In 1959 he was admitted to the faculty of chemistry of AUL and in 1964 he graduated with a degree in "chemist". In 1967 he entered the graduate school of the Azerbaijan Institute of Petroleum and Chemistry named after M. Azizbayov (now the Azerbaijan State Oil Academy), in 1970 he defended his PhD, and in 1981 he defended his doctoral dissertation at the Moscow Institute of Fine Chemical Technology named after M. Lomonosov. In 1970-1982 he worked at the Azerbaijan Institute of Petroleum and Chemistry as a junior, then senior researcher, head of the chemistry department of the research department, associate professor of the "Organic Chemistry" department and deputy vice-rector for scientific affairs. From 1982 to present, he was the head of the Department of Organic Chemistry, and from 1988 to 1997, he was the dean of the Faculty of Chemical Technology. He has been the rector of the Azerbaijan State Oil Academy since 1997. His wide range of scientific interests is devoted to the development of methods for obtaining unsaturated heteroatomic organic compounds, the study of their structure, the laws of chemical reactions and the discovery of their practical properties. SF Garayev is the author of about 550 scientific works. He was the editor-in-chief of the scientific magazine "News of Azerbaijan Higher Technical Schools", a member of the editorial staff of the socio-political-international magazine "Double Star" and the newspaper "Vishka". Acad. SFGarayev was awarded the titles of "Excellence in Petrochemical and Oil Refining Industry of the USSR", "Honorary Chemist of the USSR", Honored Scientist of Azerbaijan. He was awarded the Order of Glory in 2012.