The article is devoted to a comprehensive study of the scientific school of the outstanding Soviet animal scientist Fedor Kuzmich Pochernyaev (1929–1987), which played an important role in the development of pig breeding in the USSR. The relevance of the study is determined by the lack of systematic analysis of the phenomenon of Pochernyaev's school as a mechanism for transferring and developing scientific ideas, which is important for understanding the processes of preserving scientific traditions under conditions of systemic transformations.

The aim of the study is to reconstruct the personal composition of F. K. Pochernyaev's scientific school, to establish the individual contribution of students to the development of pig breeding theory and practice, to determine the trajectories of transformation of the teacher's ideas in the works of different generations of researchers.

The research methodology is based on the integrated application of the prosopographic method (as the main one), historical-genetic, historical-comparative, and scientific genealogy methods. The source base consists of F. K. Pochernyaev's scientific works (monographs, textbooks, methodological recommendations), abstracts of students' candidate dissertations, biobibliographic materials, and state breeding books of pigs.

For the first time, the personal composition of the school was established: under Pochernyaev's scientific supervision in 1971–1987, at least 11 researchers defended their candidate dissertations. The research topics were systematized, four main directions were identified: early maturity and growth (27.3%), selection and genetics (27.3%), physiology and adaptation (27.3%), technology and reproduction (18.1%). The formation of two regional centers of the school was revealed – Poltava-Kharkiv (central) and Persianovsky (peripheral), each of which developed specific research programs.

The most original achievement of the school was the formation of the psychophysiological selection direction, which integrated the physiology of higher nervous activity with breeding practice. It is shown that students significantly expanded and deepened Pochernyaev's three key concepts: the theory of early maturity, the concept of specialized lines, and methods for assessing breeding value. The mechanisms of knowledge transfer (graduate system, scientific supervision, co-authorship) and the practical impact of the school on the industry development were analyzed. The transformation of the school in the post-Soviet period was considered, when the systemic crisis of the industry threatened the existence of the school as a functioning research community. It was established that Pochernyaev's school successfully combined the continuity of classical traditions of Soviet animal science with methodological innovations, fundamental research with applied developments.

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