"Students say Rick Sanchez and I have something in common"

An ITMO Fellow, a professor at ITMO’s Infochemistry Scientific Center

Eugene Smirnov

Creates liquid mirrors for telescopes to see faraway stars.

Enjoys alpine skiing,

making models

Having worked in Switzerland, Germany, and China, Eugene now leads his own research group at ITMO.

and traveling

There, he creates reflective materials from gold nanoparticles and special solutions. They become the basis of sensors for substance analysis, as well as liquid mirrors that can be used in large telescopes.

Eugene’s inspiration is Stephen Hawking. He believes that sometimes you have to work 12 hours a day to reach your goal.