In recent years, the works devoted to the mechanisms and specific features of scientific activity has described either the requirements for the personality of a scientist or the characteristics of the scientific activity itself and its’ considerable result, but the specific individual psychological characteristics that ensure the successful performance of scientific activity have never been determined. In order to "make" this sphere achievable and accessible, we proposed to study the first substantive steps in a research career, starting with the first university courses and up to the stage of the most successful students-researchers who entered post-graduate studies, defended their PhD theses and became professional scientists. This approach allows us to trace the stages of professional development of the scientist's personality on the way to the scientific result and to consider his/her individual psychological indicators as "internal reserves" which considered to be the basis for the self-efficacy of scientific activity. In our study we based on the theoretical and methodological Russian psychology approaches of such authors as: Klimov (1996), Peisahov (1991), Ponomarev (1960), Rubinstein (2002), and there were four stages of research activity development identified: the stage of selection, the stage of adaptation, the stage of internality, the stage of mastery.

scientist, the research activity, psychological determinants, self-efficacy, high education