University of Economics and Business, Charles University, Ruhr University Bochum, and Academy of Arts, Architecture and Design in Prague. Eight Russian students affected by war got ZF scholarships at Hunter College (NY, USA).[8]

After February 2022, the focus is on providing scholarships and other types of educational support for Ukrainian refugees. The Zimin Foundation sponsors the Center for Development and Assistance in Wroclaw, a school for more than 200 Ukrainian refugee children.[9]

Besides School of Molecular and Theoretical Biology, the Foundation sponsors scholarships to educational institutions throughout the world, such as Le Sallay Academy (France),[10] a school of innovative blended learning.

Free access to information

Redkollegia (Russian for “editorial board”) is an independent award established in 2016 to support free professional journalism in Russia. It is funded by Boris Zimin through the Sreda Foundation, a nonprofit affiliated to the Zimin Foundation.

The Zimin Foundation also sponsors Re: Russia[11] - an expertise and discussion platform aiming to address key issues of Russian politics, economy and society, and Dissernet, a volunteer community network working to clear the Russian science of plagiarism and other falsifications.

The Sakharov Center is a multifunctional educational space dedicated to Nobel Prize laureate Dr. Andrei Sakharov. On January 24, 2023, its headquarters in Moscow were closed under the Russian foreign agent law.[12]

Memorial is an international historical, educational, charitable, and human rights society. Memorial’s operations in Moscow were terminated on December 29, 2021 by the Moscow City Court for allegedly violating the “foreign agent” law.

References
  1. "A Friend To Russian Science, But An Enemy To The Government". Radio Liberty. 2015-06-02.
  2. Zimin Institutes
  3. "Zimin Institute". Tel Aviv University.
  4. "Zimin Institute for Smart and Sustainable Cities at ASU". Arizona State University.
  5. "To be established at the Technion, the Zimin Institute will focus on AI in medicine; the university network of Zimin Institutes uses applied technological developments for the advancement of humanity". Technion. 2022-06-12.
  6. "About the Enlightener Prize" (in Russian).
  7. "School of Molecular and Theoretical Biology". SMTB.
  8. "Hunter College Welcomes 12 Students Whose Education, Lives Impacted by War". Hunter. 2022-08-25.
  9. "Philanthropist Boris Zimin Shares His Perspective On Modern Education". 2022-10-14.
  10. "Welcome to Le Sallay Academy".
  11. "RE:RUSSIA".
  12. "Moscow's Sakharov Centre evicted from all premises due to 'foreign agent' label". Retrieved 26 January 2023.
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