On 23 August 2005, Director of the State Hermitage Mikhail Piotrovsky was awarded an honorary doctorate degree and a souvenir medal by the Shagabutdin Mardzhani Institute of History (Tatarstan). The award was given for development of oriental studies in the Russian Federation and for a major contribution to the coordination of international collaboration in the field of Islamic culture, history and art. The awards were presented to Mikhail Piotrovsky at the opening of the Hermitage-Kazan Center.