The All-Russian Geological Research Institute of A.P. Karpinsky is the leading institution of the Federal Agency for Mineral Resources (Rosnedra) in regional geological studies.

The main scope of activity is support and implementation of state geological mapping of the Russian Federation and its adjacent water areas, creation of a state network of reference geological and geophysical profiles, parametric and super-deep wells, scientific and technical support of geological exploration, scientific, thematic, experimental and methodological activities.

The All-Russian Geological Research Institute is the successor and follower of the traditions of the first state geological institution in Russia – the Geological Committee, established in St. Petersburg on January 31, 1882 by the decree of Emperor Alexander III for the systematic study of the geology of Russia, as well as the solution of practical problems in assessing the prospects of the country's territory for various types of minerals.

For decades, the leading Russian institution in the field of geology and geological exploration bears the name of Alexander Karpinsky, who headed Geolcom for more than eighteen years and was the first elected president of the Russian Academy of Sciences from 1917 to 1936.

Throughout its history, the Institute successfully solved problems of geoscientific studies, developed and continued scientific traditions based on scientific schools in regional geology and geological mapping, metallogeny, paleontology and stratigraphy.

Such scientists as F.N. Chernyshev, I.V. Mushketov, A.A. Borisyak, K.I. Bogdanovich, V.A. Obruchev, Yu.A. Bilibin, I.I. Gorsky, E.O. Pogrebitsky, N.G. Kassin, D.L. Nalivkin, I.M. Pokrovskaya, L.S. Librovich, Yu.I. Polovinkina and many other world-famous scientists and researchers laid the foundation of the Institute and worked here.

Employees of the All-Russian Geological Research Institute have made a scientifically based forecast and initial descriptions of more than 600 deposits in ore regions and provinces on four continents of the world. Forty-eight experts of the Institute have been awarded the honorary title of "Discoverer of Mineral Deposits". At present, the Institute organizes and carries out state geological mapping of the Russian Federation and its continental shelf at the scale of 1:200,000, 1:1,000,000, 1:2,500,000, 1:5,000,000.

Every year, more than sixty field teams work in various regions of Russia for the passage of routes with sampling, taking heavy concentrates for their subsequent processing in the office, topographic and geodetic, geophysical, hydrogeological and subsequent laboratory and analytical studies.

Geography of actives is extensive. Geological studies are carried out in Chukotka, Kamchatka, Caucasus, Karelia, Crimea, Trans-Baikal, Magadan, Perm, Krasnoyarsk and Taimyr, Khabarovsk, Murmansk, Irkutsk, Tuva, Komi, Kalmykia, Sakha (Yakutia), Lake Baikal, as well as on the shores of the Baltic, Barents and White Seas.

At present the staff of the Institute includes three academicians, two corresponding members of the Russian Academy of Sciences, thirty-one doctors and one hundred and forty candidates of science. There are scientific, methodological and laboratory-analytical departments, highly qualified and experienced specialists in all fields of research at the Institute.

Much attention is paid to attracting young people to scientific and production activities; the Institute's postgraduate school trains qualified researchers in eight specialties.

The All-Russian Geological Research Institute of A.P. Karpinsky actively participates in the international cooperation of Rosnedra with the geological surveys of foreign countries, coordinates several international projects (Atlas of 1:2.5 M Geological Maps of Central Asia and Adjacent Areas, Atlas of 1:5 M Geological Maps of the Circumpolar Arctic and many others).

Together with the Geological Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences and VNIIOkeangeologia, it represents Russia in the Commission for the Geological Map of the World at UNESCO, participates in the work of the National Committee of Geologists of Russia and the UNESCO International Geosciences and Geoparks Program.

The All-Russian Geological Research Institute of A.P. Karpinsky is a permanent member of the Intergovernmental Council on Exploration, Use and Conservation of Mineral Resources of the CIS countries.