No Borders in Science is a series of interviews with Institute of Solid State Physics (ISSP UL) scientists and employees who are closely connected to the world outside of Latvia – by birth, attained education, or just their daily work. Through their stories we want to highlight the institute as a part of the global scientific network – a centre of excellence where collaboration isn’t limited by geography and the exchange of ideas, experiences, and efforts is placed at the forefront. This time, we speak with Eugene Kotomin about the energy that courses through his work and the possibilities that being open to cooperation brings.
What are the specifics of your work and how does it include collaboration with foreign scientists?
I am a theoretician, modelling new advanced materials, mostly for energy applications – batteries, fuel cells, hydrogen production, optical windows for fusion reactors, etc. International collaboration for us is key for success; first, we use the latest and the most efficient computer codes developed in Italy and Austria. Second, we have access to foreign supercomputers. Third, it helps to be at the cutting edge of the actual problems.
I have worked in many countries (USA, Canada, Italy, Denmark, Russia, Kazakhstan), and for the last 25 years – mostly in Germany. In all cases, our expertise was very complementary and mutually beneficial, e.g. in the Max Planck Institute for Solid State Physics we performed and now continue the modelling and prediction of new advanced proton conducting cathodes and electrolytes for new types of fuel cells which were synthesised and measured by local experimentalists, with a focus on understanding the reaction mechanisms which hardly could be determined experimentally. Such computer-supported cooperation permits us to optimally develop new efficient materials and devices.
What would you name as the strengths of the ISSP UL?
Our Institute is one of the European leaders in materials science, with great accumulated expertise, as well as in theoretical modelling where we’re open for fruitful cooperation.
In your experience, how does the ISSP UL promote international cooperation?
One of the most efficient ways is international projects (e.g. COST, Horizon, ERA NET) where several research groups from different countries complement each other. Currently, we are involved in several such projects, e.g. we theoretically model and predict materials, Slovenian partners synthesize these nanomaterials, while Taiwanese partners test the efficiency of photostimulated hydrogen production. As a result of this cooperation, we’ve suggested new efficient photocatalysers and published high rank papers.
How does the ISSP UL assist scientists – foreign and home-grown (proliferating participation in projects and events, supporting funding acquisition, endorsing growth opportunities, etc.)?
Young scientists are more than welcome to participate in most research projects – this is even a precondition for receiving grants from the Latvian Council of Science. To my mind, if financially supported by the Ministry of Education and Science, ISSP UL could become a research centre where young international researchers on stipends can come for several months to do joint research. In the beginning of my carrier, I was in one such Interdisciplinary Materials Centre at the University of Western Ontario, Canada which gave me a very good start.
