​Valeriya Chernikova's talent was obvious at a young age. At only 15 years old, she was invited to leave her hometown Maykop in south Russia to study at Kolmogorov School one of the leading High Schools in Russia, associated with Lomonosov Moscow State University. Subsequently, she earned her B.Sc. and M.Sc. degrees in Physical Chemistry at this prestigious Institution.

In 2013, Valeriya came to KAUST for the first time to participate in a poster competition held by the Office of Enrichment Programs. From this visit, she took the opportunity to join Prof. Eddaoudi's research group as a Ph.D. student.

Valeria's work focused on synthesis and application of Metal-Organic Frameworks (MOFs) supported thin films, mainly as a sensitive element of capacitive gas sensors or as selective layer of composite membranes for gas separation.

From her Ph.D. journey, she highlights the freedom she had to practice research in the laboratory and feels proud of how she managed to handle, tackle and learn from all the challenges she faced during her Ph.D. thesis.

"When I have an idea, I go and try it. I did not limit myself and Prof. Eddaoudi didn't hinder my ambitious ideas either", she says.

"Prof. Eddaoudi likes to challenge in order to raise our expectations of successful research. This makes us committed to work autonomously and with high standards. In the beginning, it is tough, but you always come up with something extraordinary, adds Valeriya.

Recently, she presented her thesis entitled 'MOFs Exploration: From Synthesis and Thin Film Fabrication to Separation and Sensing Applications' to committee members Prof. Mohamed Eddaoudi (KAUST, Thesis committee chair) Prof. Nikolaos Hadjichristidis (KAUST), Prof. Husam N. Alshareef (KAUST) and Prof. Omar Farha (Northwestern University)

As a student, Valeriya published eight papers in high impact peer-reviewed journals, three of them as a first author. One of the key papers resulting from her studies was published in Nature Materials and is entitled 'Mixed Matrix Membranes for prospective energy-efficient separation'. This important study was done in collaboration with the School of Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering at Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta (USA), where she spent two months working under the supervision of one of the membrane science authority, Prof. William J. Koros.

Valeriya defines herself as a 'logical thinking' researcher. She likes to tackle the problems that industry faces and work on finding a suitable solution that addresses efficiently the faced challenge. Valeriya aims and wants to pursue her career in industry.

AMPM Center warmly congratulates Dr. Valeriya on her accomplishments and wishes her continues success.