The Lebedev Physical Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Astro Space Centre

The Lebedev Physical Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences (LPI RAS) is one of the largest and is, apparently, the oldest scientific research centre of the country. Its scientific program covers almost all major fields of physics. As a modern polyphysical body, the Institute was founded in 1934 by Academician S.I Vavilov, an outstanding optical physicist and science organizer. The LPI takes its history from a collection of physical instruments at the Kunstkamera, established by the decision of the Emperor Peter the Great in 1714. Studies proper at the Physical Cabinet of the Kunstkamera using the collected instruments began since 1724, when the Cabinet was transferred to the management of the just established Saint Petersburg Academy of Sciences. Such prominent scientists as D. Bernoulli, L. Euler, M.V. Lomonosov worked at the Physical Cabinet.