The Institute of Continuous Media Mechanics of the Ural Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences began as the Department of Polymer Physics, which was founded as an independent research institution on 1 July 1971 under the decree of the USSR Council of Ministers on the establishment of the Ural Scientific Center of the USSR Academy of Sciences.

According to the Resolution of the Presidium of the USSR Academy of Sciences № 29 dated 14 February 1980, the Department of Polymer Physics was restructured into the Institute of Continuous Media Mechanics of the USC of the USSR Academy of Sciences. In December 1991 in connection with foundation of the Russian Academy of Sciences the Institute was affiliated to the Ural Branch of RAS.

The ICMM was established specifically to conduct the fundamental and applied research in compliance with the plans put forward by the Ural Branch of RAS and agreed by the RAS Department of engineering, mechanics and process control problems. The main directions of scientific activity are:

• mathematical and physical modeling of deformation, fracture and abnormal processes in solids taking into account temperature–time effects, chemical and phase transitions and generation and evolution of defects.
• methods of numerical simulation in mechanics of solids and fluid mechanics.
• problems of hydrodynamic stability and turbulence; forced flows and convection; physical-chemical hydrodynamics of polymers, suspensions and magnetic fluids.

Institute of Continuous Media Mechanics has the status of state accredited institution documented in the Certificate of state accreditation of scientific organization № 2554 of April 11, 2001 issued by the Ministry of Industry, Science and Technology in compliance with the Federal law of Science and State Scientific and Technical Policy.

Today, the Institute has a permanent staff of 160 employees including one full member of RAS, 16 Doctors of Sciences and 55 holders of Ph.D. degree.

The Dissertation Defense Board of ICMM established in 1989 was entitled in 1995 to qualify dissertations for Dr. Sc. degree in the fields of solid mechanics (01.02.04) (physical-mathematical and engineering sciences) and mechanics of fluid, gas and plasma (01.02.0.5) (physical- mathematical and engineering sciences).

Through the joint research and educational programs the ICMM is tightly linked with the leading educational institutes of Perm. On the basis of the Institute the teaching staff and students of the Perm State University, Perm State Technical University and their subsidiaries carry out research, trainee and educational programs. Leading scientists of the Institute read lectures at Perm colleges and universities and work as invited lecturers and researchers at the institutes of foreign countries.

The Institute associates conduct research in cooperation with the Polytechnic University of Madrid, the University of Milan, the University of Hessen, the Free University of Brussels, the University of Paris VI and Paris VII, the Marseilles Institute of Research on Nonequilibrium Phenomena, the Institute of Crystallography of Freiburg University (Germany), the Department of Condensed Matter Physics at the Nuclear Research Center (Grenoble, France), the Institute of Chemistry of Condensed Matter (Bordeaux, France), the Research Center (Centre D'Etudes de Gramat), Gramat, France, and some other foreign Institutes.

The research projects carried out by the scientists of the Institute are supported by grants from RFBR, INTAS, CRDF, ISIC and other international foundations and organizations.

The scientists of the Institute serve on the Editorial boards of foreign scientific journals and are constantly invited to foreign Institutes or research centers to read lectures or to make fundamental and experimental investigations. In 1993 the Institute became a collective member of ELGRA (the European Low-Gravity Research Association). The scientists from the USA, Sweden, Germany, France, Japan, and China frequently visit the IMMC as invited guests or on their own initiative.

Due to recent advances of Perm scientists in the field of solid mechanics, Perm was charged with an important mission to host the VIII All-Russian Congress on Theoretical and Applied Mechanics. There is general agreement that a congress outranks various scientific meetings as an event intended to asses the current status of research in the entire field and to define future prospects and new directions of science. Previous congresses on Theoretical and Applied Mechanics were held in the capitals of the former Soviet Union: in Moscow (1964,1968,1991), Tashkent (1968) and Alma-Ata (1981). It was the first time after a ten-year pause that the Congress was restarted in Perm from 23 to 29 August, 2001 and a challenging task of its organization was committed to the Institute of Continuous Media Mechanics.

The financial base of the Institute is supported by funds from the State budget, by Russian and International Foundations, Russian Scientific Object-Oriented Programs, and research under contracts with organizations and industrial enterprises.

Director: Valeriy Pavlovich Matveyenko. Doctor of Engineering Sciences, Professor, Full member of Russian Academy of Sciences. His main research interests are centered on numerical methods of solid mechanics, the problems of vibration and stability of deformable solids, the problems of aeroelasticity and thermal viscoelasticity. V.P. Matveyenko is a member of the Presidium of RAS and of the Presidium of UB of RAS, member of the Presidium of Russian National Committee on Theoretical and Applied Mechanics, member of the Joint Scientific Council on Mathematics, Mechanics and Computer Science of UB of RAS, member of the RAS Scientific Councils on Mechanics of Solids and Mechanics of Composite Structures, the Chairman of Perm Scientific Center of UB of RAS, director of the Institute of Continuous Media Mechanics of UB of RAS, Chair of the Department of Applied Mechanics and Computational Engineering at the Perm State University, the laureate of the Russian Federation State Prize in Science and Technology.

Deputy Director for Research: Anatoliy Alekseevich Rogovoy. Doctor of Physics and Mathematics, Professor of the Perm State Technical University. His current research interests include development of state equations for elastic and elastic-plastic materials under large deformations and development of numerical methods for calculation of finite deformations. A. A Rogovoy is a member of the Presidium of Perm Scientific Center of RAS, a member of the Russian National Committee on Theoretical and Applied Mechanics, member of the Joint Scientific Council on Mathematics, Mechanics and Computer Science of UB of RAS, member of the General Meeting of RAS and UB of RAS.

ICMM is situated ten kilometers away from the center of Perm on the right bank of the Kama in a picturesque zone of the pine forest.

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