Real research as opposed to cramming

Did you know that you can use a laser pointer to have a peek into the nanoscale world and study a CD's structure? Everyone used CD’s, yet few know how they work. Actually, doing that is something any 10th grader can do — one just needs a CD, a laser pointer and to watch the short video explaining what a diffraction grid is.
This is part of a taskfor the School on Your Lap educational platform, which combines educational programs for schoolers and further vocational education projects for teachers. Its goal is to explain science and technology as well as give school students an opportunity to conduct their own experiments and projects (they are to present their results to a special jury via the Internet). The task on studying a CD developed by ITMO University is one of such projects.

"When we were working on the project, we intentionally avoided the "take your pens and calculate" approach, and tried to make it so the children would have the opportunity to do something with their hands, conduct a mini-research. Yes, this research would be simple, something done in one's kitchen, but that'd still be an independent project, shares Mikhail Muhin, head of Metamaterials Laboratory's Nanocenter at ITMO University. I believe that we've succeeded in doing that. According to observations by the School League, a good project is something 30−40 schoolers find interesting. We have two more weeks until the end of the contest, and there are already 97 students who work on projects based on our task".

Roman Polozkov, chief researcher of the Department of Nano-Photonics and Metamaterials, is sure that such a format will show the students that physics is something real, not some book-learned incomprehensible discipline.

"In modern school education, this subject is mostly given as a set of formulas and axioms. Yet, just cramming physics is wrong. This science is great as it’s totally multi-sided: it explains numerous phenomena that may seem different, but have common nature. This is why for an engineer — someone who can "change" nature — physics gives full scope to the imagination."


Can one write with a nano-pen and how can a schooler solve real tasks for business?

As soon as the middle of April, the contest's winners will have the opportunity to visit ITMO's Metamaterials Laboratory Nanocenter — there, they will have the opportunity to really see what a CD's surface looks like, why a butterfly's wing is really gray, and try solving the lotus effect — look into the structure of its petals and find out why they don't absorb water. That becomes possible with the help of NanoTutor, a special scanning probe microscope developed by NT-SPB Company, resident of ITMO's Technopark. NanoTutor is tailored for student education and projects — it allows working on children’s ideas by using special nanotechnologies adjusted specially for them.

ITMO University. NanoTutor

"A scanning probe microscope is an ideal device for education, as the young researchers can use it to see how the abstract units of physics, including quantum physics, chemistry, math and IT work and what results it can bring," explains Alexandr Golubok, professor at the Department of Nano-Photonics and Metamaterials.

Alexandr Golubok and Ivan Muhin demonstrated the device's capabilities during a workshop at the Sirius educational center that took place on March 13. For instance, the scanning probe can also work as a nano-pen: if you take the probe and charge it with electricity, you can use it to write on a fluid film several atoms thick thanks to oxidation. According to Ivan Muhin, they once decided to check how much space it would require to write down the "War and Peace" novel in nanoscale. After all the calculations, it turned out that for all of the four volumes, one would need less than a square millimeter.

One can start studying nanotechnology on real tasks from business. In June, 2017, a new project session starts at the Sirius educational center. This year, ITMO University and the NT-SPB Company have prepared four tasks as part of the Microcosm and Probe Microscopy subject area, all of them passed the selection and will be used for the program.

Sirius educational center. Credit: social networks

The main characteristic of the projects is that they are focused on tasks from real business. For example, the schoolers will have to develop a way to protect a document's authenticity on a nano-level — create something like nano-signatures; also, there will be a task on titanium implants. It is widely known that titanium is used for tooth prostheses, yet it doesn't settle well in organic environments. What kind of nano-coating can be used to solve the problem? The authors noted that such tasks are most relevant for modern business, yet there is still no solution to them.

"Surely, we have some ideas, but we are yet to develop a proper solution. This is why it’s most important to let talented children work on that. Why? Adults know what to expect, and children don't. That is why they sometimes think up solutions that can be even more effective than those offered by whole engineering teams," shares Mikhail Muhin.

According to Roman Polozkov, another benefit from such tasks is integrating science and technology into real business processes.

Apart from working with Sirius, ITMO will also take part in the All-Russian Nanograd Summer School which will supposedly take place in August, 2017. All of the tasks there will also be from business cases, which means that the student's ideas may well be used for real inventions in the future.

Physics and business — how does it work in practice?

Mikhail Muhin stresses that for the last several years, ITMO University has been a great example of how science can integrate into business. At that, both research and commerce in the university do not impede the educational process.

A good example of how science is used for real business is ITMO's recent invention on improving the MRI technology — thanks to the metamaterials developed at one of ITMO's labs, MRI can be done faster, as well as be more effective and safe.

ITMO University. Metamaterials Laboratory​


Where to study physics and how to start your career?

According to Roman Polozkov, chief researcher of the Department of Nano-Photonics and Metamaterials, the times when children saw Physics as something abstract and incomprehensible and universities excluded it from admission tests are long gone. Now, this discipline is a foundational for a whole range of engineering professions, and a good grasp of it can become one's ticket to high-technology business.

This is why we should start training promising students as early as high school, by giving them the opportunity to partake in real projects and conduct research, notes Ivan Muhin. ITMO University is already working on that in collaboration with Rosnano'sSchool League and the Sirius educational center.

The students will get a chance to apply their skills as soon as they start their higher education. For instance, last year ITMO launched a new Faculty that was based on the International Research Center for Nanophotonics and Metamaterials. As of now, it already offers several Master's programs, and starting with next year, a Bachelor's program Nanophotonics and Quantum Optics will be launched. It will combine both fundamental training in theoretical physics and mathematics, as well as advanced training in relevant sections of modern physics.

ITMO University. Ivan Muhin (on the right)

The new Faculty has already started to collaborate with many of St. Petersburg's specialized schools. As of now, ITMO's scientists conduct lectures for highschoolers that envelop the most relevant subjects of modern physics, shares YuliaTolstih, engineer at the Department of Nano-Photonics and Metamaterials. Such lectures are often far more advanced than the school curriculum, and expands the children’s outlook in what has to do with tendencies in modern science. For instance, many of these lectures are on recent inventions by the Faculty's scientists, reports on which have been published in renowned science journals.

"For the university to train great Master's students, one has to work well with its Bachelor's. Yet, to have good Bachelor’s students, one has to promote physics and nanotechnology to school kids. Then, the future applicants will know precisely, where and why they want to study, and good motivation will help them grow into highly-qualified professionals. That is why ITMO is most interested in working with upperclassmen, and puts much effort into involving them in different engineering and scientific projects", explains Ivan Muhin.

In future, the new program's graduates will be sought after by high-technology companies, or can as well work on commercial projects at ITMO University's Technopark or its small innovative enterprises. What's more, they can continue their education on Master's and PhD programs both in Russia and abroad, as well as participate in internships at ITMO's many partner universities in USA, France, Italy, China, Spain, Finland and other countries.