To be a scientist means to be on the move from ignorance to knowledge...

A young scientist Andrei Stepanov graduated from BSUIR in 2008. In 2013 he defended his PhD thesis. Since 2014 he has been working at the BSUIR Department of Micro and Nanoelectronics. A.Stepanov has published 11 research papers. He is the author and co-author of four patents. And in 2015 he was awarded with the Belarus President’s grant for talented young scientists.

- What is your research field and why have you chosen it?
- My PhD thesis is entitled "Transparent Nanogrid Aluminum Films with Relief Surface for Optoelectronic Components and Devices". It means that I’m interested in all phenomena of nature that are related to the light and electrons; these phenomena are attracting me by the beauty, complexity, diversity and unknowability, just like women do.

- What way did you go to become the holder of the Belarus President’s grant for talented youth?
- It depends on where to start counting… As a pupil, I was very diligent in doing my home exercises, on vacations I used to disassemble or break many things and then tried to reassemble or repair them. As an undergraduate, I had hundreds of questions and was looking for the answers by myself. As a Master student, I had a dream and I was doing my best to make it come true. And finally, as a PhD student, I worked on the optimization of processes, published research articles, made presentations on international scientific conferences. So was my long way to the present days.

- What are typical qualities of a scientist?
- The desire, ability and necessity to cut off everything that draws your attention away from discovering the Nature.

- What does it mean to be a young scientist?
- Well, scientists are always young by nature. If a scientist is not young, than he’s not a scientist any more, he’s a Wiseman. To be a scientist means to be on the move from ignorance to knowledge and to be able to enjoy this free move; otherwise it’ll be a man who is always dissatisfied with the current situation.

- What is current life goal?
- I shall prepare a number of new courses of lectures, and hope to understand some day what is my place and role in between the students’ unwillingness to study and desire to gain the degree.

- What shall the youth know about the science?
- A man enriches the science, while the science enriches a man (at least one), it helps him become a creative individual.