Not laboratory work, but real research
In November 2019, the second Conference School on Photonics, Radio Physics and Nanotechnologies took place in Sochi and was organized by the Sirius educational center in collaboration with ITMO University.
At the end of that Conference, its organizers, which are representatives of the Faculty of Physics and Engineering at ITMO, invited five students to take part in an internship directly in the university laboratory.
"We invited students and gave them a specific scientific task, which we are working on ourselves. We introduced them to the environment and to the equipment, so that for six days they could completely engage in finding a solution to a real problem." - says Julia Tolstykh, an engineer at the Faculty of Physics and Engineering at ITMO University.
The interns are working on the creation of protective labels designed to certify the product authenticity. Students spray silicon nanoparticles onto glass, then, examine them with X-rays in order to determine whether they are crystalline or amorphous to capture each component of the particle. Тhis will create a multi-layered defense system.
Students are working in two groups: the first is in charge of spraying the letters and the second is responsible for a program that will be scanning the label and transferring it to an electronic cloud so as to facilitate the work of a potential supplier or company.
"We have invited the students to develop a label with multiple levels of protection. We are familiar with this topic, but the students attend different courses and have different specializations, so it is a unique experience for them to work on a real project in an interdisciplinary environment. On the first day, we organized several lectures, gave them instructions, told them about the materials, equipment and methods on which the scientific work is based. During the whole six days we have been brainstorming, summing up the day, planning the tasks for the next day. This is not just lab work, but a real experiment, whose results even we do not know 100%," explains Dmitry Zuev, Senior Researcher at the Faculty of Physics and Engineering, Candidate of Physical and Mathematical Sciences.
"It's complicated, but captivating."
The internship gathered together students of different universities, specializations and even ages. It was specifically this that allowed to make the experimental work more diversified, where everyone could learn something new and apply it to their scientific interests and future research.
Almaz Gilmullin, a first-year student at Kazan Federal University, shares his impressions: “At the Sirius Conference, I was already involved in the “Smart Labels” project, so it was interesting for me to keep working in this area at ITMO University. On the first day, we had lectures, and to be honest, it wasn't easy, I'm a chemist after all, and we were taught about nanotechnology, optics and physics. So I had to get used to it quickly. But I liked the internship very much, I think that this experience at the very beginning of my studies will have a direct impact on my future specialization and scientific work. It's great that in my first year I was able to attend a real school like this one. One particularly memorable thing was the awesome equipment, the sympathetic mentors and the Faculty of Physics and Engineering in itself. During the first day's excursion, I didn't even realize that it was a Physics faculty, the atmosphere was more like a Design department. It's great that the students have the opportunity to learn complicated things in such a pleasant environment”.
Moreover, the internship participants noted that the project allowed them to learn more about modern science and to think about their future specialization.
“The first day of my internship was pretty difficult because I had just started studying Physics at university, but the mentors helped me to get involved and were encouraging us. Last semester, I wrote a paper on modeling the perfect mirror, which is also related to the field of Optics. So, I was happy to hear some familiar things during my internship. But of course, that project was more theoretical, and here, we are working directly with nanoscales, equipment, we are using microscopes, and spraying particles with lasers. It is cool that we were allowed to touch science with our hands. For many of us, this is our first experience of this kind. I think that the main advantage of this internship is the opportunity to communicate with smart people from different orientations, to work in a team, to find something new and relevant for yourself, to share knowledge with your supervisor and to gain a new professional experience,” explains Anna Efremova, a first-year student at Saint Petersburg State University in "Applied Mathematics and Physics".
For some students, the internship was an opportunity to think about their future: decide on their future study plans or even think about applying for a Master's degree at ITMO University.
“During my internship, I was very curious to see the ITMO labs, to talk with postgraduate students who were working with us, and to learn more about the University equipment. Now is the time when I have to choose my research area, my academic advisor, laboratory, so the internship was very helpful. I even thought about coming back here in a year for a Master’s degree. The thing is that at our university, laser technology is seen more as a measurement tool while at ITMO, it is a central part of the work, so it would be interesting to dive into that direction right here. I really liked the fact that the internship was very focused on materials, I once wanted to apply for materials engineering, so it was interesting to learn something new in this area as well," Julia Gerasimova, a third-year student at the National Research Nuclear University MEPhi, shares her impressions.
Translated by Alexia Vanmalder
