Volodymyr - Scientist (Ukrainian)

“I’m a scientist on ID27, the high pressure beamline. With the team there, we look at materials under extreme conditions of temperature and pressure and see how they behave. One exciting area is geoscience where we look at the interiors of planets, how the minerals transform and the impact on volcanic activity. If we have a thorough understanding of this behaviour we can better predict and quantify the effects.

Another example is superconductivity. For a material to act as a superconductor it has to reach a low critical temperature. By studying the mechanisms involved in superconductivity, we hope to design a system with an elevated critical temperature.

All of my family are medical doctors and naturally I was encouraged to follow tradition and go to medical school. I started a science cursus and then side-tracked when I became interested in chemistry. I find being a scientist challenging and interesting, meeting people, exchanging ideas, working at the edge of life. I studied solid state chemistry at Lviv University in Ukraine, then solid state physics for my PhD in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. I joined the ESRF for a post-doc position and, following that, I was recruited as a scientist.

I’m proud to work in one of the best scientific facilities in the world. The ESRF draws in the best people and develops the best technology available. You can do many unique things here. With the EBS project, we are going to be able to perform a whole new level of extreme experiments and observe completely new physics.”