Background. According to the World Health Organization, 92% of the world's population lives in places where air quality levels exceed recommended limits. Recently, Ukraine had the most deaths per e...

Digital transformation of education and science puts forward new requirements for training of graduate and doctoral students, in particular for development of informational and analytical competence. It is described in international documents governing scientific field. Analysis of digital systems and consideration of their services allows us to say that their existing list and functionality can be used to develop informational and research competence of postgraduate and doctoral students. It is confirmed that important role in development of informational and research competencies of postgraduate and doctoral students is given to digital technologies, in particular, to digital open systems. Their use contributes to improving and expanding opportunities in research, presentation of research results and image of the researcher and institution. Digital society requirements to informational and research competence of postgraduate and doctoral students are defined and described. They include: readiness and ability to carry out research activities; ability to search and select necessary information and data, their transformation, storage and transmission using digital technologies; ability to critically evaluate found information (check their accuracy, timeliness, expediency); ability to perform scientific research (organization, planning, conducting) with use of digital technologies. Course of experimental work is presented; the obtained results are given and their interpretation is carried out. Fisher's angular transformation was applied in order to confirm reliability of obtained results of experimental study. Experimental verification of the proposed methodological system of using digital systems in postgraduate and doctoral students training, aimed at the development of information and research competence confirmed its effectiveness and pedagogical feasibility.

After analysis of scientific literature, we defined that concept of “augmented reality” has following synonyms: “advanced reality”, “improved reality”, “enriched reality”, “mixed reality” and “hybrid reality”. Analysis of scientific literature and own practical experience of the use of augmented reality technologies application in educational practices allowed to state next: augmented reality technologies have a great potential for application in education; there are some cases of augmented reality use for school education; positive aspects of augmented reality technologies application in higher education institutions are confirmed by experiments (isolated cases); only few universities in Ukraine apply augmented reality technologies to educate students; only few universities in Ukraine have special subjects or modules in schedule to teach students to develop augmented reality technologies; various scientific events, mass events, competitions are held in Ukraine, and specialized training on the augmentation of augmented reality technologies is carried out, but this is non-systematic and does not have special state orientation and support. Features of introduction of virtual and augmented reality technologies at Sumy State University (Ukraine) are identified: “e-learning ecosystems” was created; in 2019, augmented and virtual reality research laboratory was established. Advantages and disadvantages of project activity in education are described: project activity is one of the most important components of educational process; it promotes creative self-development and self-realization of project implementers and forms various life competencies. It is determined that augmented reality application for implementation of educational projects will help: to increase students’ interest for educational material; formation of new competences; increase of students’ motivation for independent educational and cognitive activity; activation of educational activities; formation of positive motivation for personal and professional growth; conditions creation for development of personal qualities (creativity, teamwork, etc.). Current trends in implementation of educational projects were identified: most of the winner projects were implemented using augmented reality technology; augmented reality technologies were used in projects to teach different disciplines in higher education institutions. Augmented reality technology application for project activity has positive impact on learning outcomes and competitiveness of the national workforce; it will enhance the country’s position in the global economic space.

The authors carried out a thorough study of the features of the spread of hazardous chemicals in the surface layer of the atmosphere in the event of an emergency at the site of a nuclear power plant. In order to ensure the continuous operation of the stations in their territories, various ancillary technogenic facilities are located and operate, which release emissions of non-radiation pollutants into the atmosphere. Under various negative circumstances of a technical and natural nature, emergencies may occur due to significant chemical pollution of the atmospheric air in and outside the sanitary protection zone. The prevention of such emergencies is based on environmental monitoring in the locations of man-made objects and their preventive forecast. Implementation of these measures is not possible without the use of effective methods based on mathematical models of environmental pollution by anthropogenic objects, and the hardware and software that implement these methods. The main stages of the development of information and technical methods of prevention of such emergencies are given and described. Different scenarios of emergencies are described as a result of the release of chemicals into the atmosphere at these sites. A conceptual scheme for the distribution of impurities in the atmosphere due to man-made emissions has been developed. The peculiarities of atmospheric air propagation under stationary and non-stationary emission conditions are described in detail. It is established that the most determinants of influence on the concentration distribution of impurities are: mode and conditions of emission, type of source, direction, and velocity of the wind, state of the atmosphere, chemical interaction with other substances in the atmospheric air, gravitational deposition, leaching of sediments, absorption of the underlying surface. surface, terrain. The results obtained will be used in the process of developing mathematical models for the propagation of pollutants in the atmospheric air from the emissions of nuclear power plants during relevant emergencies.

Ash and slag disposal areas of Ukrainian thermal power plants accumulate large amounts of waste annually. The aim of the present study was to analyze the composition of ash and slag wastes generated during combustion of coal at Ukrainian thermal power plants and the potential affects of disposal areas on the environment. A literature search was conducted using the Google search engine to access online academic publications indexed in Google Scholar, PubMed, Scopus, Clarivate Analytics (Web of Science), ScienceDirect, ResearchGate and Springer Link from 2011 in English and Ukrainian. After analyzing the 25 academic articles included in the present review, the results indicated that hazardous constituents (oxides of silicon, aluminium, iron, calcium and magnesium) of ash can migrate from the ash dump surface by air and water to contaminate the atmosphere, soil, groundwater and surface water in areas located within a few kilometers from the waste site. By-products of the fuel and energy complex of Ukraine are potentially dangerous sources of environmental pollution. They create risks to the health of the population living in the surrounding territories. Further studies should focus on the features of pollutant transfer from ash dumps, and development of appropriate mathematical models of the pollutant migration to assess pollution levels in soil, groundwater and air. The authors declare no competing financial interests.

It is necessary to follow signed documents on development of renewable energy, modernization of fuel and energy sector enterprises and waste management in order to fulfil Ukraine’s commitments to the global community on climate change prevention. Therefore, it is an urgent task to develop software that allows to solve problems of visual analysis of environmental status dynamics of territorial systems and to determine boundaries of individual territories stability. The authors propose new forms of monitoring data presentation of technogenic loadings and risks which reflect dynamics of environmental situation in the space of informative features. It is important to improve skills of professionals, particularly, stuff of the ministries, enterprises and organizations responsible for decision-making to reduce negative impact on environment and to train future professionals in this area. Curriculums of higher education institutions do not pay much attention on usage of software to support managerial decision-making to reduce negative impact on the environment. It is proposed to improve qualification of such specialists, responsible for management in the following areas: conducting training seminars at the ministries, institutions and departments interested in the implementation of developed systems; scientific and methodological support and advisory assistance in the process of implementation of the software; development and improvement of educational and methodological support for postgraduate students and trainees of advanced training, specialists responsible for decision making in energy, environmental and related fields.