Konstantin Novoselov: ‘I don't really know where my Nobel medal is’
The Nobel Prize-winning physicist on the importance of enthusiasm and moving on from graphene
My dream profession as a child was to test parachutes. My grandfather was a military man and he was in a parachuting squad. I only took a jump once in my life. It was scary to step out of the plane. There’s a joke: When you are a few kilometres up, you open the door and you see Google Maps underneath you. Are you scared of Google Maps? Once you step out it’s really enjoyable. It was a great experience, I really loved it.
People would probably guess that carbon must be my favourite element. It is indeed a remarkable element. It is so simple and versatile, but I never think about it being my favourite. I’ve been working on very different materials in my life. I started with III–V semiconductors – gallium arsenide, and so on. And then graphene, and many others. Now niobium is probably my favourite, because of the superconductivity. I’m quite excited about this.
I don’t do that much graphene these days. I’m sure lots of chemists would be able to teach me a lot about graphene or about any other 2D materials.