How do you become professionals at ITMO University: Olympiad "I am a professional", the track "Photonics"

Today's material completes our cycle of stories about the directions that ITMO supervises at the “ I am a Professional ” Olympiad. We have already written about the tracks " Information and Cybersecurity " and " Computer Science ". Today we will talk about photonics: let us tell you why it is worth participating in the Olympiad and enrolling at ITMO University, using the stories of our graduate students and young scientists as an example.

We will talk about how to build a brilliant scientific career and become a true professional, and why at ITMO University photonics is not only a science, but also an art. And also about why participation in the Olympiad “I am a professional” helps to “kill two birds with one stone”: to get the opportunity to study at a prestigious university and work in one of the best companies in the industry (and that’s not counting the cash prize).

Photo by Mike Seyfang PD
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How come to science: the history of our young scientists

The Olympics “I am a professional” is aimed at helping young people who would like to develop in their chosen field - get a prestigious job and make a career in science. Unfortunately, not always young graduates of undergraduate and graduate programs are considered true professionals - many feel that such specialists need to be retrained at work, and it’s better to start a career with the phrase “Forget about everything that you were taught in high school”.

The University of ITMO does not agree with this approach - we believe that students should have all the opportunities to develop as future highly qualified specialists, and this development should be started while studying. This applies to work in the company, and creating your own business, and a career in science, which also makes no sense to postpone "for later."

Of course, few people in school are sure that they want to become a scientist - most often interest in big science comes gradually. The main thing is that the student had a chance to prove himself and to get the opportunity to create something really meaningful and useful, even in the first courses. Stories of our young scientists confirm this. For example, a graduate student and the head of quantum computing at the Laboratory of Quantum Informatics, Anton Kozubov, admits that at first it was not easy to learn:

If I say that I liked the study from the very beginning, I listened to it. Let's put it this way, initially, after graduation, it was in my interest to connect myself with elementary particle physics and cosmology, but it happened as it happened, and I found myself in a direction that is more connected with optics.

If we talk about when I decided on what I would like to do next, this was the turning point when Sergey Anatolievich [Chivilikhin, Assistant Professor of the Department of Photonics and Optical Informatics] helped me immerse myself in science. After this the way back was gone.

But, it should be noted that in the middle of the magistracy and further in graduate school, my development vector has shifted slightly, and now I spend much more time on the theoretical side of quantum cryptography. This turn is connected with the fact that it was necessary to solve one vital issue with the proof of the secrecy of the system of quantum cryptography in our laboratory. As a result of the work, we began to work closely with the professor from the Department of Higher Mathematics Miroshnichenko Georgy Petrovich, who later became my supervisor.

Someone, like Anton, by the time of entering the university has no idea what he will do in the future. Other stories of our scientists begin with a passion for physics in high school. So, for example, Maxim Gorlach, a researcher at the department of nanophotonics and metamaterials, says that his school teacher of physics "infected" him with an interest in science. However, by the fourth year of study at Belarusian State University, Maxim began to worry about how to continue his career:

Even in the fourth year I began to think: “Yes, well, soon I will get a good basic education, but the question is: where can I work with this education and what options do I have at all?” I understood that I want to study science But I was aware of the need to think about the concrete implementation of my plans. It was clear that there are not many places where theoreticians are required.

At one of the seminars of the Department of Theoretical Physics, where we were told about various new and promising areas in science, I first heard about metamaterials. This was in early 2013. [...] I was told about the group of Pavel Belov at ITMO University, which was very actively developing at that time. The group grew, and I was invited to come for an internship. Already in the summer of that year I published my first article. Later he worked under the guidance of Pavel Alexandrovich, he became my supervisor, and in 2017 he defended his thesis.

Graduate student Dmitry Potorochin says that his path to science also began at school - and not only from general education, but also from the School of Laser Technology at ITMO University:

Before entering a university, I studied at the School of Laser Technologies at ITMO University. There we were given lectures about lasers, we were engaged in simple research projects. When you have been working in laser laboratories for a long time, there is nothing special about this. And when you're a child and see it all for the first time, it inspires. After all, I did not quite understand what I would do after school. I just understood physics well, I passed it and did not know where to go next.

And at the School of Laser Technologies we were told that lasers are promising, that they are used in almost all areas. And I have never regretted that I entered the department of laser technologies and systems.

Electronic synchrotron and quantum teleportation

At first glance, building a career as a scientist is a boring and ungrateful work, but our young scientists who are engaged in developments in the field of photonics and optics prove the opposite. First, the directions of development that can be pursued at ITMO University are interesting:

From the end of the third / beginning of the fourth year, I was very closely involved in the work on quantum computing, which took place at the department, for which I would like to thank my former supervisor Chivilihin Sergey Anatolyevich. It was he who put a lot of effort into the fact that I finally did something useful, and it turned out that this most useful thing coincided with what really interested me at that moment. So I had no other choice than to dive headlong into work.

The topic, which I initially began to study at the time, was directly related to quantum computing, if to speak in general terms, these were works related to quantum teleportation , which in itself sounds very exciting. Further, over the course of several years, I gained a critical mass of knowledge, which I played at some point, and when the question arose that concrete results were needed in this direction, I thought: “Who, if not me?”.
- Anton Kozubov

Secondly, scientific activity is connected not only with routine and paper “bureaucracy” - this is a creative profession. Which allows you to take part in advanced projects, including abroad. Dmitry Potorochin, for example, participates in the work of the German Electron Synchrotron research center. There, Dmitry, along with other scientists, is working on the XFEL project (European x-ray free electron laser, the largest free electron laser in the world) - conducting research using a mega-installation.

When I began to learn more about the mega-installation, I would be amazed at the possibilities that XFEL gives scientists: after all, you can literally shoot a chemical reaction frame by frame - see how the molecular structure of a substance will be rearranged, and this is amazing. Previously, scientists did not have access to such impressive capabilities. And someone, for certain, waited for these opportunities for many years, and now many will rush to conduct experiments. Therefore, I think in the near future we will see many interesting discoveries.

- Dmitry Potorochin

At the same time, as Dmitry notes, there is nothing supernatural in his admission to the educational program, which allows him to take part in research. It is enough to study in a magistracy, speak at specialized conferences, write articles in peer-reviewed scientific journals: “The main thing is to actively pursue science, to communicate with other scientists.”

However, photonics can be developed not only at the university - graduates in this area can count on a brilliant career, and in a variety of businesses, not necessarily directly related to physics and optics:

Knowledge of mathematics is generally a very useful thing, which can now be used absolutely anywhere, even if it is in any kind of analytics, so that with knowledge of mathematics it is rather difficult to remain without work. In addition, in our laboratory a small innovative enterprise LLC Quantum Communications was created. This is also a very good option for pursuing a career; now it is quite possible to build a business on various quantum technologies. So it all depends on the willingness and willingness to work, go for it!

- Anton Kozubov

Photonics as art

Research directly related to photonics and optics at ITMO University is also carried out at the Higher School of Light Design . This is one of the leading educational and experimental-practical projects in the field of science, technology and art in Russia (Higher School of Lighting Design of the ITMO University has entered the top 5 best universities in the world in the field of lighting design).

The School has student and international research laboratories - in an international laboratory , for example, they are creating innovative solutions to improve the light environment. In the student laboratory, undergraduates and graduate students conduct their own research at the intersection of science and art.

Track "Photonics" Olympiad "I - a professional"

Get the highest score about the profile exam for admission to graduate or postgraduate studies and develop photonics at ITMO University by participating in the contest "I am a professional". Anton Kozubov advises those who want to follow in the footsteps of our young scientists in the future, to be prepared for possible difficulties - the confidence that the chosen direction is really interesting for you to overcome them:

First of all, you should make sure that this is really what I would like to do, with which I would like to connect my life, because the path will be very thorny. It is necessary to understand that many of them are nevertheless curtailed, but those who will be ready for difficulties and will be able to overcome them will have a huge potential for development, and, accordingly, a chance for significant successes.

From the spheres of knowledge, I would advise to bring up quantum physics, quantum optics, solid state physics and mathematics. These are, perhaps, the fundamental things on the foundation of which you can further build everything else. In addition, it is very important to always find for yourself the motivation to work, even when it seems that everything goes awry.

The Olympiad will suit those who want not only to continue their studies in one of the best universities of the country, but also to express themselves professionally - the partners of the track are the companies Rostekhnologii, Shvabe, Rosnano, Lensvet, PJSC TGK- one". All the tasks that the participants of the Olympiad will receive are connected with the actual requests of employers - therefore, it is worth taking part in order to understand how much your knowledge corresponds to what large companies require from their employees.

The qualifying round of the Olympiad in the direction of "Photonics" will be held from 4 to 10 December. In order to prepare for the Olympiad, you can solve the demonstration tasks: for those entering the master's and postgraduate programs . However, the qualifying round will not be necessary for holders of two or more certificates with “Good” and “Excellent” marks from this MOOC list . The second round (final) of the Olympiad will be held in person from 27 to 30 January. We wish all participants good luck and victories and look forward to see ITMO University students and postgraduates!