First author

Credit: Y. A. TUMANOV

The very nature of the 'superheavy' elements makes their chemical properties hard to characterize. So when Robert Eichler of the Paul Scherrer Institute in Villigen, Switzerland, and his collaborators in Russia and Poland set about examining element 112 they needed a lot of patience. This element does not occur naturally on Earth, and the team had to wait several days to get just one atom of it from a nuclear fusion reaction. Some theorists had predicted that element 112 would behave like a noble metal, others that it would be more like a noble gas. On page 72, Eichler and his colleagues offer evidence for the former. Eichler, who grew up in Russia during the cold war and studied in Germany, tells Nature about how culture influenced his chemistry.

What are the main differences between Russia, Germany and Switzerland in terms of how research is conducted?

My team has fruitful collaborations with more than ten different countries. In our field, the challenges of the work overcome any small differences in mentality or regional habits of the individual researchers.

Is it a coincidence that you are now working with the Russian Flerov Laboratory?

My father, also a nuclear chemist, worked at the Flerov Laboratory in the 1970s and 1980s. During that time, I spent six years at a Russian school in Dubna. There I learnt Russian and found out a great deal about the country's mentality, which is very helpful for my current work. Nevertheless, it was a fortunate coincidence that superheavy elements were discovered in Dubna at a time when I was available to help study them chemically.

Is it helpful to share comparable political backgrounds with your collaborators?

In our home countries, we are all in similar positions politically — we fight for financial support from our governments and from other funds in order to gain high-quality results. In this respect, every scientific community in the world speaks the same language.

When will element 112 get a proper name?

The claims for the naming of element 112 have been sent to IUPAC. The final decision should be on its way.

You have already helped characterize the artificial element bohrium. What attracts you to these superheavy elements?

Working with single atoms, we provide the experimental proof for the models that predict the elements' chemical properties. This is science and technology at its outer limits. I am working with my best friends in a highly professional team.