Yulia Voitovich, a MSc student in Chemistry, has become a holder of the French Embassy scholarship for writing a thesis under the joint supervision of Russian and French scholars. It is a great step forward for a beginning researcher and her objective is very serious too. Yulia is researching the development of methods for the synthesis of new anticancer agents of the colchicine site of tubulin. 

Nowadays the search for substances to fight tumors is an issue of critical importance in Organic and Medicinal Chemistry. The laboratories of Lobachevsky State University of Nizhni Novgorod have developed agents which are considered very promising.

Professor Alexey Fyodorov, a supervisor of Yulia Voitovich, has already collaborated with his foreign colleagues in this field. On his advice, Julia chose the University of Aix-Marseille (Marseille) to study at because he had a fruitful collaboration with its laboratory.

The scholarship of the French Government will cover the costs of a Schengen visa, health insurance and university tuition fees. Students are allotted 760 euros per month during their stay in France. The scholarship provides 4 periods of stay in France during 4 years which will be correspondingly the 2nd year of Master's studies and 3 years of PhD studies in Russia. Yulia Voitovich will begin her study in France in October 2014.