Artem Oganov

Full Professor at Center for Energy Science and Technology

Biography

Artem R. Oganov (born 3 March 1975) is a Russian theoretical crystallographer, mineralogist, chemist, physicist, and materials scientist. He is known mostly for his works on computational materials discovery and crystal structure prediction, studies of matter at extreme conditions (including matter of planetary interiors). Oganov graduated from Moscow State University in 1997 with summa cum laude and diploma in Crystallography and Crystal Chemistry. In 2002 he obtained a PhD degree in Crystallography from University College London, and in 2007 got a Habilitation degree from ETH Zurich. In 2008–2017 he was a Professor at Stony Brook University. In 2012 Oganov received the "1000 talents" professorship in China. In 2013, having won a mega grant awarded by the Russian Government, Oganov opened a laboratory at Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology. Since 2015 he is a Professor at Skolkovo Institute of Science and Technology.

Oganov has published over 280 peer-reviewed articles (many in top journals, e.g. Nature, Science) and book chapters. He is an author of 5 patents. Total citations >23000, h-index 70 (Google scholar, as of April 2021) .

He is a laureate of several prestigious awards, including an ETH Latsis Prize,  Research Excellence Model of the European Mineralogical Union,. In 2012, Oganov won a "1000 talents professor" title in China and in the same year became a Professor Honoris Causa of Yanshan University (China), in 2013 elected Fellow of the Mineralogical Association of America, In 2016 and 2017 he was named as one of the most cited Russian scientists in Chemistry and Physics, respectively. In 2017 he was awarded the Gamow prize and Concord prize, In 2019, he received the Friendship Award, the highest award given by Chinese government to foreign experts. In 2015 Oganov was elected Professor of the Russian Academy of Sciences., and in 2017 he became a member of the Academy of Europe Academia Europaea, and in 2020 elected Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry and Fellow of the American Physical Society. In 2011 he founded the Commission on Crystallography of Materials at the International Union of Crystallography. In 2017-2020 he served as a member of the Presidential council for science and education.

Oganov has held over 10 invited professorships (Universita degli Studi di Milano, Lille'Polytech, University of Paris, University of Poitiers, Chinese University of Hong Kong, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Japan Society for the Promotion of Science, etc.). In 2011, Forbes magazine listed Oganov among "50 Russians who conquered the world". In 2012, highly acclaimed cinema director, Laureate of State Prize Vladimir Gerchikov made a film "The color of a crystal" about Oganov, in 2015 the celebrated TV journalist Leonid Parfenov made a film "Made by Russians" about him. and two other films about him appeared in 2018 on Kultura-TV channel and on NTV channel In 2019, as part of the 150th commemoration of Mendeleev's Periodic Table, yet another film came out, where Oganov is one of the central characters. In 2013, magazines "Russian reporter" and "Expert" have listed Oganov among 100 most influential Russians today. His most significant works are in fields of computational materials discovery, in particular the effects of pressure on chemical bonding, and state of matter at extreme conditions (e.g. inside the Earth and other planets). He has developed novel methods of crystal structure prediction  that became basis of the USPEX code, used by more than 7100 researchers worldwide. Among the highlights are the discovery of the structure of a superhard phase of boron, gamma-B, transparent phase of sodium, new carbon allotrope, stability of MgSiO3 post-perovskite in the Earth's mantle, prediction and synthesis of "forbidden" compounds (e.g., Na3Cl), discovery of helium chemistry, and creation of borophene - a 2D-monolayer of boron atoms, with great promises for future technologies. Computational methods developed by Oganov open up the way to discovery of materials with desired properties.

Oganov speaks 5 languages (Russian, English, French, German, and Italian), is married, has four children and is a parishioner of St. Louis Catholic Church in Moscow.

Education and degrees

Habilitation in Crystallography, ETH Zurich, 2007
PhD in Crystallography, University College London, 2002
Diploma in Crystallography, Moscow State University, 1997

Employment

Full Professor, Skolkovo Institute of Science and Technology, since 2015Full Professor, State University of New York at Stony Brook, 2010-2017

Associate Professor, State University of New York at Stony Brook, 2008-2010

Privatdozent and Group Leader, ETH Zurich, 2007-2008

Senior Scientist and Group Leader, ETH Zurich, 2003-2007

Research Fellow, University College London, 2002-2003

Research

Prof Oganov’s research focuses on computational materials discovery, study of matter at high pressures, and development of novel computational methodologies for predicting the structure and properties of materials. The unique evolutionary method for crystal structure prediction, developed by Prof. Oganov, is currently used by over 4200 researchers worldwide. This method allows prediction of novel materials, both organic and inorganic, with desired properties, and has produced many breakthroughs, both in fundamental and applied research.

Selected Awards

• University Latsis Prize (2006)


• European Mineralogical Union Research Excellence Medal (2007)


• Professor Honoris Causa, Yanshan University, China (2012)


• 1000 talents professor, People’s Republic of China (2012)


• Fellow of the Mineralogical Society of America (2013)


• Russian Government’s megagrant (2013)


• Russian Highly Cited Researcher award, Clarivate Analytics (2016)


• George Gamow award (2017)


• Concord award (2017)


• Elected to Academia Europaea (2017)


• Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry (2020)


• Fellow of American Physical Society (2020)

Full list of publications and other up-to-date information can be found at: http://uspex-team.org