Sometimes the results of a teacher’s and scientist’s work are best measured not by the number of papers, projects, or reports, but by the people they have helped grow.

At the moment, I have five students whom I can truly call my own — people I work with personally and guide in research from their first steps toward independent scientific work. Two of them are from Arab countries, and three are from Russia.

Two have already successfully defended their dissertations. A third is preparing for his defense in December.

There is one more result I am particularly proud of: two of these five became winners of the competition for the Scholarship of the President of the Russian Federation — one as a university student and the other as a postgraduate researcher.

Five people may not seem like many. But when two of them have already earned academic degrees, a third is approaching his defense, and two have received one of the country’s most prestigious academic scholarships, it probably means that something in my approach to training young researchers is working well.

For me, this is one of the most important measures of a scientist and mentor: not only producing results oneself, but also helping others grow into researchers who begin achieving results of their own.

And yes — at moments like this, I think I can allow myself to admit that, as a research supervisor, I must be doing something right.