How important is your university in Ukraine?
Dnipro University of Technology is one of the oldest technical universities in Ukraine with a history of over 120 years. The university has played a key role in the formation of the country's engineering potential and has trained tens of thousands of highly qualified specialists for various sectors of the economy - from mining and construction to aerospace. Today, Dnipro University of Technology actively promotes scientific research, international relations and innovative projects, making a significant contribution to the sustainable development of Ukraine.
Tell me about your faculty?
The Faculty of Architecture, Civil Engineering and Land Management comprises three departments: the Department of Civil Engineering, Geotechnics and Geomechanics, the Department of Geodesy and the Department of Physics, where I work as an associate professor. We train specialists in the fields of industrial and civil construction, architecture, geodesy, land management and land resource management as well as physics. The scientific priorities actively pursued by the departments of our faculty include:
- Development of effective methods for determining the physical and mechanical properties of rocks;
- Investigation of the physics of explosive fractures;
- Structural and phase transformations in rocks;
- Synthesis of composite materials with special properties;
- Use of modern geodetic equipment in the national project to create the State Geodetic Network of Ukraine;
- Implementation of a system for satellite monitoring of vehicles;
- Investigation of the structure and properties of electrodeposited metal films.
What are your faculty's main focuses in the field of electroplating and surface technology?
Our Department of Physics and related departments conduct research in materials science. This involves scientific findings in the field of tribology based on investigations of mechanochemical processes that take place in situ in the area of the working surface of machine parts. The influence of shock wave loads on the process of surface saturation of steel with boron is also being investigated. We are also working on the development of an information system for the automatic design of technological processes for the manufacture of knowledge-intensive products in mechanical engineering. We are also studying the structure and properties of metallic coatings and metallic composite films with carbon nanostructures produced by pulsed current and laser-assisted electrodeposition.
Ukraine is regularly bombarded by Russian forces, the front line is about 100 km south of Dnipro. What have you experienced and how does the war affect your scientific work?
Yes, unfortunately our country has been in an all-out war for three years. Regular missile and drone attacks, air alerts and threats to infrastructure are part of our everyday life. The city of Dnipro is relatively close to the front line, and of course we feel the consequences of these events both in our private lives and at work.
Despite all the difficulties, our scientific work has not stopped. We have adapted: We have partially switched to online teaching, established digital communication channels and are continuing our publication and research activities. In addition, the war has strengthened our motivation in many ways - we feel responsible for the preservation and further development of Ukrainian science even under unstable conditions.
Much of our research now has an applied and defense-related character. We are developing technologies that can be useful for rebuilding infrastructure, improving materials for engineering and energy supply, and increasing the resilience of systems.
In addition, cooperation with international partners has become even more important. It helps us maintain access to the global scientific community and participate in grants, projects and exchange programs, which is especially important when resources at home are limited.
If you compare university life before and during the war, what are the most obvious differences?
University life before and during the war is radically different both externally and internally.
Before the war, the university was a lively place with an active student body: lectures, laboratory classes, conferences, student activities, exchange programs and lively social life characterized everyday university life. The campus was a place of growth, discovery and interaction.
Much has changed since the beginning of the war. The learning process has shifted predominantly to an online format. Some faculty and students have been displaced or on the run within the country. Some have been called up to defend the country, and unfortunately there have also been casualties.
Despite all this, the university continues to work. We have become more flexible and more cohesive. Online technologies, international collaboration and an internal sense of responsibility have created a new communication ethic - with more respect, attention and support for each other.
Have the demands on your work changed during the war?
Yes, the demands on our work under wartime conditions have changed considerably. Firstly, the responsibility has increased. We no longer see our teaching and research activities as merely an academic routine, but as a contribution to the sustainability, future and intellectual potential of the country.
Secondly, flexibility in the organization of teaching has increased. We are forced to adapt to an unstable situation: We have to offer online classes, take into account power outages, communication problems and the mental state of students. This requires new approaches to teaching, especially humanity and empathy.
Thirdly, scientific interests have partly shifted to practical and defense-related tasks. The introduction of applied research and development has accelerated, including in the fields of energy, engineering, materials science and IT.
Finally, international cooperation has gained in importance. Support and participation in foreign projects has become even more important both for the continuation of research and for the integration of Ukrainian science into the global community.
Nevertheless, the basic values of academic work - honesty, quality and the pursuit of knowledge - have remained unchanged.
Relations between Ukraine and Russia were close in the past. What is the situation today? Has your focus shifted from Russia to the EU?
Ukraine actually maintained close scientific and educational relations with the Russian Federation until 2014 - this was due to historical reasons and infrastructure. Many Ukrainian scientists took part in joint projects, conferences and publications.
However, after 2014 and especially since the start of the full invasion in 2022, all official academic and scientific contacts with Russian institutions have ceased. Today, not only is there no cooperation with the Russian Federation, but it is considered absolutely unacceptable in Ukraine's academic environment.
Against the backdrop of these events, Ukraine has significantly intensified its integration into the European scientific community. The focus of cooperation has shifted to the European Union, the United Kingdom, the USA, Canada, Germany and other countries that support Ukraine. We actively participate in the Horizon Europe, Erasmus+ and COST programs as well as in many international scientific scholarships and exchange programs.
This reorientation is not just a forced measure, but a deliberate step towards deepening our integration into the European and global academic community.
How do you envision the time after the war? What do you wish for?
After the war, we dream above all of peace - real, sustainable and secure peace. The possibility of living and working without fear, loss and destruction. We envision this period as a phase of great reconstruction - not only of infrastructure, but also of human relations, education systems and scientific capacities.
Professionally, we want to return to a full, vibrant university life: lecture halls, laboratories, conferences and international internships.
Humanly, we want our students and colleagues to return home, families to reunite, cities and universities to become places of growth again, not just safe havens.
Above all, we want Ukraine to remain part of the European scientific and educational area. So that our science can continue to develop with the support of international cooperation, openness and innovation.
Yes, it will be difficult after the war. But education and science will be the basis for the reconstruction of the country - and we are already preparing to be part of this process.
Tell me something about yourself. Where are you from? How did you come to Dnipro University of Technology? Do you have a family?
I come from a small town called Ordzhonikidze (now Pokrov) in the Dnipropetrovsk region, which is famous for its historical and industrial achievements. This town became famous for the mining of manganese ore and an archaeological find - the Scythian gold armor, which is considered one of the most important finds in the history of Ukrainian archaeology.
After graduating from school, I enrolled at the Physics Faculty of Dnipropetrovsk National University, where I obtained a Master's degree in Applied Physics. Already in the fifth year I became interested in the scientific school headed by Professor V.A. Zabludovsky, who specialized in the development of technologies for the production of metal coatings using pulse electrolysis. Under his supervision, I wrote my master's thesis, which later became the basis for my doctoral dissertation on the topic "Structure and properties of metal films obtained by electrodeposition under conditions of external stimulation by laser radiation".
I started my scientific and teaching career at the Department of Physics of the National University of Railway Transport Dnipro (now Ukrainian State University of Science and Technology) named after academician V. Lazaryan, where I worked my way up from assistant to associate professor. My work is devoted to the improvement of technologies for the production of functional metal and composite coatings using pulsed and programmable pulsed electrolysis.
The department actively cooperates with leading scientific institutions of Ukraine - the G. V. Kurdyumov Institute of Metal Physics of N.A.S., Oles Honchar Dnipro National University, Kharkiv and Zaporizhzhya Universities and others. As part of one such scientific project, I was invited to Dnipro Technical University, where I am now an associate professor at the Department of Physics. I am married and raising my three-year-old son. Today I live and work in Dnipro and combine my teaching activities with scientific research.
