The story of a bachelor’s student at the Ukrainian State University of Chemical Technology, USUST, Serhiy Len, proves that an interest noticed at school can develop into serious scientific activity if there are experienced mentors nearby.

The first step was a meeting of teachers from the Department of Innovation Engineering with students from Dnipro Lyceum No. 97 in November 2023. For most, it was an ordinary career guidance event, but for Serhiy it was a real start. His interest was supported by a chemistry teacher, and the teachers of the institute opened up the opportunity to join real research.

Under the guidance of Associate Professor of the Department of Innovation Engineering, Candidate of Technical Sciences Serhiy Zybayl, the schoolboy began working on the topic of developing a safe battery. Performing laboratory experiments, studying complex processes, and defending his own solutions became a school of scientific thinking for him.

The next important stage was the first university hackathon in 2025, where the team from Lyceum No. 97 under the leadership of the head of the Department of Innovative Engineering, Professor Oleg Kabat won a prize. In parallel, Serhiy joined the project of the Small Academy of Sciences at the Department of Inorganic Substances Technology and Ecology. Here he studied the quality of drinking water, won the regional stage and third place at the all-Ukrainian level. It was this specialty, G1 Chemical Technology and Engineering (Drinking Water and Industrial Water Treatment Technologies in the Production of Inorganic Substances), that he decided to enter after graduating from the lyceum.

Today, Serhiy Len is already a student of our university, continuing his scientific activities. His story is an example of how the systematic work of the teachers of the SEI USUCT with schoolchildren helps future students to reveal their potential and confidently move from the first experiments in the lyceum to serious research at the university.