Central Institutes of Science and Technology

The Central Institutes of Science and Technology (Arvorian: Центральные институты науки и технологий), also known by its acronym TsINK (ЦИНК), are one of two national, government-funded R&D organisations in Arvor, focused on non-medical research. It is the sister organisation of the Central Institutes of Health (TsIZ).

Overview

Founded in 7568 RH from the merger of several previously independent research agencies formed in the Commonwealth period, TsINK's purpose is to "expound upon the pursuit of endeavours in fields of scientific and technological development deemed to be in the national interest." Its founding, alongside that of TsIZ, was meant to unify the critical national R&D establishment with the intent of keeping the fledgling republic at the forefront of all facets of science, technology, and engineering. Since its establishment, TsINK has gradually built a reputation as one of the world's leading organisations for scientific and technological development.

TsINK is one of the largest such organisations in the world, with a combined roster of approximately 1,200 principal investigators and more than 5,000 postdoctoral associates.

The current director general of TsINK is Doctor Olga Ivanovna Rachmaninova, a biochemist who received her doctorate from the Univeristy of Anaprudny. Prior to becoming director general in 7686, she was director of TsINK-KN for nine years and spent 23 years prior to that as a researcher in that arm of the organisation.

Headquarters

The main campus of TsINK is located on the outskirts of the closed naukograd of Zelerino (also known as Kaspirod-7) in southern Arvor. The grounds of the facility cover approximately 87 square kilometres, most of it within the Orylkovo Valley at the southern end of the Polepovets Mountains, and consists of the dedicated complexes of the individual research centres, numerous support structures, three dedicated generating stations, several parks and monuments, and both a dedicated rail line and road network for the movement of people and equipment. The entire facility has an extensive underground as well, which contains approximately three times the volume of all eleven research complexes combined and is interconnected by service and pedestrian tunnels, a monorail network, and an additional generating station.

TsINK is led at its pinnacle by its Select Committee, which consists of the director general, two deputy director generals, and the directors of the eleven research centres. They are responsible for oversight and policy control within the organisation in accordance with executive and legislative direction.

Each research complex has a dedicated, secure museum within it which displays various discoveries, products, and projects that arm of the agency has handled over its history. These museums are accessible only with the approval of the director and cannot be accessed unaccompanied. In some cases, the museums have additional, special displays which can only be viewed with specific permission, even if granted access to the museum itself. These museums are secure because some of their displays detail work that remains highly classified.

Bureaus

TsINK's operations are divided between its eleven component research centres, each of which focuses on a specific sphere of interest and is named after a prominent and highly respected Arvorian scientist who worked within that discipline. The centres and their areas of specialisation are -

• Centre for Aerospace Research (TsINK-TAI)
  • focus - development and advancement of aerospace sciences and technology
  • named for - Pyotr "Petra" Pavlovich Leonov (П. П. Леонов), leading engineer and scientist involved in the early space research efforts of the ADR, responsible for the design and oversight of construction of several rocket and satellite models, including Samler-1.
• Centre for Agriculture and Environmental Studies (TsINK-SEI)
  • focus - study and development of advanced agricultural and environmental technologies with a focus on improving agricultural productivity and security, environmental protection, and related interess
  • named for - Sofia Vasilyevna Petrovskaya (С. В. Петровская), agronomist and conservationst whose work developed hybridised corn, improved other cereal crops, and inspired the beginnings of crop genetics.
• Centre for Automation, Cybernetics, and Robotics (TsINK-AKR)
  • focus - research and development of automation, cybernetics, and robotics systems and technologies for private, public, commercial, and industrial applications
  • named for - Aleksandr Leonovich Ivankov (А. Л. Иваньков), mechanical engineer and roboticist who designed the Lunar Wanderer-1 (Лунный странник) which explored the Mondrigis Sea region of that moon for three lunar days in 7670 RH.
• Centre for Ballistics, Explosives, and Weapons Development (TsINK-RBVVO)
  • focus - practical and applied research and development of ballistic and explosive technologies, weapons development and testing
  • named for - Andronova (ARBORON)
• Centre for Chemical Sciences (TsINK-KN)
  • focus - study of the chemical sciences with focuses on application, development, and testing
  • named for - Valeria Antonova Yershova (В. А. Ершова), chemist, who formulated the Periodic Law and created an early version of the periodic table, correctly calculating the properties of several known elements, and predicting the properties of several elements not yet discovered at that time. She is remembered as the "Mother of the Periodic Table".
• Centre for Computational and Statistical Sciences (TsINK-VSN)
  • focus - basic and applied development and study of computational and statistical analysis, informatics, and mathematical modeling for oceanic and atmospheric physics, environmental protection, geophysics, telecommunication systems and software for computers
  • named for - Aleksandr Aleksandrovich Sechenov (А. А. Сеченов), mathematician, engineer, computer scientist, physicist, and polymath who made contributions to many fields, including mathematics, physics, economics, computing, and statistics who participated in the atomic bomb project.
• Centre for Electronic and Electromechanical Studies (TsINK-EEI)
  • focus - fundamental research in radiophysics, radiotechnics, physical electronics, and quantum electronics
  • named for - Valentina Yakovna Barsukova (В. Я. Барсукова), engineer and inventor, who led the team that developed the transistor and expanded research and development into practical applications for semiconductors, which allowed for considerable expansion of the national telephonic network.
• Centre for Materials Sciences (TsINK-M)
  • focus - research and development of new materials, applied research into mesomechanics, and materials testing and analysis
  • named for - Fedor Andreevich Murayov (Ф. А. Мураев), chemist and inventor, who developed neoprene and nylon in 7638 and 7642, respectively. He would later lead the teams which developed biaxially oriented polyethylene terephthalate, polyethylene terephthalate, and synthetic flashspun high-density polyethylene fiber.
• Centre for Nuclear Science and Engineering (TsINK-YNT)
  • focus - research in the fields of nuclear physics, reactor physics, and accelerator physics
  • named for - Dmitri Viktorovich Zeldovich (Д. В. Зельдович), physicist and engineer, who split the atom, demonstrated the first self-sustaining nuclear chain reaction, designed and built the first nuclear reactor, and oversaw the atomic bomb project, remembered by history as the "Architect of the Atomic Age" and the "Father of the Atomic Bomb".
• Centre for Optics and Precision Mechanics (TsINK-OTM)
  • focus - basic and applied research in opto-mechanical systems, micro-structured optics, precision optical components and systems, optical surfaces and layers, laser and fibre technology, and imaging and sensing technologies
  • named for - Pyotr Mironovich Toropov (П. М. Торопов), optician and physicist who successfully developed the first successful laser, known as the RUBY (РУБИН), which was a solid-state pink ruby laser that emitted the first coherent light beam, with rays all the same wavelength and fully in phase, and his brother, Grigory Mironovich Toropov (Г. М. Торопов), engineer and precision machinist, who developed the mechanisms needed to manipulate the housing containing the synthetic ruby crystal remotely to conduct studies on the beam's behaviour and reactions to certain alignments.
• Centre for Theoretical and Experimental Physics (TsINK-TEF)
  • focus - basic and applied research in the fields of theoretical physics, astrophysics, high energy particle physics, plasma physics, solid state physics, and microtechnology
  • named for - Irina Nikolayevna Orlova (И. Н. Орлова), theoretical physicist who published four papers which contributed to the foundation of modern theoretical physics detailing the photoelectric effect, random particle motion, the theory of special relativity, and the principle of mass-energy equivalence.

Projects

• ARCHON (АРХОН)
• ARKSTONE (АРКСТОУН)
• BLACKOUT (ЗАТЕМНЕНИЕ)
• COBALT (КОБАЛЬТ) - aka Object 75
• MORNING CREST (УТРЕННИЙ ГРЕБЕНЬ)
• PATHWAYS (ПУТИ) - aka Object 212
• RED LIGHT (КРАСНЫЙ СВЕТ)