Translation. Region: Russian Federation –
Source: Novosibirsk State University –
An important disclaimer is at the bottom of this article.
At the end of the spring semester, announcements were made Results of the second competitive selection for the Russian Presidential Scholarship for postgraduate and adjunct studentsAmong the 500 winners of the all-Russian competition across all fields of science, five were representatives of the Department of Chemical and Biological Physics of the NSU Physics Faculty. This high recognition of the scientific achievements and potential of young scientists is a clear confirmation of the successful work of the department, which is closely linked to the leading research institutes of Akademgorodok. We met with Vitaly Georgievich Kiselev, Head of the Department of Chemical and Biological Physics, to learn how the scientific work of undergraduate and graduate students is organized and what helps them achieve such significant results.
— Vitaly Georgievich, please tell us how students' research activities are conducted in the department. How does the interaction between students and their supervisors work during the dissertation preparation process?
We organize students' research work as soon as they join us and are assigned supervisors, starting in their third year of the Physics Department. Generally speaking, without a good supervisor, no matter how talented a student is, it's impossible to produce high-quality research. You can research a lot, but it doesn't always produce relevant scientific results. Sometimes, a top-performing student may be actively researching at first glance, but the task they've been assigned is no longer of interest to the scientific community. Conversely, an initially less bright student, under the guidance of an experienced professor, may even achieve meaningful results by the time they defend their bachelor's thesis, have good publications, and be the recipient of various scholarships and competitions.
Incidentally, the professionalism of a qualified supervisor lies primarily in formulating a promising research problem for a good graduate student. And, of course, it's important that they have a personal chemistry. We never impose a research topic or supervisor on our department's undergraduate and graduate students, but we do offer advice, monitor their progress, and assist when needed.
— Tell us about the research areas of your department.
Modern physics is a very broad science, ranging from elementary particle physics to medical applications (incidentally, all of this is studied at the graduate departments of the NSU Physics Department). Our field, chemical physics, studies the processes and phenomena that occur in matter at the scale of individual molecules. Its applications can be very diverse. At the molecular level, for example, combustion processes can be studied in detail. Our fellowship-holding graduate students, Yegor Sosnin and Andrey Cherepanov, are pursuing this research at the Institute of Chemical Kinetics and Combustion of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences. Alexandra Borodulina and Arkady Samsonenko, meanwhile, are studying the properties of new molecular magnetic materials and magnetic phenomena that could be useful, for example, for information storage. Olga Bakulina is researching the microscopic structure of ionic liquids—salts melted at room temperature. All of them work at the International Tomography Center of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences.
We've discussed chemical applications, but the department's name also includes biology, and we have many such research areas. For example, Professor Sergei Andreevich Dzyuba's group (previous head of the Department of Chemical and Biological Physics at the NSU Faculty of Physics – Editor's note) has conducted many studies on the interaction of antibiotics with bacterial cell membranes. Olesya Anatolyevna Krumkacheva, a lecturer in our department and, incidentally, the Deputy Dean for Graduate Studies at the Faculty of Physics, also studies the structure of biomolecules using magnetic resonance spectroscopy. All of this is important for understanding specific biochemical processes in our bodies.
Furthermore, quantitative supercomputer modeling effectively complements experiments in modern science. In chemical physics, quantum chemical calculations are an important part of this, and we work directly on this with Nina Pavlovna Gritsan, the most highly cited professor in our department. The essence of these calculations is to describe the structure of matter at the molecular level using the laws of quantum mechanics. Modeling allows us to answer many questions, such as why some molecules are stable and others are not, how chemical reactions occur, why materials exhibit specific properties, and so on. This also requires significant resources; the costs are often comparable to those of an experiment, requiring significant computing power. The university is very helpful in this regard. For example, Vladislav Anatolyevich Kalyuzhny, head of the NSU Information and Computing Center, has literally never turned down a single specific technical request during our 15 years of collaboration.
— Is there a common trait or quality that unites successful graduate students in your department?
"For a modern researcher, in my opinion, three sets of qualities are particularly important. First, a good education—you need to be literate, confident in the basic methods and concepts, and familiar with the current state of your scientific field. Second, internal discipline and independence—that is, a graduate student must be prepared to work without additional prodding or detailed supervision; this must come from within. Third—and perhaps most crucially—is curiosity and scientific creativity, openness, and an interest in exploring new ideas. At a certain point in scientific work, the definition of the problem becomes the most important. Without personal creativity, a researcher will not be able to achieve significant success."
— What is most important for the successful scientific work of postgraduate students in your field of study?
All scientific directors are closely connected to their laboratories. The specific nature of the natural sciences (physics, chemistry, biology) is that they, of course, rely on instruments. Scholasticism was practiced in the Middle Ages, and today, to study natural phenomena at their full extent, instruments are needed. A natural science institute cannot exist without them.
What educational and scientific resources does the department provide to postgraduate students to support them in competitions and grants? Are there plans to expand collaboration with research organizations to provide postgraduate students with more research opportunities?
— In all of the university's natural sciences departments—the Physics Department, the Faculty of Natural Sciences—collaboration with institutes plays a vital role. We are as closely intertwined as possible. Almost all of our department's faculty members are employees of academic institutes, primarily the Institute of Chemical Kinetics and Combustion of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences and the International Tomography Center. The main facilities and instruments are located there. The university and institutes cannot exist without each other; we mutually reinforce each other. These are not casual compliments; this is how science and education work. University faculty and graduate supervisors are actively working scientists. In turn, the institutes receive undergraduate and graduate students who directly advance science. It is crucial that this collaboration is always constructive; it is the key to success.
— What advice would you give to young scientists starting their postgraduate career?
— Be as inquisitive as possible and open to everything new. Don't be shy about learning, and don't despair if something doesn't work out—it's absolutely normal, everyone has been there, including me.
________________________________________Thank you, Vitaly Georgievich, for your detailed answers! We congratulate your graduate students on their well-deserved scholarships from the President of the Russian Federation and wish them new scientific achievements!
Material prepared by: Ekaterina Mukovozchik, NSU press service
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