After his getting a title of junior scientific assistant in Chemistry in 1837 Nikolay N. Zinin was sent abroad for three years. He visited laboratories of famous scientists of that time, chemical plants and mines. For a year he worked at a well-known Justus Liebich laboratory in Hissen (Germany). There Zinin learned new methods of making experiments and teaching Chemistry, which were introduced by Liebich. They implied both lectures and practical classes. The material, having been got there, was enough for Doctor's Dissertation, which he successfully presented in St.Petersburg University in 1841.

Having returned to Kazan, Zinin began teaching Chemistry, combining theory and experiment, and went on doing researches, which made him and Kazan University known all over the world. He discovered the reaction of transformation of aroma nitro-compounds into amino-compounds and got synthetic aniline in 1842. This reaction was a starting point for the development of aniline-dye industry. A famous German chemist Hoffman was a one, who expressed the meaning of Zinin's discovery in the most laconic and bright way: "If Zinin hadn't done anything except transformation of nitrobenz into aniline, his name would have gone down in history of Chemistry even though". The preparation of aniline, having been got by Zinin, is kept in the museum up till now.