On September 4, 2011, III Baikal Microbiology Symposium on Microorganisms and viruses in aquatic ecosystems started at the Limnology Institute of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences (Irkutsk). Scientists from Russia, Germany, Belorussia, Kazakhstan, Korea, Ukraine, Japan and Mongolia took part in the symposium. Mikhail Grachyov, a member of the Scientific Board of the Fund and the Director of Limnology Institute of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, gave a welcome speech to the participants.　

He also awarded four young limnologists from Vladivostok, Perm, Moscow and Khabarovsk with money gifts on behalf of the fund. According to the organisers of the symposium, these scientists have conducted high quality scientific researches which have real practical application. The Academic Secretary of the Limnology Institute of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences Tamara Zemskaya said that such financial support is currently important for the young scientists.