I graduated from Lomonosov Moscow State University chemical faculty and I have a specialist degree in chemistry. In MSU I was a part of the laboratory of medicinal chemistry and I developed materials for anticancer therapy.

After I graduated I decided to switch from pharma to materials science, and I chose a field of organic electronic devices, such as organic light emitting diodes, organic solar cells, transistors etc., where my skills as a synthetic chemist could make an impact.

For getting to Skoltech I have to thank my husband. At the end of the 6th year in MSU I started to think over my options. And I was choosing between a PhD in MSU and, surprisingly, consulting. However, it was year 2017 and Skoltech was rapidly evolving and rising. And my husband pointed me to this very prospective institute, which had a unique system of education for that time. This was fate.

I have many fond memories of my time at Skoltech, primarily from the long hours spent working in the lab. I was fortunate to have a wonderful team—resourceful, supportive, and great companions.

Even now, we stay in touch, despite each of us pursuing different careers in various fields and countries. One of my most memorable experiences was pitching our startup focused on wireless keyboards powered by perovskite solar cells. We were awarded free beer and burgers at Axiom pub for our efforts!

I also enjoyed my time as a teaching assistant for Professor Ivan Lupandin's philosophy course during the height of the COVID pandemic. While everyone was at home, I prepared presentations and created a video channel for the course, which had about a hundred students. Another standout course was the innovative thinking class led by Professor Alex Chekanov. My first team projects and the constructive feedback we received from a business perspective were incredibly insightful.

However, the most impactful course was taught by Professor Alexei Buchachenko. This program allowed each student to present their work, learn how to ask questions, give feedback, and incorporate others' suggestions. For our final assignment, we wrote our first papers and conducted peer reviews. This experience inspired me to pursue publication, resulting in my first paper developed independently.

During the peer review assignment, I was tasked with reviewing a paper from another student that was of poor quality. I recommended “reject” and provided a thorough critique. It was then that the wise professor reminded me that being a reviewer is a vital responsibility. He emphasized that it offers an opportunity to guide authors on how to improve their work and manuscripts. He also advised, “A good practice is to reread a review the day after completion, trying to see it from the author's perspective.” This insight transformed my approach to reviewing, and I now apply these principles when evaluating my students' work. His wisdom has stayed with me, and I hold him in high regard.

I entered the PhD program of Skoltech in the materials science track and for the first 1.5 years I continued with organic synthesis. On this matter I published two manuscripts, which were devoted to the synthesis of organic semiconductors for solar cells mainly concentrating on the influence of the synthetic approach on the quality of the target material.

The first work on the novel synthetic approach towards a very important material polytriarylamine was published in 2020 in Tetrahedron letters and currently in 2024 it laid a basis for a startup for production of this invaluable material.

The second work was on the synthesis of isoindigo-based polymer and my work was chosen for the cover, which by the way you can see in print near the president's office:)

In 2020, our group at the Energy Center decided to undergo a transformation and create a startup. Professor Dmitry Kulish assisted us in identifying a niche, and together we conceptualized a device for autonomous sensor power supply. In June, we applied for Skolkovo residency, and by August, our application was accepted. Our team consists of four members: Artyom Novikov, Alexandra Boldyreva, Olga Parfenova, and myself. In November, Sansense was officially founded.

Simultaneously, in September, I applied for the “10 Innovations” fund for one of the materials essential for manufacturing solar panels. In recent years, our solar cell team faced a problem: we couldn’t purchase some key materials, organic semiconductors. Some distributors were selling these materials for a crazy price (4000 $ per gram), and some didn’t have a shipment to Russia. My collaborators from other universities faced the same problem. At the same time I was perfectly qualified to make the material by myself and I decided to establish the first synthesis of these organic semiconductors for Russian startups and scientific groups in the field of organic electronics. First, I won the “10 Innovations” (FASIE Start-Vzlet grant, 3 mln rubles) and started scientific research in this direction.

I then participated in various accelerators, and by November, I secured my first sale. MISIS bought 1 gram of the compound produced by Polysense. They are conducting similar research, so personal connections made at various conferences can lead to new clients.

I get a great support from the President Alexander Kuleshov and the team of the Entrepreneurship Center: Dmitry Kulish, Anna Starkova and Alexandra Rogacheva. They all are exceptional people, who contribute a lot to my startup in terms of ideas, advice, and support including financial. I also am very grateful to Professor Artem Abakumov, who supported us a lot on a road to startup foundation. I will try my best to succeed and most importantly make a contribution to the development of Russian organic electronic science and manufacture.

Science is a key initiator of new technologies, however there are very few ways to connect science and technology. Moreover, also young minds should be motivated to choose a scientific path after primary education. Such events as scientific filming are one of the possible ways to advertise science and familiarize a wider community of people with what scientists do.

We were very lucky to meet a talented film director Kseniya Kazazaeva, who spent several days with our scientific group observing us in our natural habitat.

It is well known that perovskite solar cells degrade during work under the sun and temperatures. In our group a peculiar configuration of a perovskite solar cell was developed, which enables long-term stability but completely loses all its efficiency during the first hundred hours. Ksenia presented perovskite solar cell as a phoenix, which can revive from the dust and continue working. The film motivates you to never give up, because your ruined experiment may turn into a phoenix and pave the way to something wonderful.

After graduation I stayed in Skoltech to continue working on perovskite solar cells and design of new functional materials. I very much enjoy working with young talented scientists who choose our direction for their diplomas. I hope to continue developing my startup in the Energy Center and make a positive impact on the field of organic electronics with our organic semiconductors.

We are Skoltech. A new type of university in Russia, established in 2011 in collaboration with MIT with the vision of being a world-leading institute of science and technology. From the zero stage, Skoltech has rapidly advanced along the way towards a top-100 young university recognized globally by Nature Index.