The scientific director of the SFU department, professor at the International Research Institute of Intellectual Materials, Alexander Soldatov, spoke about why his family chose the path of science for themselves.
Alexander Vladimirovich Soldatov Alexander Vladimirovich Soldatov
In Russia and abroad, Professor Alexander Soldatovis known as an expert in the field of X-ray absorption spectroscopy, and his scientific group occupies a leading global position in this field. He worked in leading universities and laboratories in Italy, Holland, Belgium, Germany, Canada, and within the walls of the Southern Federal University he trained a whole generation of young specialists (among his students are 4 doctors of science and more than 20 candidates of science). During his scientific career, he published more than 460 scientific papers in authoritative international publications and became one of the highly cited scientists in Russia.
Alexander Vladimirovich Soldatov Alexander Vladimirovich Soldatov
Today Alexander Soldatov is the scientific director of the SFU department and his main brainchild – the International Research Institute of Smart Materials.
The offices and laboratories of the Institute are located on the second floor of the building of the Specialized Educational and Scientific Center of the Southern Federal District and in the building of the Faculty of Physics of the Southern Federal University. Here scientists conduct advanced research at a high international level in the field of computer nanodesign, synthesis and nanodiagnostics of promising functional materials for nano-bio-medical technologies. The average age of the institute’s employees is 27 years. Alexander Soldatov works at the MII IM together with his sons Sergei and Mikhail .
Sergei, Alexander and Mikhail Soldatov Sergei, Alexander and Mikhail Soldatov
Alexander Vladimirovich was born on March 21, 1955 in the city of Novorossiysk into a family of railway transport engineers. Parents are graduates of RIIZhT (currently RGUPS ), after graduation they worked at the Novorossiysk Car Repair Plant. Father, Vladimir Aleksandrovich (born 1931), worked his way up from a foreman to the head of NVRZ at this plant. From 1980 to 1987, he was chairman of the city executive committee – today this position is equivalent to the status of mayor.
Little Sasha became interested in science not under the influence of his parents. The boy’s interest in physics was awakened by his childish curiosity. Alexander Vladimirovich now recalls:
“As a child, I wondered why the sun was yellow-red and the sky blue. Then, at school, I realized that physics provides the answers to these questions. I studied at an English special school in Novorossiysk. When I was in eighth grade, a new director, a physics teacher, came to us. It was he who infected me with interest in this science! He had unique teaching methods, we solved a huge number of problems and at each lesson we repeated the material from the last five lessons. Thanks to this approach, without doing Olympiad problems at all, I took first place at the city Olympiad in physics. And the next year, first place was no longer only in physics, but also in mathematics and 4th place in chemistry. From this, one might say, it all began!”
Sasha showed abilities in mathematics, chemistry, biology, and other sciences (it is not for nothing that multidisciplinarity subsequently became an important pillar of the Institute’s ideology). After graduating from school, he firmly decided that he would connect his life with science. In 1972 he entered the physics department of Rostov State University (now SFU).
“I chose the direction of X-ray spectroscopy, although my parents, especially my mother, objected: they say it is dangerous, and radiologists retire early. But, fortunately, at that time many outstanding scientists and science organizers worked at the Department of Solid State Physics of the Russian State University. The example of these worthy people probably convinced my parents that my path was correct,” recalls Alexander Vladimirovich.
At that time, the department was headed by Mikhail Arnoldovich Blokhin (1905-1995), one of the leading and world-renowned experts in the field of X-ray spectroscopy and solid state physics, the founder of the scientific school of X-ray spectroscopy in Russia. And here an interesting scientific continuity can be traced: Blokhin was an outstanding student of academician, “father of Soviet physics” Abram Ioffe(1880-1960). The latter was one of the best graduate students of Wilhelm Roentgen himself (1845-1923), the first ever winner of the Nobel Prize in Physics, which he was awarded for the discovery of radiation of the same name.
Mikhail Arnoldovich Blokhin Mikhail Arnoldovich Blokhin
“I was very lucky with my supervisor, and I became one of Professor Blokhin’s last graduate students. He knew literally everything in the field of x-rays. A number of his monographs are still reference books for specialists in the field of X-ray spectroscopy. He was an intelligent man with a wide range of interests. I remember he had a large collection of classical music records. I replenished his collection with rare records and discs that I brought from foreign business trips. The students loved the professor – he always addressed them with emphatic politeness, always using “you,” shared Alexander Vladimirovich.
In 1982, Alexander Vladimirovich successfully defended his Ph.D. thesis. An era of crisis began, but the young scientist was lucky – after his defense, he was sent for an internship (now called a postdoc) in Italy, at the University of Rome. The experience he gained there turned out to be invaluable.
“There I became acquainted with the modern system of science of an international level, so after returning to Rostov I no longer had problems with receiving grants and publications, and most importantly, I gained an understanding of how real science is organized. And I had a dream – to gather people who want to do science here in Russia, and together with them to create a new modern structure. I wanted to ensure that scientists here were not only comfortable, but also much better than abroad. By the way, there have never been problems with “brain drain” at our Institute. Each of our graduate students has a separate office, equipped with everything necessary. We have created the most comfortable working conditions – a kitchen, rest rooms, a gym and even a shower,” says Alexander Vladimirovich.
In the 1990s, Alexander Vladimirovich headed the department of solid state physics. It all started with a small laboratory. Then, in 2005, a group of several scientists and students from the department founded the scientific and educational center “Nanoscale Structure of Matter” to solve problems in the field of materials science.
Alexander Vladimirovich Soldatov celebrates his 67th birthday Alexander Vladimirovich Soldatov celebrates his 67th birthday
The main focus of the REC was computer modeling of atomic and electronic structure and analysis of XANES spectra. In 2012, the department headed by Soldatov was transformed into the Department of Physics of Nanosystems and Spectroscopy. An important milestone was the receipt of the first mega-grant in the south of Russia in 2014. Its task is to create a mega laboratory of international level, uniting specialists in the field of synthesis, diagnostics and computer modeling of materials. The International Research Center “Smart Materials” was created, which in 2018 received the status of an institute.
Interest in science was inherited by the sons of Alexander Vladimirovich.
The eldest son, Sergei Aleksandrovich (born in 1985), received two higher educations at Southern Federal University – in 2007 he graduated from the Faculty of Mechanics and Mathematics, and in 2009 –Institute of Economics and Foreign Economic Relations. He worked in the banking industry in senior positions for several years.
Sergei Alexandrovich Soldatov Sergei Alexandrovich Soldatov
His father’s example inspired him to pursue science: in 2019 he decided to return to his alma mater – at the MII MI SFU he became the head of the Center for Common Use “Nanoscale Structure of Matter” and an engineer at the Laboratory of Artificial Intelligence Technologies and Big Data for Nanodiagnostics of Materials. Basic education and accumulated managerial experience came in handy here.
Together with his colleagues at the Institute, Sergei leads projects supported by the Fund for Assistance to the Development of Small Innovative Enterprises in the Scientific and Technical Field.
In 2019-2021, together with the Oncology Institute (now the National Medical Research Center for Oncology), a group of scientists under his leadership developed software for diagnosing cancer “AI Pathologist”. The idea was to train a neural network capable of detecting the presence of colon tumors, and, if present, segmenting and classifying cancer cells.
Now scientists are also developing a software and hardware complex “Self-controlled laboratory for the creation of new materials” using microfluidics and artificial intelligence technologies, which can significantly speed up the process of creating new materials based on micro- and nanoparticles in the liquid phase, emulsions, suspensions, as well as complex chemical compounds with required characteristics.
Youngest son, Mikhail Alexandrovich(born in 1986),After graduating from the Faculty of Physics, he remained to work at the university.
“I wouldn’t say that at some point I decided to connect my life with science. I just did what was interesting,” admits Mikhail.
Mikhail Alexandrovich Soldatov Mikhail Alexandrovich Soldatov
Working at SFU since 2007, Mikhail has worked his way up from a laboratory assistant, engineer, junior researcher, department assistant and senior lecturer at the Department of Physics of Nanosystems and Spectroscopy of the Faculty of Physics, leading researcher at the International Research Center “Smart Materials” to the director of the MITS “Smart Materials”. In 2012, he graduated from graduate school and successfully defended his Ph.D. thesis.
Mikhail achieved significant success not only in scientific but also in teaching. Developed and conducts lecture and practical courses, including in English, for foreign undergraduates. In 2020, under his leadership, a foreign master’s student defended his dissertation with “excellent marks.” Mikhail was awarded in the category “Best Young Teacher” by the Education and Science of the Southern Federal District endowment fund.
Mikhail Alexandrovich Soldatov Mikhail Alexandrovich Soldatov
As a scientist, he carries out work on major Russian and international projects. In particular, he participated in the project under a grant from the Russian government “From nanodesign to nanodiagnostics: creation of a full-cycle laboratory.” He managed grant projects from the Russian Foundation for Basic Research, the Bortnik Foundation and an internal grant from the Southern Federal University.
“People, especially those who are far from science, say that scientists allegedly invented nanotechnology in order to “extort money from the state.” But this is fundamentally wrong. Nanotechnology – alchemy of the 21st century. We develop nanoparticles for medical use, industry, and participate in environmental projects. Scientists at our institute occupy leading positions in the world in the application of XANES spectroscopy for diagnostics of materials. We see our mission as developing world-class methods for diagnosing the local atomic and electronic structures of materials down to the picometer and femtosecond boundaries,” summed up Alexander Vladimirovich.