The Institute of Geotechnical Mechanics named by N. Polyakov NAS of Ukraine was established in 1962 with the aim of solving problems of minerals mining at great depths.

     Steady creative and business contacts with mining enterprises, designing, academic and sectoral scientific-and-research and educational institutes in Ukraine and other countries are the key feature of the Institute for the time. In our work we integrally combine theoretical and experimental researches that allows us to solve, at the high level, fundamental problems of mining and lead the results of scientific researches up to the practical application. The high fundamental level of researches has been achieved mainly thanks to the fruitful work of different scientific schools of the following academicians of NAS of Ukraine, which were created in our Institute: N.S. Polyakov, V.N. Poturaev, A.F. Bulat, V.E. Zabigailo, V.F. Prysnyakov, and members-correspondents of NAS of Ukraine F.A. Abramov and E.I.Efremov, who are recognized in the whole world.

     Today the IGTM is still the only academician institution of mining in Ukraine having geo-mechanics and geo-engineering specialization with development of bowels of the earth as its key activities. The Institute can list a number of profound achievements, and among them 11 discoveries, which define new trends of development of mining science and practice. On their basis an absolutely new conceptual approach has been designed for solving scientific and engineering problems of the coal production at great depths when negative and harmful factors such as pressure, gas, highly explosive medium, are involved in useful work and do not counteract the technologies. The approach successfully passed the tests in the most complicated geological and mining conditions of various minerals production.

     The Institute’s basic researches are reflected in such competitive projects as technology of search, extraction and utilization of mine methane and the methane natural and man-caused concentrations in the coal and gas deposits; unique technologies of the coal production at great depths with using the energy of rock pressure; methods of preventing sudden outbursts of coal, rocks and gas; new design of anchoring; facilities and methods of vibro-acoustic and ultrasonic diagnostics of the rocks and massifs states and features. Our Institute designed the cyclic-line and line technologies of mining the rocks broken by the explosion by using machines of cyclic and continuous actions, and this method is implemented almost in all mineral open-mines in Ukraine and abroad.

     The parametrical series of dynamically-active rubber resonant band-stringed screens used for minerals classification allows the 50-80 times increase of the service life of the screens and is successfully used at the enterprises of the "Jakutalmaz" Corporation, gold mines of the "Severovostokzoloto" Association and in many other ore and nonmetallic mines, iron and steel works, concentrating mills. Designed by the Institute conceptual approach to the problems of restructuring the coal industry, which is based on the diversification the coal-mines’ activities with the focus on advanced processing of coal, transforming it into thermal and electric energy, at the heat-power complexes is an integral part of the Ukrainian strategy of development of the fuel and energy complex.