Dr. Goncharov received a Baccalaureate/Master in Nuclear Physics from the Moscow Engineering Physics Institute in 1993 and a Master of Science in Mechanical Engineering and Plasma Physics from the University of Rochester in 1995.

He joined LLE in 1998, after receiving his Ph.D. from the University of Rochester under the direction of his thesis advisor, Prof. Riccardo Betti. He was promoted to the Senior Scientist position in June of 2005. In April 2006 he became the Leader of the Theory Group. Dr. McCrory notes, "Valeri has made outstanding contributions to the Inertial Fusion Program."

McCrory states, "He brings to this position considerable experience in modeling and analyzing the effects of hydrodynamic instabilities in inertial confinement fusion (ICF) implosions and in the development of techniques to mitigate hydrodynamic instabilities. For his outstanding contributions to the theory of the ablative Rayleigh-Taylor and Richtmyer-Meshkov instabilities and for development of a technique to reduce the growth of these instabilities by means of adiabat shaping, he was selected as a Fellow of the American Physical Society in 2007. Valer is a leader in identifying possible sources for disagreement between theory and experiment and in proposing improvements in theoretical models to better address modeling actual conditions accessed in experiments. Such creativity will be required as the LLE scientific program aggressively moves toward direct-drive ICF ignition. Valeri is also an Adjunct Professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering."

As Division Director, Valeri will provide the vision, strategy, staff mentoring, and oversight of LLE's overall theory and high-performance computations effort. Topics in the Division include laser direct-drive inertial fusion, laser-plasma interaction physics, and high-energy-density physics (HEDP) in support of fundamental science.

As a senior member of LLE, working with Mike Campbell, he will play a key role in developing LLE strategy and in interfacing with both our federal sponsors and the ICF/HEDP community. Valeri can be contacted at vgon@lle.rochester.edu