Abstract: The current environmental situation requires serious attention and active participation of every person. A special role in this process is played by the student youth – an active and promising part of society, capable of making a significant contribution to the development of ecological culture and changing environmental behavior. The ecological consciousness and behavior of students are becoming the object of more and more in-depth study by specialists in various fields of knowledge, including sociologists. To assess the level of formation of ecological consciousness and behavior in 2023, a sociological study was conducted using two methods: a questionnaire, the object of which was the student youth of Yekaterinburg and an expert interview. The study revealed the attitude of young people to the environment, as this is an indicator of the formation of ecological consciousness. Next, the key environmental problems that, according to the youth, are most acute were considered, as well as real practices that students implement while taking care of the environment were considered. In addition, the research revealed the role of the university as an actor influencing the formation of environmental consciousness and behavior. As a result, it was concluded that modern youth in general show interest and awareness in relation to environmental problems, but in reality their environmental behavior is often uneven and limited.

Abstract: The article is devoted to the sociological study of spatial mobility of residents of medium and small towns on the example of the Sverdlovsk region. The paper presents a theoretical and methodological analysis of the category of mobility based on both classical and modern concepts of sociologists, as well as researchers of related sciences. In the article, the author refers to the concepts of "spatial rotation" and the new paradigm of mobility. In addition, the paper presents the results of an empirical sociological study conducted in 2021, the object of which was the participants of local urban communities (cities that have a bus connection with the Southern Bus Station of Yekaterinburg) in the social network VKontakte. The purpose of the study was to analyze the mobility of residents of small and medium-sized cities of the Sverdlovsk region. As a result of the conducted research, it was revealed that mostly residents of small and medium-sized cities of the Sverdlovsk region visit Yekaterinburg for the purpose of shopping, for education and to visit friends and relatives living in the big city. At the same time, the goals of respondents' visits to the city correlate with the age of the respondents. In addition, it is important that respondents mostly use public transport to travel to Yekaterinburg, even if they own their own car.

Abstract: Over the recent time, the quantitative assessment indicators of scientific performance play an increasingly important role. At the same time, the number of publications of the Russian authors and their citation are relatively lower compared to the Western colleagues. This necessitates determination of the causes and factors affecting publication activities and scientific performance overall. The author conducts a sociological study aimed at the analysis of involvement of the university’s academic staff into research work. The object of this publication became the academic staff of the Ural Federal University named after the first President of Russia B. N. Yeltsin (N-211), fourteen different sectors of the university; online survey was selected as a research method. The article demonstrates the results reflecting the incentives, barriers and motivation of the university staff members towards publication activities and engagement in the research work; as well as analyzes the goal and ways of cooperation of the academic staff of the Ural Federal University named after the first President of Russia B. N. Yeltsin with the scholars of other universities and organizations. The conclusion is made that the factors affecting the scientific performance of the academic staff of the Ural Federal University named after the first President of Russia B. N. Yeltsin can be divided into two groups: internal (based on inner motivation of a staff member) and external (based on the outside motivation). The author underlines that one of the most significant factors contributing to scientific activity and performance is the scientific collaboration.