There are many scientists in Ukraine whose names are known in the world’s leading universities and research centers. One of them is the head of the laboratory of highly correlated low-dimensional systems of the Bogolyubov Institute for Theoretical Physics of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine Serhiy Sharapov.
Mr. Sharapov does not like when people say about him: “theoretical physicist, quoted by Nobel laureates,” but this description is true. The scientist studied the theoretical fundamentals of the physics of graphene (two-dimensional carbon material one atom thick). Together with scientist Valery Gusynin, he theoretically predicted the quantum Hall effect in graphene. While studying the theoretical properties of the new material, he was in active contact with the future Nobel laureate Andre Game, so it is not surprising that after the discovery of graphene, he mentioned the Ukrainian scientist in his articles and repeatedly referred to his work. (By the way, today in Google Scholar you can find 7,000 (!) links to the works of the Kyiv scientist).
Serhiy Sharapov worked abroad for many years: in Africa, Switzerland, Italy, Canada and the USA. In 2008, he returned to Ukraine and now continues to work on research, in particular, Dirac’s materials (i.e. materials described by Dirac’s equation), teaches at Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv, Kyiv Academic University, as well as gives lectures on the popularization of science.
Trust in the new institution
In 2020, the project of Serhiy Sharapov and a group of scientists from the Bogolyubov Institute for Theoretical Physics of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine “Topological phases of matter and excitation in Dirac materials, Josephson transitions and magnets” won the competition “Support for Research of Leading and Young Scientists” of the National Research Foundation of Ukraine. We ask the scientist: why did you decide to submit the project to the competition, what is the essence of the work?
Serhiy Sharapov says: Unfortunately, in the past, in most Ukrainian grants, the money / bureaucracy ratio made participation in the project unprofitable, but after the establishment of the NRFU, this finally changed.
– When my colleagues and I informally discussed the terms of the competition, we got the impression that it would be, in fact, a census of the living science that still remains, – says Mr. Sharapov. – There was also a desire to support the newly created the NRFU, to show our confidence under the procedures of the competition. It is important to me that the projects were submitted in English, and foreign experts were involved in the review. Of course, we tried to do our best and win. We felt a real “sports excitement”, because the competitors were very strong.
The scientist is convinced that the country where scientists work should be the first to support its science. In developed countries, the bulk of grant funding is provided by such funds, rather than international programs such as “Horizon-2020”, which fund the best of the best.
New materials are needed for further progress
In the project, which received funding from the NRFU, scientists combined several tasks that are extremely important and relevant for the development of condensed matter physics.
“It is thanks to similar research done in the 1920s and 1930s that we have modern telephones and computers today, and cameras capture the surface of Mars,” explains the scientist, “but new materials and devices are needed for further progress.” In our case, we are talking about superconducting quantum bits (qubits), flexible magnetic films and so-called Dirac materials. An example of the latter is, for example, graphene.
In the project, several interesting and new problems for the above systems and materials is proposed. Scientists hope that the scientific results they have already received (and those that will receive) will be useful to both fundamental science and “applied” researchers.
The motivation for scientific youth
However, another and no less important task of Serhiy Sharapov`s work considers the involvement of young scientists. His team includes three leading scientists (apart from Mr. Sharapov himself, Valery Gusynin and Yaroslav Zolotaryuk) and young people. Young scientists, PhD in physical and mathematical sciences, Kostyantyn Yershov and Ivan Starodub – have many works published in leading international scientific journals. The youngest member of the team, Volodymyr Shubnyi, is currently working on his PhD dissertation.
– I really hope that the project will achieve the goal set by the Kyiv Academic University of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine and the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine, namely: “Our goal is not the outflow, but the circulation of brains,” said Mr. Sharapov. – When the durability of such projects is ensured, young people will be motivated to go to science and continue working in Ukraine.
In other words, if young researchers stay to work and teach future students in Ukraine, both science and economics will benefit.
If we didn’t win, we would still work
Serhiy Sharapov said that before submitting the project, the scientists discussed what they were working on, what they planned to research in the near future, and how important it was. This work is the basis of the project. Then, regardless of whether the project won or not, scientists continue their daily, painstaking work (of course, we are talking about theoretical scientists, because other teams need reagents, devices, etc.). Researchers have been doing their job for years, purposefully and persistently. Such work is the key to all great discoveries.
The project led by Serhiy Sharapov is designed for two years and should be completed by the end of 2022. The planned funding is over eight million hryvnias. In 2020, project participants received the full planned amount.
– Unfortunately, it is expected that in 2021 the budget of the NRFU will be reduced, and the Foundation will receive less money than needed to finance the winning projects, – said the interlocutor. – In my opinion, this is the wrong policy. We must understand that funding science is not an “extra expense” but an investment in the country’s future.
We also asked what difficulties scientists have had (or are having) while working?
Serhiy Sharapov answered that it took a long time (almost a month and a half) to sign the contract. However, he adds that the main problem is not so much in the organization of the Foundation`s work, but in the fact that the legal framework of Ukraine is still not adapted to finance scientific activities.
The scientist also believes that under current rules it is very difficult to use the so-called overhead, i.e. the percentage of project funding that should receive institutions.
– Of course, it is possible to discuss what percentage the institutes should receive, – Mr. Sharapov emphasized. – But it is abnormal when scientists from the Bogolyubov Institute for Theoretical Physics of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine won six projects in competitions of the NRFU, but the institute could not use a single penny and returned the money pledged overhead due to too strict restrictions…
However, despite the difficulties of the organizational period and the imperfection of the legislation, Serhiy Sharapov advises colleagues (and especially young people) to follow the new competitions and participate in them.
– In the first competitions of the NRFU scientists had rather high chances of success, – he sums up. – The winners were a third of the teams that submitted their projects. In my opinion, this is how it should be: the National Research Foundation should fund the vast majority of quality projects and weed out the really weak ones. So, watch the competitions, submit projects and win.
Svitlana Galata