The initiative and efforts of the Institute staff made it possible to include a new specialty No. 14.00.53 “Gerontology and Geriatrics” (Medical and Biological Sciences) into the “List of Specialties” of the Highest Attestation Committee of the Ministry of Education and Science of the Russian Federation.
In June 2001 under the Decree of the Highest Attestation Committee the Dissertation Council D 601.001.01 was established on the basis of the Institute for the purpose of upholding doctorate and Ph.D. theses in this specialty. The Council currently consists of 19 members.

Over than 100 doctorate and Ph.D. theses were upheld at the Institute in 2001-2006. Five doctorate theses out of 14 were defended by the researchers of the Institute.

In October 2001 for the first time ever in Russia the Institute got a License of the Ministry of Education, authorizing professional educational activities in the field of “Gerontology and Geriatrics”. In December 2005 a similar License was awarded by the Federal Service for Supervision in Education and Science. Under these licenses, a system of post-graduate studies and advanced professional training in the field of gerontology and geriatrics functions on the basis of the Institute