Vasily Shaginyan received his Ph.D. in Theoretical Physics in 1981 and his Doctor of Science degree in 1990 from Leningrad (Petersburg) Nuclear Physics Institute, and is currently a leading research fellow at this Institute. His fields of interest include theoretical nuclear physics, condensed matter physics, strongly correlated Fermi systems and HF compounds, quantum spin liquids, quasicrystals, high-Tc superconductors, and the quasi-classical behavior of HF compounds. He is the author and co-author of 160 papers, including seminal papers on the fermion condensation phase transition and flat bands, heavy fermion metals, quantum spin liquids, and quasicrystals.