Sergei Venig, Director of the Institute of Physics of the SSU, Doctor of Physical and Mathematical Sciences, is sure of this. "The best discipline for the education of the best qualities" – this objective reality, in his opinion, he has been instilling in his students for many years.
Everyone entering his office is interested in the origin of the massive antique desk. It is not known for certain which of the historical figures sat behind him, but he stands in the office where the first physicist, rector of Saratov University Vladimir Dmitrievich Zernov, worked, a memorial plaque with his name hangs at the entrance to the legendary III building of the SSU. But today we are talking about modern breakthrough ideas, embodied in the inventions and developments of Saratov physicists.
– When choosing the topic of the strategic project "ICT electronics" for the federal program "Priority 2030", the University relied on 60 years of experience in the development of the electronic industry in the Saratov region. First of all, with the participation of SSU scientists. What is the peculiarity of the project and what are the first results?
– It would not be an exaggeration to say that the Institute of Physics participates in at least four of the five strategic projects. They are aimed not only at electronics, but also at chemistry and new materials, medicine. Most of the areas dealing with medical topics today have left the physical laboratory. When healthcare began to rely on high-tech equipment, the use of physical methods in diagnosis and treatment turned out to be in great demand. Sometimes elementary solutions from the point of view of physics have revolutionary significance for medicine. At one time, for example, Dmitry Alexandrovich Usanov developed a device for the treatment of eye nystagmus.
And many more such solutions have found application in medicine. A group of physicists led by Anatoly Sergeevich Karavaev, who studied complex nonlinear dynamic processes, successfully applied their methodology to analyze complex biological processes. They work together with cardiologists, neuropathologists, and create sensors that receive all kinds of signals of human brain activity. These sensors make it possible to study the interaction of systems using the developed innovative nonlinear signal analysis methods. I have already lost count of how many software packages they have made that are used by doctors to diagnose cardiovascular diseases.
A new direction in the use of optical technologies for medical purposes was opened by Valery Viktorovich Tuchin. Then it resulted in biophotonics and other modern trends.
The main objectives of the strategic projects were formulated on the basis of the foundation that was laid at the university thanks to the first large state grants for the development of education in the late noughties.
When choosing a strategic project, physicists were guided by the fact that information and communication technologies (ICT) in communication systems are increasingly entering into all spheres of our lives. These are telephony, all types of communication, and probing. We have achieved notable results in the development of this area. This allowed us to organize cooperation with Moscow State University, to create a joint network master's degree in quantum technologies (the main direction is quantum computing, quantum communication technologies). Some of our masters' classes are held at the Moscow State University. As a result, they will receive a master's degree diploma from SSU and a certificate from Moscow State University for professional retraining in the field of "Specialist in the field of quantum technologies".
And as for electronics, here too we are experiencing increased interest in this area. Saratov enterprises of the electronic industry, which used to survive, today have a huge number of orders, and the same need for highly qualified personnel: almost every one has up to 80 people per year. Our graduates have interesting and promising places to start professionally.
SSU participates in the joint program of the Ministry of Industry and Trade and the Ministry of Education and Science of Russia for training personnel for the electronic industry. The University has received additional funding, and we have created a Center for the design and modeling of electronics products. We develop trajectories of closer ties with employers, and shape our curricula to suit their interests. They have more practice, new courses, and modern areas of scientific work. Everyone is interested in training specialists with a set of necessary competencies that allow them to get involved in work faster.
There are already image results of participation in this program – we have all witnessed how the 8th corps has been transformed. The rector's office spent not only huge amounts of money on this, but also used a lot of organizational resources. Once upon a time, a heavy blow for physicists was the fact that during the construction of the 11th building, workshops for conducting physical experiments were demolished. Now, thanks to the project, we are starting to revive workshops, as the rector said in his report, is the creation of fab labs, territories where there will be a modern machine park that will allow experimenters to work at a higher level. We are working closely with the Research Institute of Mechanics and Physics, with the Scientific Medical Center of SSU, to form a space where the practical application of scientific research will be carried out in the form of creating devices, individual elements and finished products.
– For a new educational and research breakthrough, the efforts, experience and technical capabilities of three university faculties were combined. This is how the SSU Institute of Physics was established. How justified was this decision?
– Every time makes its own demands. In the early 1990s, there was a rapid development of a new scientific direction related to nonlinear dynamics and synergetics. The creation of the Faculty of Nonlinear Processes, tailored to these areas, was a response to the challenges of the time. This was a new idea, vigorously promoted by Dmitry Ivanovich Trubetskoy. The Federal Ministry supported the creation of a new structure as an experimental site.
In the new century, nanotechnology appeared on the forefront, and then the Faculty of nano- and Biomedical Technologies was established with the task of focusing the efforts of our researchers in this direction. It was a joint initiative of the Ministry of Industry of the Saratov Region and the Academy of Sciences of the Russian Federation. At the same time, the first educational directions in the field of nanotechnology appeared, and Saratov University successfully entered into this experiment.
Today we have come to the conclusion that these faculties have fulfilled their task. In addition, the situation associated with insufficient attention to physics at school and, as a result, with the quality of applicants, led to certain problems of the admission campaign. In order not to stand still, it was necessary to join forces. Yes, it was not an easy decision – after all, 25 years for one faculty, 15 years for another, but the awareness of the need for further development in new conditions led everyone to agree. Practice has shown that the decision was correct, especially since the unification took place under the slogan: "We are reviving the great physics faculty again!".
– Today, the staff of the Institute of Physics is involved in all major scientific developments. An interdisciplinary research approach to the problem has become commonplace. For example, a "newborn hat" developed by biologists with birth brain injuries is currently at the commercialization stage. We know that physicists have been developing portable gadgets. And what other examples of joint research can you give?
– Yes, our graduate student Vasily Avdeev had a hand in this hat. Biologists of the Smart Sleep laboratory develop an ideology and mechanisms of influence, but physicists carry out the practical implementation of ideas.
If we recall the end of the noughties, then this is the beginning of large megagrants. Laboratories are being created under the guidance of leading scientists. The first megagrant on metamaterials, which our university won in 2012, was implemented under the leadership of Sergey Apollonovich Nikitov. The team was formed on the basis of which the university won the second mega-grant in theranostics. It was led by the Russian and English scientist Gleb Borisovich Sukhorukov. Thanks to these projects, seven international conferences were held in different countries. Up to 40 people, mostly young graduate students and undergraduates, went on business trips. The symbiosis with Valery Viktorovich Tuchin's group continued, and as a result, the next direction was born – a new grant in photoacoustics, where the same physicists again took part with the involvement of doctors and biologists. Then this interdisciplinary approach allowed Oksana Valeryevna Semyachkina-Glushkovskaya to win the fourth grant.
Physicists took an active part in all significant grants: from the point of view of information technology, the development of software calculation of signals, data processing, and the creation of sensors. In all laboratories of the Scientific Medical Center of SSU, most of the staff are graduates of the Faculty of Physics.
– When we were preparing a review of publications for 2023 on the discoveries, developments and research of SSU scientists, most of them were associated with the Institute of Physics. Tell us about the main achievements, in your opinion, which can be considered a breakthrough in the development of the physical science school?
– Saratov University is a leader in our country in many areas, in particular in magnetoelectronics, which is represented by Sergey Apollonovich Nikitov, Alexander Vladimirovich Sadovnikov. A simple example: a young scientist Alexander Sadovnikov is invited to lecture at ITMO University (formerly the St. Petersburg Institute of Precision Mechanics and Optics), and thanks to these connections, we will now form a training area - two groups of students from them and from us, we will exchange courses. This success, of course, is due to the unique equipment that was purchased as part of our large grant projects, which allowed us to make a significant breakthrough.
The works of Valery Viktorovich Tuchin and his colleagues related to biophotonics are known all over the world. Olga Evgenievna Glukhova's direction related to the modeling of carbon nanostructures is widely known. There are unique software packages that allow you to perform quantum mechanical calculations. These works are recognized both in Russia and abroad.
Physicists have long had a practice: most of our scientific schools are headed by professors who selflessly share their ideas and achievements with novice scientists. They have a very good launch pad. Currently, the advantage in the distribution of grants is given to novice researchers, the emphasis is on young teams.
Of the more than 60 grants from the Russian Science Foundation currently being implemented at SSU, about half (32 projects) are led by physicists. Of course, this is also connected with the system of scientific journals and conferences, with the grant system, with their assessments and submission. It's just that in the field of physics and chemistry, the most developed network of journals that meet these criteria. Well, for example, physicists, in order to meet the requirements of scientific foundations, can be published in 50 journals, whereas philologists, historians, lawyers, geographers have much less choice. That is, it is easier for physicists and chemists to get iconic regalia that allow them to win grants. Therefore, physicists at one time became the flagship of the recognition of our Saratov University in the world.
– "Incredible assistant" – this definition has already been given to the new analytical device DRON-8T by university scientists. Physicists were among the first to take advantage of the capabilities of the new diffractometer. And what are the results?
– This corresponds to the paradigm of the modern nanotechnology trend, when the main fundamental aspects have gone into the field of the microcosm. In order to work at this level, appropriate equipment is needed. We have electron microscopy, spectroscopy, but at the university there has always been a problem with structural measurements, with the possibilities of X-ray studies. The purchase of the drone-8T met the aspirations of a large group of scientists – both physicists and chemists working in the field of nanotechnology. These measurements are necessary for serious analysis. So far, the equipment is just being launched, but I hope that, like the scanning electron microscope, which has been working for almost 15 years, the folk path will not overgrow.
– It is generally believed that in the old dispute between physicists and lyricists, IT specialists won. How much are the training directions of the Institute of Physics in demand among applicants today? You are the chairman of the jury of the city and regional school Olympiads. Can you trace how students' interest in physics is changing?
– We don't sound as loud as the Faculty of Computer Science and Information Technology, but for physicists, information technology has been among the simplest tools all their lives. If you ask what kind of tools a physicist has, they will answer you – a soldering iron, a hammer, a mobile phone and, of course, a computer. And if we take an impartial look at the history of information technology development at the university, then in our specialized centers, physicists have always occupied half of the machine time at the mehmat, solving their research tasks. When personal computers first began to appear, they were already in the physics department. Already in the 1970s, students used them in their classes. Programming languages, analysis, calculations, and program creation have always been the case. Modern physics is impossible without all this.
It is no coincidence that this year we held an Open Day at the Faculty of Information Technology, because almost all areas are connected with them. Moreover, there is a certain aspect that is an advantage of the Institute of Physics. The education received here has an engineering component – engineering programming takes into account the capabilities of real systems. In addition to knowledge of programming languages, it is necessary to have a mandatory knowledge of hardware. Programs are written taking into account the real capabilities of devices and systems. Everything needs a special approach. And these are just the applied programming basics that are now needed in most enterprises. Information technology permeates everything – without a computer, without programming languages, the development of physics is impossible.
Therefore, many schoolchildren who thought that physicists only do what they sit in these "black holes" have changed their minds.
Look at how many advantages we have! On the one hand, this is an opportunity to engage in scientific work at a global level, because we have areas that are already recognized worldwide, and in many ways we are among the leading scientific organizations. On the other hand, this is an exit to production, since the university has established links with all enterprises. We have been especially actively cooperating with them for the last two years. Today, our students are happy to take on an internship, and then they ask the guys to write their diplomas with further employment.
The basic paradigm in our dynamic time is simple: to get a good job, you need a good education that will allow you to adapt to any related field of activity. If you have a natural-scientific mindset, you need basic knowledge, the ability to analyze the situation, draw conclusions, learn and develop. And from this point of view, physics is the best discipline for the education of such qualities. This is an objective reality. If we take statistics for many years, we will see that graduates of the physics department can work anywhere. This is an indicator of a "specific education" that develops thinking, the ability to make extraordinary decisions and achieve success in a variety of fields.
But it must be admitted: the last few years, the results of school Olympiads in physics are not encouraging. There are a lot of discussions about the Unified State Exam, but it's just a form of exam that has proven itself in many countries around the world. The problem is that the school system has taken the path of least resistance. If the main indicator for a school is the result of the Unified State Exam, then why teach everything when you can limit yourself to the fact that these indicators will not spoil.
As a result, sometimes children are even discouraged from taking the Unified State Exam in physics. And there are few physics teachers. And where will they come from if there are no applicants? It's hard to break out of a vicious circle. Until we saturate the school with physics teachers, talented students will not appear. We at the Institute of Physics are determined to significantly strengthen the pedagogical direction. Let's hope that a change in the educational paradigm will help us.
– Sergey Borisovich, your personal research interests are related to materials science and nanotechnology. What are you working on now? How do you combine scientific work with the management of such a solid university structure?
– At one time, I had to take up such a new related field as quality management and pedagogy. It was hard to enter this area with your "physical gaze". But my graduate student successfully defended herself, whose work initially fell out of the traditional pedagogical framework. She considered aspects related to education, using methods of quality tools to evaluate education. For example, one of the amazing results of this work: She used a device that psychologists have and tracks eye movement, and analyzed educational texts. It turned out that if there is an educational text on the screen, if there is a picture there and it attracts attention to the page, then when studying the page, the questions and answers in the picture are not readable. When you ask a question, the answer is found in the text, but not in the picture. This is such a valuable practical remark that needs to be taken into account when creating all kinds of tests – if the answer is in the picture, then it may not be found.
My research interests include technological processes for obtaining new materials for electronics, and a new direction related to materials science, metallology (heat treatment of surfaces to change their hardness). Our experimental samples of cultivator legs and plows were tested by farmers and showed that their service life increases by one and a half to two times. We have created a special installation where an electric arc is formed, the edge of the foot or plow is processed, metal is melting, recrystallization, new structures of these metal matrices are created. In the spring we will start preparing the next experimental samples.
Of course, it is difficult to do all this due to the large amount of administrative work. But if we recall the experience of the Faculty of Nano- and Biomedical Technologies, of which I was dean for 15 years, then the first two years were also 2-3 publications. Then their number began to grow, because the system was organized and adjusted, and there were more opportunities to engage in scientific work. And today I hope so!
Tamara Korneva,
Photographer Victoria Victorova
Translator Lyudmila Yefremova
