Russian President Vladimir Putin, during a working trip to Novosibirsk, visited the "Siberian Circular Photon Source" (SKIF) collective use center in Koltsovo science city.
The center is a complex of 34 buildings and structures with engineering and technological equipment for research using synchrotron radiation beams (electromagnetic radiation emitted by electrons moving along a spiral orbit in a magnetic field). SKIF will help to "look inside" substances and obtain data on their structure at the atomic level.
Putin was told that scientists here will be able to conduct fundamental and applied research. For example, the synchrotron can detect malicious micro-equipment in devices that cannot be detected by antivirus software.
In the modern world, this is very important.
Following his visit to SKIF, Putin signed a plaque dedicated to the opening of the center. It bore the date — 11.08.2026.
The head of state emphasized that Russian specialists themselves developed the equipment for the megascience facility, which was not supplied to them from abroad. According to Putin, there is "nothing unexpected" in the fact that scientists coped with this task.
There are only about 50 operating and under-construction megascience facilities in the world. SKIF belongs to "4+" generation synchrotron radiation sources. Synchrotrons of this level exist only in Sweden, France, and Brazil. The official launch of the Russian facility is scheduled for the end of August.