Polessky State University - Pinsk
Faculty of Biotechnology
Department of Biology
The contact with the Polessky State University in Pinsk, Belarus, was established through our trilingual project website.
Located in the northeast of the country, near a large nature reserve, the university was only founded in 2006. “The lecturers are young and open-minded,” reported project leader Dimitrij Leporskij during his visit in April 2015. Modern teaching methods found fertile ground there. Some of the commonly practiced animal experiments had already been replaced by field studies on the lecturers’ own initiative, while others required our support.
Previously, frogs were decapitated in order to study organ functions of nerves, musculature, cardiovascular system, and central nervous system. Mice were used for blood tests, pigeons for studying the nervous system, and cattle for examining the digestive tract. To replace these experiments, the institute received a laptop from us along with numerous DVDs and CD-ROMs containing computer simulations. This saves the lives of 1,460 vertebrates per year (760 frogs, 260 rats, 180 mice, 180 cattle, 80 pigeons).
The agreement was signed on April 28, 2015, according to which all animal experiments are to be discontinued as of September 1, 2015.
Institute director Dr. Alle Chernetskaya (right), Dimitrij Leporskij (center), and lecturers
The Polessky University in Pinsk was established in 2006.