Academician Valeriy Ivanovich Ulyanishev started his scientific activity in Azerbaijan in 1927, he created and headed the phytopathology laboratory in the Department of Plant Protection of the Transcaucasian People's Commissariat. In 1928-1931, he worked as a teacher at the Azerbaijan Agricultural Institute, and in 1946-1956 at the Azerbaijan State University. Since 1937, he headed the Department of Systematics of Primitive Plants of the Institute of Botany of the Azerbaijan Academy of Sciences.

    He defended his candidacy in 1941 and doctoral theses in 1952, and received the scientific title of professor in the same year. In 1974, he was awarded the title of Honored Scientist of Azerbaijan USSR.

    V.I. Ulyanishev's scientific research is devoted to mycology. In addition to the distribution of mushroom species in Azerbaijan, he paid great attention to their ecology and geographical analysis of mycoflora. For the first time in the Republic, he studied parasitic fungi and developed measures to combat plant diseases.

    V.I. Ulyanishev is the author of the 4-volume book "Mycoflora of Azerbaijan". In 1968-1978, his books "Determiner of antimony fungi of the USSR", "Determiner of rust fungi of the USSR" (with V.F. Kuprevich) were published. He is the editor-in-chief of "Determinant of fungi of Transcaucasia".

    In 1963-1972, V.I.Ulyanishev was the chairman of the Transcaucasian council for the coordination of scientific research works on plant protection, and from 1964, he was a member of the similar All-Union council. In 1964-1974, he worked as the deputy chairman of the Azerbaijan branch of the All-Union Botanical Society.

    Under the leadership of V.I.Ulyanishev, 20 candidates of sciences and 2 doctors of sciences were trained.