LAUREATE IN THE “SCIENTIST OF THE YEAR” CATEGORY

Stepan Kalmykov’s research has profoundly transformed the contemporary worldwide field of radiochemistry and established the groundwork for future nuclear technologies.

One of the toughest, most urgent problems in modern nuclear power is what to do with spent fuel—radioactive waste that must be locked down and kept safe for unimaginably long timescales. The laureate’s breakthrough unlocked the ability to precisely isolate long‑lived radionuclides from spent nuclear fuel and other radioactive waste, clearing the way for their targeted destruction through transmutation in advanced closed‑cycle reactors. The approach developed by Stepan Kalmykov ensures that the remaining waste contains only isotopes needing secure storage for hundreds of years instead of millions, a challenge that current technologies can handle dependably.

The laureate conducted an extensive study of the physicochemical forms taken by radionuclides after their release into the natural environment, as well as the ways they move and change in contaminated regions. He also pinpointed high-performance clay materials ideal for building powerful geochemical barriers

Stepan Kalmykov has pioneered breakthrough technologies to produce the medical radioisotopes radium‑223 and actinium‑225, unlocking powerful new tools for targeted radionuclide cancer therapy.

The VYZOV Prize is awarded for basic and applied research in the field of radiochemistry and radiochemical technologies.

Bio: Stepan N. Kalmykov was born in 1974. He graduated from the Faculty of Chemistry of Lomonosov Moscow State University. In 1999, he entered postgraduate studies, where he worked on his PhD thesis entitled “Migration of Radionuclides through Geochemical Barriers”. In 2008, he successfully defended his doctoral dissertation “The Role of Colloidal Particles in the Migration of Actinides with Groundwater.”
He previously served as Dean of the Faculty of Chemistry at Lomonosov Moscow State University and has been the Scientific Director of the Faculty since 2022. In 2016, he was elected a Corresponding Member of the Russian Academy of Sciences, and in 2022, an Academician. He has served as Vice President of the Russian Academy of Sciences since September 22, 2022. In 2024, he was awarded the Order of Friendship and the commemorative medal “300 Years of the Russian Academy of Sciences”.