Traditional Stepanov Readings took place in the B.I. Stepanov Institute of Physics of the NAS of Belarus on 17 January, on the day of Institute foundation. The staff of the Institute heard reports on high-level research and development efforts completed in the previous year. The Academic Council hears reports and awards prizes at the enlarged meeting annually since 1958. Since 1988 this event has been called Stepanov Readings in memory of Boris Ivanovich Stepanov, Director of the Institute of Physics from 1957 to 1985 and the organizer of annual readings.

This year researchers from the Photonics and Photochemistry of Molecules Center Boris Dzhagarov, Doctor of Physical and Mathematical Sciences, and Sergey Lepeshkevich, Candidate of Physical and Mathematical Sciences, were the laureates of Stepanov Readings for a series of works “Photo-induced processes in haemoglobin and myoglobin with molecular oxygen.” It has become traditional to hold at the same time a competition of young scientists from the Institute of Physics of the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus for the Academician N. Borisevich Prize.

This year Victoria Kovgar, Research Officer at the Center for Nonlinear Optics and Activated Materials, was awarded with the medal of Academician N. Borisevich and the diploma of the competition for a series of works "Spectroscopic features of Yb-containing glasses." Vladislav Babitsky, Junior Research Associate at the Center for Plasma Physics, received an encouraging diploma of the competition for a series of works "Propagation of high power microwave radiation through electromagnetic crystals with plasma inhomogeneities."