On October 14, at the ED1.25 Dissertation Council operating under the Institute of Molecular Biology and Biotechnologies of the Ministry of Science and Education of the Republic of Azerbaijan, the defense of the dissertation submitted by Shirin Mahmudova for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Biology in the specialty 2411.02- Plant Physiology was held. Doctor of Biological Sciences, Professor Nagi Musayev is the scientific supervisor of the research work on “Structural lability and functional activity of the plasmalemma of Nitellopsis obtusa cells “conducted by Shirin Mahmudova, a candidate for Ph.D. on Plant Physiology at the Institute of Botany.

Chairman of the Dissertation Council, vice president of ANAS, academician Irada Huseynova noted that all members of the council participated in the meeting. Later, the scientific secretary of the Dissertation Council, Doctor of Philosophy in Biology, associate professor Ulduza Gurbanova introduced the members of the council to the information contained in the applicant's personal file, and the floor was given to the applicant.

The applicant gave information about the relevance of the topic, the issues raised and ways to solve them. She said that the aim of the dissertation work was the detection of possible structural lability on the eve of the functional activity of the plasma membranes of intact plant cells and the electrophysiological analysis of the events that occurred. The obtained results can be used in medical practice to monitor the variation of cation concentration in tissues and also to solve the problems of optimizing the mineral nutrition of agricultural cultures.

The official opponents of the dissertation work stated in their speech that the research work is complete work done in the field of plant physiology. Opponents stated that the dissertation work fully meets the requirements for doctoral dissertations of the Supreme Attestation Commission (HAC) under the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan and that the applicant deserves to receive the Ph.D. degree in biology majoring in "Plant Physiology".

After extensive discussions around the dissertation, the claimant answered the questions of the council members and expressed his attitude to the opponents' recommendations and comments.

After hearing the applicant’s final words, a secret electronic vote was held. Based on the voting results, a decision was made to file a petition before the High Attestation Commission under the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan regarding awarding a Ph.D. in biology to Shirin Mahmudova.