Water Problems Institute was established in November 24, 1967 by Ministers of Council regulation and USSR Academy of Sciences resolution.
From 1967 till 1973 the first Institute director and organizer was Dr.Sci.Tech., Professor A.N.Voznesenskiy. In the following years the Institute was headed by the Corresponding Member of USSR Academy of Sciences V.N.Kunin (from 1973 till 1976); the Corresponding Member of USSR Academy of Sciences G.V.Voropayev (from 1976 till 1988); the Academician of the Russian Academy of Sciences M.G.Khublaryan (from 1988 till 2003). Since 2003, the Institute is headed by the Corresponding Member of the Russian Academy of Sciences V.I.Danilov-Danilyan.
Main objective of the Institute’s scientific work is to study water resources, continental waters regime and quality, the ecological condition of water objects, water security problems of the country, to work out the estimation methods of possible water resources changes under the influence of natural and anthropogenic factors, and also to work out the estimation methods of water resources management. The Institute is one of the leading Russian scientific organizations in the field of resources and surface waters quality basic research. Its works are of high international prestige, they are acknowledged by Russian and foreign scientists and experts and provide developing of new research directions.
The Institute’s history is associated with the names of famous scientists who made a significant contribution to its establishment and development. They are the following: A.B. Avakyan, Yu.A. Aleksandrovskiy, A.I. Budagovskiy, S.L. Vendrov, L.V. Dunin-Barkovskiy, V.K. Zavoysky, V.S. Zaletaev, G.P. Kalinin, V.S. Kaminskiy, V.S. Kovalevskiy, D.V. Korenistov, S.N. Kritskiy, B.I. Kudelin, G.M. Matlin, Yu.Yu. Marty, M.F. Menkel, S.L. Mirkin, S.S. Obrezkov, N.L. Ogilvi, D.Ya. Ratkovich, K.I. Rossinskiy, M.F. Sribniy, B.A. Fidman, I.Ya. Shimelmits, L.O. Eynor and many others. The modern research foundations are laid down through the projects of these scientists. The projects are being successfully continued and developed by highly qualified scientific team of the Institute.
The Institute has 3 corresponding members of Russian Academy of Sciences, 37 Dr. Sci., 76 Cand. Sci. Dr. Sci. account for 27% of the total research scientists, Cand. Sci account for 57%. Five members of the Institute were awarded with the honorary degree of “Honored Science Worker of the Russian Federation”. The leading scientists are elected as members of Russian Environmental Academy, Russian Aquicultural Academy, and Russian Natural Sciences Academy.
Training of the highest qualification scientific personnel is performed by means of postgraduate and doctoral studies. There is the Institute Dissertation Council for the Thesis Defense in candidacy for Dr. Sci. degree with a specialization in hydrology, water resources, hydrochemistry (geographic, technical, physical and mathematical sciences) and Geoecology (geographical, geological and mineralogical sciences).
