Alisher Duspayev

1. How and why did you choose physics?

At first, physics was a regular school subject to me.  I was more interested in geography and biology. But in the ninth grade an officer from my school that works with gifted children offered me to participate in the Olympiad on physics. Obviously, this came as a surprise for me. There was not much result at the beginning, but that’s when physics really got me interested. Really good achievements came in the 11th grade: bronze medal at the international Zhautykov Olympiad and silver medal at the Republican Olympiad on general subjects. Along with this success, I finally decided that I want to continue studying physics and become a scientist. What is so attractive about physics? How the science that studies the very essence of nature and its mechanisms and that allows to describe something that seemingly cannot be described by mathematical equations – to describe and even to reproduce experimentally could not be captivating?

2. What was the most interesting in the competition for the grant?

The most interesting part in the competition for the Yessenov Foundation’s grant was the second round, where it was necessary for one to demonstrate both personal qualities and ability to work in a team. Such task is very difficult, and one had to work hard because the competition was serious. I will not reveal all the details, but I can say that each stage of the second round was exciting. The second stage allowed us to learn about the perspectives of other guys and reconsider your own.

3. What was the internship about?

Imagine a tiny charged particle flying in space towards the atomic nucleus. The closer the particle to the nucleus, the more pronounced is the interaction between them. The whole process is described by so many laws of quantum mechanics and nuclear physics that people have to resort to using computers to describe and solve this problem. To develop such a computer simulation of this process was the goal of my internship at Fermilab. This seemingly insignificant physical process has great importance in modern research in nuclear and atomic physics.

4. The results of the internship to you personally.

As a future physicist it is very important for me to learn all the different methods of calculation and simulation of complex physical processes, to learn about possible mistakes and how to avoid and fix them. In addition, it’s important to gain an experience in a major scientific laboratory and the skills of communicating and interacting with future colleagues. This summer research gave me all of these and even more. Right now I’m still working with Professor Rakhno, and the results of our work will be published soon. The internship I went through in the US will play a significant role in my life this year, for I am going to apply for graduate schools outside of Kazakhstan. And having a first-hand internship at such a famous laboratory like Fermilab on my CV will certainly be an advantage when applying.