The admissions to bachelor's and master's programmes in Physics at HSE University-St Petersburg are still ongoing. Today 'Scientist's Code' introduces you to the head of the department to which these programmes belong. Please meet Alexey Zhukov, Corresponding Member of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Doctor of Physics and Mathematics and Head of the Department of Physics. We discussed with the researcher why it is important to switch to optical data transmission, where quantum cascade lasers are required and why Albert Einstein was a genius.