Skoltech Faculty Prospectus August 2014 by Skoltech

FA C U LT Y P R O S P E C T U S A U G U S T 2 014

F A C U LT Y P R O S P E C T U S AUGUST 2014

Welcome to Skoltech

Edward Crawley President

I’d like to introduce you to Skoltech — a new model for Russian higher education, bridging science and innovation to impact the world we live in. We are bringing together a fusion of exceptional Russian and international talent, creating key partnerships, and a world-class infrastructure to make of Skoltech an institute capable of becoming an engine of economic growth. Our systematic approach for creating impact in society sets us apart. We directly engage with industry and society to understand their needs, then educate graduate students and conduct research to strategically improve standards of living and companies’ global competitiveness. In just two years, we have conducted a stakeholders analysis, developed a comprehensive research strategy, and founded six Centers for Research, Education and Innovation to address the needs of our stakeholders — businesses, government and society. Our faculty includes top researchers and educators from around the world, including Prof. Anton Berns, Prof. Victor Kotelianski and Nobel Laureate Sidney Altman. We have also created opportunities for talented Russians to return to Russia — a number of our professors are from the greater Russian Diaspora. We’ve launched educational programs in IT, Energy, Space and Biomedicine, matriculated students from 19 countries, and plan to inaugurate more Masters and Ph.D. programs. Our students have already demonstrated their unique potential by founding their own companies, securing funding from Venture Capitalists, and entering Top 10 in international competitions such as the CleanTech Challenge and MIT’s 100k Competition. We eagerly look forward to what they will achieve in their two years at Skolkovo. Our list of partners and friends is growing with every year. Since founding our key partnership with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), we have formed ties with a number of the world’s other leading universities. The Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology, St. Petersburg State University and the University of Groningen (the Netherlands) are just a few of the institutional pillars on which we are building our foundation. We have a successful track record of collaboration on research and educational programs with industrial partners, such as United Aircraft Company, System Operator of the United Power System and CISCO. Despite our short history, we have grown rapidly in the last two years and laid the cornerstone for our future community of 200 professors, 440 postdocs, and 1,200 students. Please read on to understand why I am so confident in saying that at Skoltech, we are doing more than graduating leaders, we are preparing agents of change.

Raj Rajagopalan Provost

It is my great pleasure to introduce you to Skoltech, its programs and its faculty. As most educators would readily acknowledge, the predominant picture of a university as primarily a place of passive instruction imparted through received knowledge is a relic of the past. The modern university is a center of critical enquiry for the purpose of questioning received wisdom and opening new frontiers. The modern university is thus an incubator of innovation and paradigm shifts. And its soul is its faculty, its legacy its students. Skoltech is an ambitious project by the Russian Federation to bring together the rich intellectual traditions and accomplishments of its talented citizens and the best practices and developments in international science and technology to establish an innovation-driven Russian graduate university with an international footprint. It seeks to combine research, education and innovation seamlessly without the confines of artificial barriers imposed by traditional disciplinary divisions. A great university is not an isolated center of learning, but a microcosm in constant and dynamic interactions with an ever-changing world around it from which it draws its inspiration and defines its mission. Institution building therefore never ceases even in the case of an “established” university. And in the case of a university at its birth, like Skoltech, the challenges are formidable, but truly exciting and energizing and are an opportunity to define the future. We are indeed very fortunate to have the strong and enthusiastic support of, and active participation by, very distinguished scholars, researchers and innovators from around the world. Our faculty members, Founding Faculty Fellows and academic administrators come from many parts of the world as well as from the Russian Federation and the Russian diaspora. I welcome you to learn about our faculty and programs and join us in this endeavor!

F A C U LT Y P R O S P E C T U S AUGUST 2014

Table of contents

????V V VV

HERZOG & DE MEURON

CREDITS TEXT AND CONTENT DEVELOPMENT

Ilan Goren

Skoltech Explained

Research

Campus and Facilities

Meet Members of our Faculty: Iskander Akhatov Natalia Berloff Anton Berns Janusz Bialek Zafer Gürdal Victor Kotelianski Raj Rajagopalan Konstantin Severinov Keith Stevenson Anatoly Dymarsky Alessandro Golkar Victor Lempitsky Alexander Ustinov Kelvin Willoughby

Partnership with MIT

Careers and Positions

Funding

Students

Skoltech Milestones

Life in Moscow

Russian: Say it по-русски

GRAPHIC CONCEPT AND DESIGN

Denis Landin

COVER IMAGE COURTESY OF

Herzog and DeMeuron IMAGES COURTESY OF

Skolkovo Foundation, Skoltech, Ilan Goren and Flickr users (under Creative Commons License, see images on pages for credit and attribution)

PLE A SE NOTE Every effort has been made to ensure the accuracy of information in this Faculty Prospectus at the time of going to print. However, changes and developments are part of the life of the university and research centers and alterations may occur to programs, staff and tracks described in the prospectus. Please refer to the Skoltech and Faculty websites for the most up-to-date information. http://www.skoltech.ru/en/ http://faculty.skoltech.ru/

F A C U LT Y P R O S P E C T U S AUGUST 2014

4 Skoltech Explained The Skolkovo Institute of Science and Technology (Skoltech) is a unique university. To help you get started, let us explain the basics.

Established in 2011, Skoltech is a PRIVATE GRADUATE RESEARCH

UNIVERSITY in Skolkovo, a suburb of Moscow, Russia, with English as the language of instruction

The OPPORTUNITIES we offer are based on what we call the “triple-helix model”: a model that weaves INNOVATION seamlessly into RESEARCH and EDUCATION

We bring IDEAS to IMPACT society and business, while emphasizing FUNDAMENTAL research of high standards. We aim to solve real problems in Russia and the world. PRACTICAL use of science is key

The university and its Centers for Research, Education and Innovation (CREIs) address critical challenges in 6 MAJOR “TRACKS”: INFORMATION, BIOMEDICINE, ENERGY, SPACE, NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

and SCIENCE CUTTING ACROSS THESE AREAS

Skoltech supports a MULTIDISCIPLINARY APPROACH. Crosscutting and innovative collaboration are core to our mission

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Skoltech Explained

AUGUST 2014

FREEDOM

Skoltech is a PARTNER OF MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology). We work together on research, curriculum and planning, and innovation

Our FACULTY, many of whom are senior, INTERNATIONALLY REPUTED ACADEMIC LEADERS,

hail

from VARIOUS COUNTRIES and BACKGROUNDS â&#x20AC;&#x201D; east and west, north and south, academia and industry

Skoltech is an indispensable part of the SKOLKOVO ECOSYSTEM that comprises a COMPLETE HIGH-TECH CITY

with a number of

PRIVATE INTERNATIONAL R&D CENTERS

and START-

UP INCUBATORS

A CENTER FOR ENTREPRENEURSHIP AND

INNOVATION (CEI) operates at Skoltech. Its main goal is to make Skoltech AN ENGINE OF ECONOMIC GROWTH by rapidly implementing ideas to create impact, by engaging students and faculty in E&I (entrepreneurship and innovation), and by accelerating research outcomes toward commercialization and broader social impact

HERZOG & DE MEURON

We believe that CREATIVE PEOPLE must have INDEPENDENCE of thought and academic

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Skoltech Explained

AUGUST 2014

HERZOG & DE MEURON

Building a research university from scratch is exciting and requires pioneers. With the help of our partner, the Skolkovo Foundation, a lot has been achieved since we broke the ground â&#x20AC;&#x201D; now it is time to look ahead, to new challenges.

IN 2016

IMAGE COURTESY OF MOHAMMAD AMIRUL ISLAM

a NEW CAMPUS building is planned to open its doors

By 2020 we aim to: Establish all of our 15 Centers for Research Education and Innovation Employ 200 professors Host 440 postdoctoral associates Educate 1200 students

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Skoltech Explained

AUGUST 2014

IF YOU THINK that building a new, innovation-driven technological university from the ground up is a rare opportunity — YOU ARE RIGHT. IF YOU CARE about your scientific independence, are passionate about cross-cutting research, want to make an impact on real-world issues and enjoy teaming up with global industries and researchers from top international universities and research institutions — WE ARE RIGHT FOR YOU. IF YOU HAVE

a pioneering spirit —

YOU ARE RIGHT FOR US.

3 THINGS YOU MIGHT LIKE TO KNOW ABOUT US

1 2 3

is Skoltech’s But in our labs, cafeterias and lecture halls you can also hear Swedish, Dutch, Italian, Hebrew, Urdu — and Russian. ENGLISH

WORKING LANGUAGE.

Among our INTERNATIONAL PARTNERS are institutions such as MIT, Whitehead Institute, Groningen School of Medicine, Delft University of Technology, KU Leuven, Technical University of Berlin and others. We are GROWING: recruiting, devising new educational programs and expanding our CREIs.

WE ARE RECRUITING FACULTY AT A RAPID PACE AND HOPE YOU WILL APPLY. DROP US A LINE AT FACULTY-INTEREST@SKOLKOVOTECH.RU, CHECK THE INFORMATION ON APPLICATION, POSITIONS AND CAREER OPPORTUNITIES ON PAGES 36-37 OR VISIT THE FOLLOWING LINKS

http://faculty.skoltech.ru/Positions/Listings

http://sktech-search.mit.edu/

http://sktech-postdoc.mit.edu/

F A C U LT Y P R O S P E C T U S AUGUST 2014

Research

The major component of the Skoltech concept is the establishment of Centers for Research, Education and Innovation (CREIs). These are our main scientific growth engines.

Skoltech has defined six priority areas for its research efforts — Biomedicine, IT, Energy, Space, Nuclear, as well as science cutting across these areas (e.g. materials). The SKOLTECH CENTERS FOR RESEARCH, EDUCATION AND INNOVATION

(CREIS) are the key building blocks in

the effort to develop a world-class graduate university that combines education, research and innovation seamlessly. Skoltech plans to form 15 CREIs in the six research priority areas. The CREIs pursue LEADING RESEARCH in their fields, deliver WORLDCLASS GRADUATE EDUCATION PROGRAMS

and generate results that can form the basis for INNOVATION AND ENTREPRENEURSHIP ACTIVITIES at Skoltech and in Russian industry. Importantly, CREIs will build capacity of all kinds at Skoltech, and will be designed to have broad impact on Russia. The establishment of CREIs in CLOSE COOPERATION WITH ONE (OR MORE) INTERNATIONAL AND RUSSIAN ACADEMIC

PARTNERS is done because we believe this is the most efficient and fastest way to establish a new world-class graduate research university, complementing the existing research and educational system in Russia

and DEVELOPING A GATEWAY between Russia and the rest of the world. The Skoltech CREIs embody the increasingly important collaborative and multi-university research partnerships required for multidisciplinary advanced research. Each CREI has Skoltech as the lead university (reflecting the flow of funding) with major universities or research institutions as partners. Thus, Skoltech researchers are brought into collaboration with researchers from both international and Russian institutions. For example, Skoltech cooperated with the University of Groningen and Vavilov Institute of General Genetics to establish its first CREI. Our first CREI, out of a total of fifteen, focuses on one of science’s Holy Grails: Stem Cell Research. The center’s team of researchers tackle the most pressing questions related to these “magic cells” capable of transforming into expert cells, which could help treat currently incurable diseases — and save millions of lives. Skoltech’s biomedicine students attend classes at the center, located at University Medical Center Groningen.

Professor Konstantin Severinov, Associate Dean of Faculty, gives a presentation to students and faculty

GUIDELINES FOR THE OPER ATION AND ADMINISTR ATION OF RESE ARCH BY CREI PARTICIPANTS INCLUDE Grant and contract administration Expected or allowable research expenditures (faculty, student, postdoc, and researcher salaries; equipment; travel; materials and services, etc.) Management of salary costs Reporting requirements (technical, fiscal, equipment and property, intellectual property) Financial review and control requirements

Research

F A C U LT Y P R O S P E C T U S AUGUST 2014

3 THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT OUR APPROACH TO RESE ARCH

Skoltech supports a multidisciplinary approach. Cross-cutting and innovative collaborations are core to our mission.

We believe that scientists must have independence of thought and academic freedom.

The Skoltech Centers for Research, Education and Innovation (CREIs) support practical implementation of science in six major “Tracks”: Information, Biomedicine, Energy, Space, Nuclear Science and Technology and Science cutting across these areas.

Professor Raj Rajagopalan, Provost (right) and professor Victor Kotelianski, Director, Skoltech Center for Infectious Diseases and Functional Genomics, chat during the Toward Therapies of the Future conference, May 2014

CHECK OUT THE VIDEO

http://vimeo.com/63611829

FOR MORE INFORMATION

http://faculty.skoltech.ru/ Life-at-Skoltech/Research

http://www.skoltech.ru/en/crei/

F A C U LT Y P R O S P E C T U S AUGUST 2014

Campus and Facilities

We are building Skoltech’s new campus from the ground up — and the professors and students are coming. Master’s and PhD students, faculty members and postdoctoral researchers hailing from more than 20 countries, have already set base at the newly constructed Hypercube, our current hub. But in 2016, when the remarkable new main building opens, Skoltech’s development program will reach a key milestone. Life and work here will become more streamlined, inspiring — and fun. The gleaming white campus, located in western Moscow, was designed by world-renowned Swiss architects Herzog and de-Meuron. They envisioned a 60-hectare complex that will house an array of facilities specifically designed for the needs of students and faculty members. State-of-the-art lecture halls, top notch labs, user-centered public spaces and a library enveloped with tall windows and awash with natural light (yes, even in winter), all lay the ground for interdisciplinary research, academic programs and technological innovation. With R&D centers operated by industry leaders such as Cisco, Microsoft, IBM and Intel only minutes away from the main building, reaching the business and startup community will be a matter of picking up a cappuccino at the cafeteria — and going for a stroll. Residential and shopping areas have already begun to rise from the ground and a high-speed rail link to Moscow is planned. When it opens, a cosmopolitan city buzzing with energy will be just a short train ride away from Skoltech’s new home. Our field of dreams is taking shape.

HERZOG & DE MEURON

If you build it, they will come, the visionary protagonist from the film “Field of Dreams” famously believed. So do we.

http://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=btQN2BX2IFg

HERZOG & DE MEURON

WATCH THE VIDEO

F A C U LT Y P R O S P E C T U S

Campus

AUGUST 2014

4 THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT THE CAMPUS

The Renova Labs building is scheduled for delivery in 2015 for equipment and lab set-up. It will house a multi-disciplinary environment, suitable for materials and chemical laboratories, biomedical and stem cell research, microelectronics, and testing equipment with heights allowable to 8 meters and maximum floor loading of up to 10,000 kN. The facility is equipped with laboratory gases, fume hoods and in-ceiling delivery systems.

Some of our professors take part in designing their own offices and labs.

Internal spaces are designed for maximum overlap among the 6 core, science and technology “Tracks”– energy, biomedical, IT, space and nuclear science and technology.

Architects have created a web of pedestrian links and quiet yards. The vision: chance encounters made easy.

F A C U LT Y P R O S P E C T U S AUGUST 2014

Meet Members of our Faculty Professor Iskander Akhatov Director, Skoltech Center for Hydrocarbon Recovery

“Let’s face it”, sitting in a Moscow café, Iskander Akhatov fiddles with a polystyrene coffee cup, “oil will remain the main energy source for ages.”

F A C U LT Y P R O S P E C T U S

Meet Members of our Faculty

AUGUST 2014

13 SKOLTECH CENTER FOR HYDROCARBON RECOVERY AIMS TO

major energy companies and international schools. “Among the center’s list of academic partners are UT Austin, TA&MU (USA), University of Calgary (Canada), Herriot-Watt (UK), all offering world class petroleum engineering programs. These will help build state of the art labs in Skoltech which will tackle complex issues like geomechanics, chemical and thermal-enhanced recovery.”

Develop an international research program in oil and gas staffed by highly qualified researchers and equipped with up-to-date laboratory equipment

“I talked to Russian oil companies, I understand their needs,” he explains, “Russian companies have two options. One is to buy expertise from service providers abroad which is expensive and has to be done over and over again. The other option is to come to Skoltech.

Recruit new faculty and develop an internationally competitive graduate program in oil and gas. Improve Skoltech graduate students’ skills through graduate schools of collaborating universities

Here we will be exchanging knowledge with the international scene, teach and develop skills. As for American academics and multinational companies, Skoltech opens the door to a new field where they can apply their knowledge and skills. Everybody gains.” IMAGE COURETSY OF RICHARD MASONER , CYCLELICIOUS, FLICKR

He takes a gulp from the steamy cappuccino. “I left behind a very comfortable position in an American university in order to come back to Russia. I guess you can say that you need to be a crazy realist to make such a move. Well, perhaps I am that crazy realist.” Akhatov asked for a leave of absence from North Dakota State University, where he holds a tenured position. “Cheap, high-quality oil does not jump out of the ground and into the gas tanks anymore,” he continues. “We are entering the age of unconventional reserves, where we will mostly extract energy that is squeezed in shale rocks and trapped in nano pores. If you want oil drops to be pushed out of the ground you will need to learn much about the physics and chemistry of these multiscale objects.” The Russian-born professor, who moved to the US 13 years ago, cups the coffee. It now reaches drinkable temperature. Hydrocarbon recovery should be at the forefront of science, he says, with an approach that is sober and unflinching. “The only way to tackle complex IT, physics and engineering issues that are inherent to this age of unconventional reserves we are entering is to build a hub which collaborates with

3 THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT HIM

Professor Akhatov plans to spend his free time in Moscow “going to the ballet with my family” and visiting the incredible monasteries around Moscow, the so-called “Golden Ring”.

His work focuses on micro- and nanometer-scale fluid dynamics; emulsions, suspensions, and complex fluids in micro and nano-channels and porous media; dynamics and acoustics of bubbles and bubbly liquids; multiphase systems; applications of above listed research subjects to the oil & gas, materials, and biomedicine industries.

Fargo, North Dakota, was home for him and his family for more than a decade. Akhatov saw the film and knows the popular TV series about a sinister murderer who commits grisly crimes. “Fargo the movie is brilliant and very hard. But real Fargo is the safest town in the US. It is the best and cleanest place to raise a family”.

Focus specifically on Geomechanics, geophysical exploration and monitoring of hydrocarbon production; Shale oil: development of new technologies for Russian shale oil fields (Bazhenov, Domaink); Heavy oil: development of new technologies for Russian heavy oil fields; Unconventional gas: development of new technologies gas hydrates and other new gas reserves.

FOR MORE INFO, PUBLICATIONS AND AWARDS

http://faculty.skoltech.ru/ Faculty/Iskander-Akhatov

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Meet Members of our Faculty

AUGUST 2014

Professor Natalia Berloff Dean of Faculty

For someone who unleashed quantum tornadoes and then taught them how to dance in a fluid trapped on a semiconductor chip, Professor Natalia Berloff comes across as a remarkably calm person.

Meet Members of our Faculty

F A C U LT Y P R O S P E C T U S AUGUST 2014

15 NATALIA BERLOFF’S RESE ARCH INTERESTS FOCUS ON Nonlinear waves Superfluidity Quantum fluids Bose-Einstein condensates Superfluid turbulence Along with colleagues from Cambridge University the Russian born researcher created hundreds of twister-like vortexes and studied a new quantum particle called polariton. The technology could be used to measure movements to astonishing precision. So perhaps it is no surprise that Skoltech’s Dean of Faculty is unfazed by challenges. Even unprecedented ones. “We would like to build a unique gateway to western tech science and skills. That’s what sets Skoltech apart from other Russian academic institutions. When Russian industry will need western expertise we would be the go-to place“, says the applied mathematician heading the Cambridge-Skoltech Quantum Fluids Laboratory (CSQF). She now plans to develop mirror labs — one in Moscow, the other in Cambridge. Berloff seems to be constantly on the go. When we catch her for a short conversation she is in between trips — giving summer classes in Cuba, assessing PhD candidates in Finland and attending a conference in Germany. She splits the rest of her time between Cambridge and Moscow. But when asked about break-

3 THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT HER

Read her description of her famous “quantum tornadoes” research: “Being half-light and half-matter these particles are feather-light and move quickly around, sloshing and cascading like water in a mountain river.” Now we can challenge anyone to say that mathematicians and physicists lack a sense of poetry.

ing travel records or centuries’ old glass ceilings — Berloff was the first ever woman appointed Professor of Mathematics at Cambridge in 800 years — she prefers to steer the conversation away from personal milestones.

“There are excellent schools in Russia but the fluidity and flexibility offered by Skoltech is a unique advantage. We don’t have rigidly defined departments so students can fine-tune their own study program — starting, for example, in the energy track and then switching to IT.”

Coherence in non-equilibrium quantum systems Strong light-matter coupling in solid-state systems Finite temperature atomic condensates

“As for faculty, our mission is to track and retain the best. We need people with background and education that do not exist in other places. And then we need to create a cross-cutting environment where they can prosper. Only then do you know you have succeeded. If you follow in someone else’s footsteps nothing will happen”.

She brought back her children from the UK to Moscow because:“It is a big vibrant city — it offers ice skating, theater, and an opportunity for my kids to have a stronger sense of self identity”.

A word of advice to foreign faculty: “Once you get to know your way (around Moscow) a whole world will open up to you. There are lifelong friendships to be made”.

FOR MORE INFO, PUBLICATIONS AND AWARDS

http://faculty.skoltech.ru/ Faculty/Natalia-Berloff

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Meet Members of our Faculty

AUGUST 2014

Professor Anton Berns Director, Skoltech Center for Stem Cell Research

When Anton Berns was approached by the president of MIT with a tentative offer to join Skoltech, the Dutch chemist and molecular geneticist was caught a little off guard: â&#x20AC;?I had no idea what he was talking aboutâ&#x20AC;?.

Meet Members of our Faculty

F A C U LT Y P R O S P E C T U S AUGUST 2014

But then Berns, who holds a senior position with the Netherlands Cancer Institute and is one of the world’s leading scientists in using genetically modified mice to study cancer, heard from another prominent name in the field. It was Rudolf Jaenisch, a biologist at MIT’s Whitehead Institute. “He told me that Skoltech is a great project. That got me interested,” says Professor Berns. He is now the director of the Skoltech Center for Stem Cell Research. The Stem Cells CREI (Center for Research Education and Innovation) which Berns heads, is the result of a collaboration between Skoltech and a string of international and Russian partners. Along with the Moscow based institute, which leads the project, partners include institutions such as ERIBA (European Research Institute for the Biology of Ageing) at the University of Groningen and the Hubrecht Institute (both based in Netherlands), the Whitehead Institute, and the Institute of General Genetics of the Russian Academy of Sciences in Moscow. “I’ve been on the board of many institutions and what I like about

3 THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT HIM

Professor Berns’ work focuses on mouse models of cancer, specifically cells-of-origin of small cell and non-small cell lung cancer; thoracic tumors; and gene therapy.

IMAGE COURTESY OF ANKUR SINGH AND ANDRÉS GARCÍA, GEORGIA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY

IMAGE COURTESY OF MAGGIE BARTLETT, NHGRI

SKOLTECH CENTER FOR STEM CELL RESE ARCH AIMS TO DE VELOP

Skoltech is the CREI concept”, says Berns. “Building research centers with the direct support of external partners who are motivated to do so because they get substantial funding — this is a great idea. That was the most important motivation to join.” As for the major challenges and tasks ahead, Berns stresses that “biomedicine is a very collaborative activity. It is our goal to facilitate an exchange of people and materials - and be able to ship everything around. We might also consider creating a niche in Skoltech that is slightly less dependent on ordering and receiving materials, which is currently still a challenge.”

Reprogramming approaches for producing human and mouse iPS cells. Propagation of adult stem cells from various tissues and organs. Differentiation programs and methods for producing differentiated cells from pluripotent cells. Deeper understanding of genome stability and epigenetic changes during reprogramming, proliferation and differentiation. Insight into gene networks involved in stem cell regulation and regeneration.

“But my most important task right now is to recruit excellent people”, he points out. “Since I have a track record of running and managing institutes, I want to help Skoltech find motivated people that share the vision on which Skoltech is built.”

For over 30 years, Berns has used viruses as a key tool for cancer research, a strategy which in turn has led to the identification of genes critical for cancer and stem cell maintenance.

Deeper insight into the science and applications of stem cells as well as the techniques to study them in a data-intensive world, targeted towards the development of new therapies and drugs.

He describes Skoltech as “an opportunity to join an exciting project before I get some rest. I plan to stop working when I turn 75”.

Stem cell models to study inherited and acquired human diseases.

FOR MORE INFO, PUBLICATIONS AND AWARDS

http://faculty.skoltech.ru/ Faculty/Anton-Berns

F A C U LT Y P R O S P E C T U S

Meet Members of our Faculty

AUGUST 2014

Professor Janusz Bialek Director, Skoltech Center for Energy Systems

“Here is what I would like to achieve in Moscow”, says Janusz Bialek a few days before he moves home from Durham, the UK, to Russia. “The Energy Systems CREI will become a world leader in research”.

Meet Members of our Faculty

F A C U LT Y P R O S P E C T U S AUGUST 2014

IMAGE COURTESY OF GLOBAL MARINE PHOTOS

SKOLTECH CENTER FOR ENERGY SYSTEMS AIMS TO

“Our center will help transform the Russian energy industry so that it can innovate and overcome its problems. It will be an interdisciplinary center, where not only power engineers, but also mathematicians, statisticians, economists and social scientists will make an impact. And we are going to do it.”

3 THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT HIM

Professor Bialek’s work focuses on power system analysis, economics and dynamics: technical and economic integration of renewables in power systems; and the prevention of electricity blackouts.

He pauses for a breath. One has to wonder whether Bialek, who had moved from Poland to the UK 25 years ago and went on to become one of Britain’s leading experts on power systems and an advocate for a sober approach to the usage of electricity, would settle for this not-so-short list of ambitious goals. But there is more. “The center will actively collaborate with the best

His wife is a sculptor. “The Moscow art scene is so vibrant, that I had no problem convincing her to move here. I speak Russian, and I think we both grasp the gap between the stereotype of a chaotic post-soviet Russia and real life”.

universities in the world, like MIT, Caltech and many others.” Generally speaking, Bialek’s research deals with achieving stable, secure, sustainable and economic supply of electricity while meeting the challenges of reducing CO2 emissions. Yet over the years he has steadily and constantly expanded his fields of interest and refuses to stick to rigidly defined disciplines. “You simply achieve better results by conducting cross-cutting research,” he explains. “Science tends to be a bit compartmentalized, but we will try a different approach. At Skoltech, scientific boundaries are very thin, and all the CREIs will collaborate. For example, I have been approached by a Skoltech string theorist, one of the best in the world, who would like to team up. There is no other place in the world where a string theorist can work together with power engineers. We like to think of ourselves as a kind of a super-group”, he chuckles.

In an interview with New Statesman magazine Bialek highlighted the oil-rich Gulf States’ drive towards energy efficiency: “In Kuwait in the summer, energy consumption is driven by air-conditioning and there is a shortage of supply. On TV they had a little dial that showed how close the country was to full capacity. People knew they might have blackouts, so they switched off things that weren’t needed”.

Bring the new science and engineering needed to address the grand challenges of Russian energy systems, including reliability, efficiency, regulations, and interdependencies with other energy infrastructures. Develop new computational tools and power electronics, robust network architectures and risk-aware algorithms for optimization and control to achieve more flexibility and reliability. Address undergoing transformational changes in Russian energy systems which require economic growth, stronger coupling and competition with other options for energy delivery, expansion to remote areas, and improved risk-assurance of control in transmission and distribution.

FOR MORE INFO, PUBLICATIONS AND AWARDS

http://faculty.skoltech.ru/ Faculty/Janusz-Bialek

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Meet Members of our Faculty

AUGUST 2014

Professor Zafer Gürdal Director, Skoltech Center for Advanced Structures, Processes, and Engineered Materials (ASPEM)

When Zafer Gürdal puts on his jacket, a silvery twinkle emanates from two lapel pins. One represents Skoltech’s logo. The other is a flying man, his stretched out arms made of finite element mesh.

Meet Members of our Faculty

F A C U LT Y P R O S P E C T U S AUGUST 2014

3 THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT HIM

Professor Gürdal received research funding from NASA, as well as companies such as Sikorsky Aircraft, Ford, Schneider Electric, Boeing, Mc. Donnell Douglas, Lockheed Martin, Newport News Shipbuilding, and ALCOA. He is also one of the founders of ADOPTECH, a small business in Virginia.

SKOLTECH CENTER FOR ADVANCED STRUCTURES, PROCESSES, AND ENGINEERED MATERIAL S (A SPEM) FOCUSES ON

we integrate all this. So we came up with the idea of trust areas — large projects, such as Innovative Manufacturing Technologies, Infrastructure Applications, Computational Design Methodologies, etc., which will have smaller sub projects that will be tackled by a group of laboratories. “It would not be an exaggeration to say that the commercial applications could be endless. Economics will play an important role, as composites are still expensive. But as we automate production and reduce the number of parts the cost will become more effective. Right now we are modifying existing 3D printers to build carbon fiber enforced plastics and developing new technologies so that we can produce anything from small car parts through bicycles to plane fuselages.

Basic and applied research into developing advanced structures that are lighter, more durable, more cost-effective, multi-functional, and environmentally friendly. Physical mechanics of materials and structures Methods for multiscale modeling of deformation and fracturing of materials

“All this will be done in Moscow with the help of international and Russian partners — such as KU Leuven (Belgium), TU Delft, the Netherlands, the University of South Carolina and others. “I know it sounds like fun. Why else would I be here?”

His work focuses on structural and multidisciplinary design and optimization, design and optimization of composite materials and structures, adaptive structures, buckling and postbuckling of thin-walled structures, global/local design methodologies for optimization of large complex systems, and computational methods for design.

He finds Moscow “an exhilarating cosmopolitan metropolis. People are kind. The taxi drivers are actually good. I can cross the street while closing my eyes — the cars will stop!”

Methods for automated production of low-cost structures Physical-chemical methods and technologies for producing materials with multiple constituents, such as polymers, ceramics, and metals Methods for modeling the physical and mechanical processes of complex constructions

IMAGE COURTESY NICK CROSS, GURIT, FLICKR

It was designed by the aerospace engineering faculty at TU Delft, where Gürdal once taught. Nowadays the Dutch university is an official research partner of Skoltech’s ASPEM center that he heads. “I always had this dream where I was flying”, says Gürdal, “I would just run in a field, jump and be airborne.” But now the composite materials engineer who likes to ski and used to scuba dive, is bent on taking off in the real world. Along with a group of talented researchers and postdocs he assembled in Moscow, Turkish-born Gürdal established the Skoltech Center for Advanced Structures, Processes, and Engineered Materials (ASPEM). “Composite materials is a multidisciplinary field. You need to understand structural issues, tackle challenges in manufacturing, have knowledge of computational methods and grasp the whole complexity of design. This is an excellent opportunity for us because we aim to achieve all that in one place: right here. In our seven labs which will serve as crosscutting functional units we will put together design, manufacturing, characterization and after-life of composite materials. This was never done in any other place in the world. “Of course this is very ambitious, and the reasonable question is how

Multi-disciplinary analysis of composite structures

FOR MORE INFO, PUBLICATIONS AND AWARDS

http://faculty.skoltech.ru/ Faculty/Zafer-Guerdal

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AUGUST 2014

Professor Victor Kotelianski Director, Skoltech Center for Infectious Diseases and Functional Genomics

If the human cell was a battlefield, Professor Victor Kotelianski would serve as a general of the revolutionary biomedicine army.

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Over the years, his scientific work has focused on RNAi therapeutics that could help our bodies fight off invading viruses in completely new ways. RNA molecules are used to inhibit gene expression by causing the destruction of specific mRNA molecules which are crucial for viruses’ advance on the body. Now the seasoned researcher is in Skoltech, where he heads the Skoltech Center for Infectious Diseases and Functional Genomics. His austere office resembles a field HQ. The walls are bare. The air-conditioning is off. The only evidence of the dramatic results Kotelianski is hoping for covers his desk. Flow charts, research proposals and post-it notes are laid out like on a commander’s sandbox.

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Professor Kotelianski was a VP for the French company Alnylam for five years, but insists that “Russian is the most beautiful language in the world by far”.

The Skoltech Center for Infectious Diseases and Functional Genomics will be a unique example of a multi-disciplinary effort to develop clinically suitable, safe and effective siRNA (small interfering RNA) delivery vehicles to a range of cells. In vivo biology will serve as an important research tool. “Nothing like this has ever been attempted in Russia”, says Kotelianski.

“We are starting from scratch and there’s a lot of hard work ahead of us,” he says, cracking a weary smile — and goes back to pore over his charts.

His work focuses on RNAi therapeutics including ALN-RSV01, ALN-VSP, ALN-PCS.

The only visible pictures in his office are on his computer screen saver, where images taken by his daughter, a photographer, float by.

IMAGE COURTESY OF MIKE MITCHELL, NCI VISUALS ONLINE

IMAGE COURTESY OF MAGGIE BARTLETT, NHGRI

IMAGE COURTESY OF NIGMS AND DAVID BUSHNELL, KEN WESTOVER AND ROGER KORNBERG, STANFORD UNIVERSITY

THE SKOLTECH CENTER FOR INFECTIOUS DISE A SES AND FUNCTIONAL GENOMICS AIMS TO Develop a robust collaborative effort focused on the development and application of RNA technology for medicine and biology, with specific emphasis towards medical conditions of importance to Russia. Combine expertise in Drug Delivery, Chemistry, Biology and Medicine between experts in the US and Russia, including the efforts of three Nobel Laureates. Advance science, generate new therapeutics, strengthen Russian institutions, and educate a next generation of Russian scientists.

FOR MORE INFO, PUBLICATIONS AND AWARDS

http://faculty.skoltech.ru/ Faculty/Victor-Kotelianski

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AUGUST 2014

Professor Raj Rajagopalan Provost

Two statuettes occupy Raj Rajagopalanâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s desk. A white bust of Aristotle keeps company to a figurine of the provost, sporting a red football jersey. The philosopher cohabitates with the action figure.

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F A C U LT Y P R O S P E C T U S AUGUST 2014

“I got both as presents” he chuckles, “perhaps they say something not only about my background but also my complex role here at Skoltech. “I oversee all aspects of academic operations and life on the campus and beyond. Yet I am an academic at heart. Being an academic administrator without having gone through the experience of being an academic is like being a painter who shows others how to paint by numbers!”, exclaims the university’s chief academic officer, who is a chemical engineer by background. “If one has not penetrated the soul of a teacher and researcher, one cannot be the best academic administrator.” As for the decision to join Skoltech, the Indian-born researcher and administrator explains that “I worked on similar projects in Singapore, the Middle East and Kazakhstan. Imagine the pioneers of the past — going to a new land and building a new future. The excitement and challenges are beyond imagination, words and compare.”

“In the case of a university in its formative stage, each day brings challenges that are either routine or unpredictable. It could be something as ‘simple’ as setting up policies, procedures and processes for a routine activity or as challenging as projecting a vision for the future for a new faculty member or student.

Colloid physics and complex fluids Liquid-state physics Biomolecular science Computational chemistry Pharmaceutical separations

“In an academic institution at its inception one is the author of one’s own future. Not only does one try to achieve one’s own dreams and build one’s own career, one also has the opportunity — in fact, the necessity — to create one’s own environment. “To me building something, especially a university of the future, from scratch is exciting.”

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RAJ R A JAGOPAL AN’S RESE ARCH INTERESTS FOCUS ON

One of the paintings hanging on his office wall, created by an Australian artist, synthesizes core elements of modern cosmology (“a favorite subject of mine”) with the spiral model of Mendeleev’s periodic table and a central, pre-monistic Indian principle which posits that the self is the same as the force behind the universe. “This is expressed in Sanskrit by the simple statement, ‘Thou art that’. As a scientist and an atheist, I love the superposition of the inner world and the outer. The painting is a birthday gift from my wife. I think of her when I look at it”.

Among his hobbies he lists sketching, drawing, and reading of “mostly non-fiction of all kinds and popular science books”.

Microrheology of extracellular matrices Motility of cancer cells in the extracellular matrices

His favorite Moscow pastime is visiting art galleries: “I can spend hours just looking at a few paintings.”

FOR MORE INFO, PUBLICATIONS AND AWARDS

http://faculty.skoltech.ru/ Faculty/Raj-Rajagopalan

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AUGUST 2014

Professor Konstantin Severinov Associate Dean of Faculty, Director of Biomedicine Program

Konstantin Severinov lays his hands on a cafeteria table peppered with breadcrumbs. “So you’d like to know what we do?”, the microbiologist flicks aside his mane of silvery hair, “we solve riddles.”

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IMAGE COURTESY OF ROBERT HEINZEN, ELIZABETH FISCHER AND ANITA MORA, NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF ALLERGY AND INFECTIOUS DISEASES, NATIONAL INSTITUTES OF HEALTH

Skoltech is an important project because it aims to live up to high expectations in research and education excellence. That is why I moved back to Russia. I maintain my lab in the US. But I’d like to create a situation where the Russian scientists that work with me in America can perform the same activities in Russia.”

“The overreaching theme is that when we study gene expression of bacteria and viruses or when we study antibiotics — we really do it for fun. Yes, there is a bit of a childish thing to being a scientist. It is like a riddle game. There must be an answer out there to a problem you are studying, but you do not know it, and you keep looking for it. This is how science and innovation grow.” The Russian born scientist, who returned to Moscow a decade ago, shifts a few pieces of dry ciabatta around the table’s surface. “As for innovation in Russia, it will grow from a scientific revival that will have to come from within. The Russian diaspora should play a role in this. When I talk to Russian expats who consider coming back, I tell them that to have an impact is empowering. And this is what Skoltech can and should - do for this country.

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He sees biology “like a Rube Goldberg machine, a crazy contraption that does what it is supposed to do but in a very redundant and often irrational way. Life evolved by thoughtless tinkering, not rational design”.

Severinov wears Skoltech branded t-shirts for interviews. For his latest media appearance he sported a casual grey sweatshirt on a morning show discussion of synthetic biology.

He doesn’t have an office in Skoltech “because it’s too petit bourgeois. I have five labs worldwide without offices and I want to keep it this way”. The professor can be spotted roaming the institute’s corridors in search of a quiet corner for himself and his laptop.

KONSTANTIN SE VERINOV’S WORK FOCUSES ON RNA transcription and bacterial RNA polymerase structure-function and mechanism. “From the point of view of an engineer, bacteria always do what is right for them: at any given time, only the right genes whose products are needed work. We look for ways to understand and control this process. If you develop an antibiotic that blocks the expression of a nasty bug’s gene that is required for infection — you can beat it.” Bacteriophage development and interactions with bacterial hosts. “Viruses make bacteria’s life very difficult, even miserable. So bacteria need to find ways to outdo the viruses. It is a never ending arms race. Understanding it can have wide implications for containing diseases caused by bacteria.” Structure-activity analysis of peptide antibiotics. “In real life, bacteria do not live in pure cultures. They cohabitate and “talk” to each other using chemical signals. Antibiotics is something that bacteria “invented” as a form of communication eons before us humans thought about using it as medicine. We study how bacteria produce antibiotics and how sensitive bacteria die in the presence of antibiotics or find ways to evade them and survive.” Studies of bacterial diversity in extreme environments: “We go out to places like Antarctica or Kamchatka’s hot springs to find new phages and bacteria and then study them in the lab and determine how they are distributed around the world.”

FOR MORE INFO, PUBLICATIONS AND AWARDS

http://faculty.skoltech.ru/ Faculty/Konstantin-Severinov

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AUGUST 2014

Professor Keith Stevenson Director, Skoltech Center for Electrochemical Energy Storage

“In Russia, much like in the USA, people want to press their cars’ accelerator and get a response”, argues Keith Stevenson, “we need to deliver this energy but lessen our dependence on oil.”

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3 THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT HIM

Professor Stevenson’s research interests are aimed at elucidating and controlling chemistry at solid/liquid interfaces vital to many emerging energy storage and conversion technologies.

“We also want to dramatically advance grid-level energy use through load-leveling and power-shaping. We need to create energy buffers to increase the efficient use of alternative energy sources, such as solar, wind and water. Sometimes these exist in abundance in nature, sometimes they are just not available. The center will help solve this problem.”

SKOLTECH CENTER FOR ELECTROCHEMICAL ENERGY STOR AGE AIMS TO Develop and demonstrate materials, devices and systems that will provide the basis for innovative opportunities for energy storage technologies Conduct research into advanced metal-ion and rechargeable metal-air battery Develop fuel and Electrolysis Cells

As for Skoltech, Stevenson thinks that “the really interesting element is the integration of education and research into solving real world problems. A lot of the funding agencies would like to see inspired research, which generates technology that contributes to GDP. The key is to break out of traditional ‘esoteric’ distinctions, so that scientists and students have freedom to explore and innovate in a broader sense. “If Russia wants to diversify from oil and gas and develop new investment opportunities, it needs people who can move between institutions and disciplines, start their own businesses and generate innovative new ideas.”

PHOTO COURTESY ARGONNE NATIONAL LABORATORY, FLICKR

“There is a way to do it: Store energy in batteries, then utilize it, just like in laptop and cellphone batteries. But the scale is going to be much larger. Immense even.” Stevenson, who had spent 14 years at the University of Texas, at Austin, US, before recently moving to Moscow, heads the Electrochemical Energy Storage CREI (one of 15 Skoltech Centers for Research Education and Innovation). “We will test new materials in the context of a major global challenge”, he pledges. “We want to drop the cost of batteries for cars by a factor of ten to a hundred. The price reduction can amount to a third of the total cost of the vehicle. Electric cars are not only for rich people, they have to be commercially viable for everyone in Russia and the world. “Such research has environmental, social and commercial implications. We can change the way people live. Think of quiet and efficient cars. Think even of self-driving cars and single occupancy autonomous vehicles…” the level headed researcher allows a dash of enthusiasm to infiltrate his voice. “World experts are trying to decrease batteries’ weight and increase energy and power density. These are some of the projects that involve rechargeable metal air batteries which utilize oxygen directly from the air or cheap chemicals like sulfur. This research is the focus of this generously funded CREI and its partners like MIT, Moscow State University, and other top universities.

Lithium-ion battery testing

Among his hobbies are fly-fishing (“people tell me Russian rivers are great for that”), and woodworking (“I built a kitchen table and chairs, headboard and dresser when I was a graduate student”). When he strolled around the estate of Catherine the Great, he found the old, lush trees “simply amazing”.

He likes to barbeque (BBQ) and plans on teaching the locals the nuances of this culture.

FOR MORE INFO, PUBLICATIONS AND AWARDS

http://faculty.skoltech.ru/ Faculty/Keith-Stevenson

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IMAGE COURTESY OF VITALY SMOLIGIN

Anatoly Dymarsky Assistant Professor

ANATOLY DYMARSK Y’S WORK FOCUSES ON Strongly coupled systems, when the constituent parts of a complex system cannot be considered in isolation. Examples range from interacting elementary particles to power grid.

FOR MORE INFO, PUBLICATIONS AND AWARDS

http://faculty.skoltech.ru/ Faculty/Anatoly-Dymarsky

Anatoly Dymarsky’s resume reads like a list of the best universities in the English-speaking world: a Ph.D. from Princeton, research positions at Stanford and the University of Cambridge, and a year as a visiting professor at MIT. “Skoltech faculty visit MIT to strengthen their professional skills in the areas most needed,” he says “My experience was mainly academic and I had little exposure to entrepreneurship. As MIT is well-known for its entrepreneurial ecosystem, this is a chance for me to gain invaluable experience.” So after working and researching in centuries-old top institutions in America and the UK, why join Skoltech, a young, private Russian university? “I was looking for a place without interdisciplinary boundaries, where cross-cutting research is encouraged. I’m a theoretical

physicist. But I am also interested in areas that are not considered part of physics, like engineering or quantitative biology. I didn’t want to make a choice.” Skoltech doesn’t have academic divisions or departments. There are no restrictions when it comes to research. So I’m working with a computer scientist now applying machine learning to improve control of electric power systems.”

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Before specializing in physics Anatoly worked as a TV journalist.

He is an avid Alpine skier.

“As a professor, my ultimate goal is to provide Skoltech students with knowledge that will enable them to thrive in the most competitive environments around the world. The point here is not to follow in someone’s footsteps. We have to create our own way.”

Anatoly enjoys Boston but loves Moscow because: “It is such a vibrant cosmopolitan city.”

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IMAGE COURTESY OF ESA

Alessandro Golkar Assistant Professor

ALESSANDRO GOLK AR’S WORK FOCUSES ON Development of systems engineering tools and methodologies for architecting large engineering systems Applications for robotic space exploration, human spaceflight, satellite systems and energy infrastructures. Hardware development of small satellites for space exploration and terrestrial applications

FOR MORE INFO, PUBLICATIONS AND AWARDS

http://faculty.skoltech.ru/ Faculty/Alessandro-Golkar

When it comes to groundbreaking work, Alessandro Golkar can literally see the future. From his office window, the Italian researcher gazes at a vast field where tractors and builders buzz around an oval construction site, reminiscent of a mother spaceship. It is Skoltech’s new campus. “Building a university from scratch, that’s probably something you get to do only once in your life”, he says, his fingers tracing an architectural plan laid out on his table. “I helped design my new lab and office. Pretty cool and exciting.” But the budding buildings are not the only reason professor Golkar, who came to Skoltech from MIT’s aerospace program, feels like a pioneer. “My students and I are working on a revolution in space”, he smiles, “We are studying how to federate satellites to make them share unused resources and trade them,

“We focus in our lab on concurrent engineering projects. Unlike traditional workgroups in which different teams work separately, developers and designers work together on satellite parts, spaceships or robots. The idea is to take complex multidisciplinary projects and create new concepts and new markets.” like in a smart grid. The goal is to achieve more with less.” “They say that the people who attend the first meeting, draw the initial plans, are always the ones who shape the future. Now I’m one of those people.”

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A licensed pilot, he flies a plane regularly. Next target: helicopter.

First non-managerial faculty member at Skoltech.

Loves the film “Gravity” but couldn’t stand watching Sandra Bullock spacewalking with the help of a fire extinguisher.

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AUGUST 2014

PAULETTE BROWN

Victor Lempitsky Assistant Professor

As head of Skoltech’s computer vision group, Lempitsky deals with a tantalizing paradox: he must think beyond the box — in order to make the box smarter. Or not so dumb, as he sees it. “Computers find it very difficult to extract information from the visual world, while human brains are excellent at that. If, for example, you want to know how many people cross a street a day, you could sit there and count. You’d probably do it perfectly. But it is so boring!” he smiles, “A computer that ‘sees’ is likely to miscalculate the number of people in a crowd by, say, 20%, but for most practical applications this can be just fine. One of my goals is to help computers perform the boring tasks that humans are so good at.” He then picks up a smartphone from his desk and flips it in his hand.

“Smartphones are great tools for connecting the visual world with knowledge from the internet. They can be good at finding matches and the next challenge is to make them better at finding similarities. In this way, the computers can become good not only at recognizing buildings but also at telling apart species of dogs and flowers. Currently the game is about that.” “Another big challenge — and the one that I find really interesting — is to derive information from images that are not familiar to the human brain. Think for example of 3d images such as those produced by MRI scanners or some modern microscopes. That’s one place where computer vision might outperform the human brain,” he pauses, “even as of now, it is already very helpful.” So how close are we to the Terminator movie-like world, where

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Victor leads Skoltech’s Computer Vision Group.

He has worked as a researcher at Russia’s Internet search giant Yandex, the University of Oxford, and with Microsoft in Cambridge. He chose Skoltech because of “the independence I have here, and the chance to collaborate with biologists and researchers from other disciplines”.

robots are able to see? “Not very close. Although the rate of the progress starts scaring me at times,” he admits. ”The scariest bit was when a friend of mine showed me an app that took photos and actually said what they were. The accuracy was impeccable and even complex and uncommon objects were recognized in a matter of seconds. It looked as if computer vision was finally solved. I was scared, although I must confess, not of the Terminator but of the fact that I was out of job. Fortunately for me and my colleagues, the app description that we looked up on the Internet said that the pictures were sent to the Philippines, where some guys just typed in what they saw in the photos. It will still take a big effort to make a similar app that does not fake computer vision.”

When this amiable researcher steps onto the soccer field, he is transformed into an unabashedly goal-oriented player. Some colleagues and students seem to be in awe of his predatory scoring instinct. Others just high-five him.

VICTOR LEMPITSK Y’S WORK FOCUSES ON Computer vision: Designing computer systems that extract, organize, and quantify information contained in images of various types and origin Visual recognition: Developing robust and flexible machine learning and optimization techniques able to handle and adapt to the diversity of image data in the modern world Biomedical image analysis

FOR MORE INFO, PUBLICATIONS AND AWARDS

http://faculty.skoltech.ru/ Faculty/Victor-Lempitsky

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IMAGE COURTESY OF UNITED NATIONS PHOTO, FLICKR

Professor Alexander Ustinov Associate Director, Skoltech Center for Energy Systems

“When I started my own company in Germany, I have had an opportunity to work on cutting-edge energy projects for companies like Siemens”, says Alexander Ustinov, the Associate Director of the Skoltech Center for Energy Systems, “but after 12 years in Western Europe I decided to go back to Russia. Fascinating processes take place here, where I have my roots.” “Skoltech offered things I could not find in other places. It breaks new ground and grows within a unique ecosystem”, he explains, “there’s the Skolkovo Foundation that supports international R&D and local startups. You have the Technopark. Moreover, Skoltech is a very international

place, where you enjoy learning from people with various backgrounds. Here interdisciplinarity and synergy are genuine parts of the work.” “We’re already launching at the Energy Systems CREI a highly innovative project in collaboration with the Composites center (ASPEM), to develop composite power towers.” Ustinov participated in the creation of several companies, which brought novel products and technologies to the European and international market. “When you’re still at school and start your own venture, you can’t tell whether you’ll make it or not”, he reminisces. “It’s tough. But when a student builds a startup that’s really connected to industry, it

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He is the founder of Advanced Energy Technologies, a German-based company, providing R&D and engineering services, with expertise in building of experimental installations, development of measuring techniques, computational fluid dynamic (CFD) simulations and modeling of processes of heat and mass transfer for the automobile and energy branches.

is a genuine breakthrough. The second you invent something and you bring it to market and commercialize, then a whole new set of knowledge and skills is created. Skoltech gives that opportunity to students and faculty, and from them it will be transferred to Russia as a whole. “Of course there are possibilities in other countries. But when you take a close look at the landscape in Western Europe, for example, you sometimes see half empty technoparks where a handful of startups develop mobile apps. It’s nice to have an iPhone and an Android app. But what the economy really needs is development that’s related to industry. We need to actually generate revenue.”

Alexander is a passionate stamp collector. “It’s a very old fashioned Russian engineers’ hobby. Keeping an aquarium is another classic pastime. I used to do both, but since I don’t have time for fish, I’m left only with the stamps”.

Loves to travel and brings home a teacup from every trip. “Yesterday I drank coffee from Washington, but today I will be sipping tea from the Beijing cup”.

ALE X ANDER USTINOV’S WORK FOCUSES ON Creation of novel technologies related to Smart Grid Building a state-ofthe-art investigation laboratory at the Energy Systems CREI Establishing research on enhanced heat and mass transfer in boiling, condensation, free and forced convection, thermal management of power equipment and exhaust gas after treatment technologies

FOR MORE INFO, PUBLICATIONS AND AWARDS

http://faculty.skoltech.ru/ Faculty/Alexander-Ustinov

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IMAGE COURTESY OF SHAPEWAYS, FLICKR

Kelvin Willoughby Professor

“When I first told colleagues that I’m moving to Russia to work on Intellectual Property management, they said I must be joking. But I was very serious — and still am”, Kelvin Willoughby says in an American drawl laced with an Australian lilt. The business professor and expert on technology-based entrepreneurship speaks softly and to the point: “Russian enterprises, and that includes small startups, must be able to quickly operate internationally in order to survive and flourish. They need to navigate the pitfalls and master the characteristics of the global scene. This is where I come in. My aim is to provide academic leadership on IP’s role in tech

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“Cooking and eating and drinking wine while talking with friends is one of the most important things in my life. I lived in many countries and always found that food is a good way of getting insights into society.”

management as a vehicle to commercialize and develop assets.” The affable Australian turned American moved to Moscow in summer 2014 to become the first full professor at the Skoltech Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation (CEI). His research is recorded in 4 monographs, numerous scholarly publications, technical monographs, industry and government reports; and he has won governmental, academic and industry grants in Hong Kong, Thailand, the USA, Germany and Australia. “I am optimistic about what can be done here”, a smile looms on his face, “The CEI will work with Ph.D. and

Willoughby confesses his love of “modern dance cities like New York, where I used to live, and Moscow, where I reside now. Ballet and modern dance are both my passions”.

Masters students, as well as with fellow faculty, to organize their thinking and activities towards successful commercialization.” “Moreover, Skoltech can take a leadership role in producing a robust annual survey and a database of the state of tech entrepreneurship in Russia. I’d like to learn how it changes over time, what kind of strategic support it might need. We will also conduct case studies of tech companies in the BRICS countries and learn how they tackle similar problems. I don’t want to copy paste American textbooks and teach those here. The idea is to create a fresh knowledge base to help Russian tech projects flourish.”

He likes walking around old Moscow “to get a feeling for the ebb and flow of the city. Moscow has an efficient public transport system, especially the metro. But the fun part is to stroll down a small street, sit in a café or discover a museum.”

KELVIN WILLOUGHBY’S WORK FOCUSES ON Technology-induced changes on the nature of work and organizations The role of entrepreneurship in employment generation and economy Competitiveness of small entrepreneurial firms Technology entrepreneurship and intellectual property management (as an area different from the intellectual property law).

FOR MORE INFO, PUBLICATIONS AND AWARDS

http://faculty.skoltech.ru/ Faculty/Kelvin-Willoughby

F A C U LT Y P R O S P E C T U S AUGUST 2014

Partnership with MIT

“You know, I’ve just returned from MIT…” Queuing at the Skoltech cafeteria, you would probably notice the countless references to MIT by small — and big — talkers. On October 26, 2011, the newly created Skoltech signed a trilateral agreement with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and the Skolkovo Foundation, and launched an invaluable partnership whose aim is to build capacity in education, research and entrepreneurship programs at Skoltech. The agreement has been extended to a period of four years. The result is the MIT Skoltech Initiative, which serves as a portal connecting the two scientific communities. MIT acts as an advisor to Skoltech on programs, structure, and curriculum, while researchers at both institutes benefit from new opportunities for intellectual exchange, network building and shared research. The flurry of activity is not only about here and now. The focus and purpose lies ahead, beyond the initial agreement. Leadership from both sides envision a core strategic partnership dedicated to further building and enhancing capacity at Skoltech, and to advancing Russian participation in the global innovation community.

5 THINGS YOU MIGHT WANT TO KNOW ABOUT THE SKOLTECH MIT PARTNERSHIP

Skoltech faculty visit MIT and gain hands-on experience in key areas such as patent registration, bootstrapping a start-up business and securing funding for research.

MIT scholars and researchers, including Nobel laureates and leading scientists, make frequent journeys from Cambridge to Moscow. Some of them decide to stay and become part of the Skoltech faculty.

Skoltech Masters students on their final year of studies can apply for the Skoltech-MIT FLEX program and attend one semester at MIT. Once they are in Cambridge, students either take the coursework they need in order to complement and complete their MS degree paths, or do a research/innovation project with an MIT research advisor.

FOR MORE INFORMATION

http://web.mit.edu/sktech/

http://www.skoltech.ru/en/about/mit/

Nobel laureates Shinya Yamanaka (right) and Phillip Sharp at the Skoltech — MIT conference ‘Towards Therapies of the Future’

The MIT Russia Program matches MIT students with paid industrial internships and research opportunities in Russia. Participating students come from diverse backgrounds including engineering, architecture, science, and management.

MIT has a historical connection to Russia: it was partially modeled on the “Russian School” of engineering education, founded at the Moscow State Technical University in 1830, thirty years before MIT itself opened its doors for students.

F A C U LT Y P R O S P E C T U S AUGUST 2014

Careers and Positions

Being a unique university is an exciting challenge. Accordingly, Skoltech is recruiting talent in science and technology.

SINCE OUR TOP PRIORIT Y IS TO GROW A COMMUNIT Y OF BRIGHT AND DRIVEN RESE ARCHERS WE ARE OPEN TO APPLICATIONS FROM STRONG CANDIDATES IN ALL ARE A S OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY REL ATED TO OUR PRIORIT Y THEMES, LISTED BELOW INFORMATION SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY (PRIORITY AREAS):

machine learning and artificial intelligence, systems and networks, big data-related areas, electronic materials and devices, quantum technology, photonics BIOMEDICAL SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY (PRIORITY AREAS):

computational and systems biology, immunology and infectious disease, gene- and nano-medicine, regenerative medicine, neuroscience, translational medicine ENERGY SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY (PRIORITY AREAS): hydrocarbon fuel production and transportation, hydrocarbon processing, electric power systems generation and distribution, electrical energy storage, energy efficient systems, energy and the environment

Professor Natalia Berloff, Dean of Faculty (2nd from left) and professor Dmitri Kharzeev (2nd from right) announce the winner of the 2014 Science Drive initiative at Startup Village

SPACE SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY (PRIORITY AREAS): supporting humans in long term space exploration, design and construction of small satellites, utilization of space data for communications, positioning, and earth system information collection, lunar and planetary engineering and science, safety engineering, propulsion NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY (PRIORITY AREAS):

nuclear energy safety, materials for extreme environments, non-energy applications of nuclear and radiation technologies, human and biological radiation effects The Russian government has long seen it as a priority to draw Russian scientists back from abroad. But Skoltech has not only reached out to the RUSSIAN-SPEAKING DIASPORA in order to reverse the brain drain. It also serves as a portal and actively works to provide LEADING PRO-

has a tenure and promotion system modeled on US practice, with international peer review and three regular professorship levels: Assistant, Associate, and Full. There are also positions of Professor of the Practice, Visiting Professor, and Adjunct Professor. FESSORS AND SCIENTISTS FROM AROUND We offer opportunities for both THE WORLD with unique research faculty and post docs in and across FIVE TECHNICAL FOCUS TRACKS, as well opportunities. We seek candidates in TENURED as in CROSS-CUTTING AREAS and in INNOand TENURE-TRACK POSITIONS . Skoltech VATION AND ENTREPRENEURSHIP.

CROSS-CUTTING AREAS: advanced materials (in particular, composite materials), computational and data-intensive science and engineering, human factors engineering ENTREPRENEURSHIP AND INNOVATION (including commercialization, product design/development, manufacturing, large scale systems)

FOR ADDITIONAL DE TAIL S, PLE A SE SEE THE PAGE S DEDICATED TO LISTINGS, FACULT Y AND POSTDOCS

http://faculty.skoltech.ru/ Positions/Listings

http://sktech-search.mit.edu/

http://sktech-postdoc.mit.edu/

F A C U LT Y P R O S P E C T U S AUGUST 2014

Funding

Each faculty member receives a generous start-up package from Skoltech, designed to cover research costs for the first three years. It includes funds for supporting research personnel as well as funds for research-related travel, equipment, consumables and supplies. The number and amount depend on the need, type of research (theoretical, computational, or experimental) and rank of appointment. The package is INTERNATIONALLY COMPETITIVE.

In addition, Skoltech grants FURon a competitive basis through CREIs. CREIs also provide access to CENTRALIZED FACILITIES. Salaries at Skoltech are INTERNATIONALLY COMPETITIVE and benchmarked with US universities. They are adjusted for the cost of living in Moscow. THER FUNDING

4 THINGS YOU MIGHT WANT TO KNOW ABOUT OUR POSITIONS

FOR MORE INFORMATION

http://www.skoltech.ru/ faculty

Faculty lead the development of a new curriculum and innovative research structure.

Teaching and research are carried out in the English language.

We know what it means to take a leap of faith. We offer internationally competitive salaries and benefits and substantial funding opportunities.

Skoltech is committed to diversity and equality, and all are invited to apply without regard for gender, race or national origin.

F A C U LT Y P R O S P E C T U S AUGUST 2014

Students and Education

You are probably already aware that Skoltech is an up and coming international technological and science university, where research and innovation are combined, the only one of its kind in a vast area of the world. But did you also know: №1 AID AND SUPPORT PACKAGE FOR GRADUATE STUDENTS IN RUSSIA. SKOLTECH DELIVERS TECHNOLOGICAL AND SCIENCE EDUCATION FREE OF TUITION FEES, SUPPORTS STUDENTS WITH A MONTHLY STIPEND, PROVIDES AN ALLOWANCE FOR RENT AND CHIPS IN ON TRAVEL EXPENSES TO PROFESSIONAL CONFERENCES

45% 45% of Skoltech students are actively involved in a startup company or project

27% 27% of MSc students have spent one academic year at MIT, Skoltech’s leading partner university.

65%

80% of Skoltech MSc and PhD students have spent at least one month at MIT, mostly under the FLEX program. WE ALSO COLL ABORATE WITH HKUST (HONG KONG); MIPT IN RUSSIA; AND ECOLE POLY TECHNIQUE FEDERALE DE L AUSANNE (SWITZERL AND).

$100K raised by MSc students for four hackathons — several startups and projects emerged from this work

35%

35% of all Masters and Ph.D. students are women

RUSSIAN FEDERATION

CANADA LATVIA BELARUS UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

Skoltech students were finalists at international competitions such as the CleanTech Challenge and MIT’s 100k Competition

UKRAINE SPAIN

ITALY

SERBIA TURKEY

KAZAKHSTAN AZERBAIJAN ARMENIA PAKISTAN

countries of origin: Armenia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Bangladesh, Belarus, Canada, India, Italy, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Latvia, Nigeria, Pakistan, Spain, Thailand, Turkey, Ukraine, United States, Vietnam — and Russia

TOP 10

80%

5 CROSSCUTTING PH.D. AND M.SC. PROGRAMS IN IT, ENERGY, SPACE, BIOMED, AND PRODUCT REALIZATION

BANGLADESH INDIA THAILAND

VIET NAM

NIGERIA

50+

Open doors days, hackathons, centers for Research, Education innovation workshops, and Innovation (CREIs)* where industry immersion programs Ph.D. and MSc students can and internships, selection conduct research, study and weekends, guest seminars, work with leading international and sports events in Skoltech, scientists and Nobel laureates across Russia * the Skoltech CREIs are a work in progress project. Six CREIs have been established by August 2014. and overseas each year.

Students and Education

F A C U LT Y P R O S P E C T U S AUGUST 2014

Design and build electrical circuits in a few minutes. Team up with a group of total strangers to turn a pile of flimsy boxes into a seriously high tower. These are among the challenges that dozens of prospective Skoltech students have to tackle during Selection Weekend - a 72-hour marathon of exams, challenges, interviews and modules — which is the final stage in the students’ admission and selection process. For those who successfully convince the selection committee that they have the skills, knowledge and spirit to become innovators, it is all worthwhile. On the other end of Selection Weekend, they are admitted to Skoltech as new students. The admission and selection process at Skoltech was developed in collaboration with MIT faculty. It involves more than submitting an application, being interviewed by faculty, or taking math and English exams. It focuses not only on what applicants already know — but on what they can achieve in the future. It is our way of seeking out the realistic dreamers, the next stars of science and tech. Skoltech aims to attract, support and nourish an outstanding cadre

of students who have the capacity to become agents of knowledge exchange, innovators, company founders, and leaders who will have impact on Russia and around the world. Almost half of current Skoltech students already have started their own company or tech project. The goal is to enroll new students who will follow the example of these trailblazers. Graduate students who join Skoltech attend their first course for the academic year in August. Called Innovation Workshop, it challenges students to find their inner entrepreneurs, but also provides the tools to do so. At the beginning, students go through Quick Success workshops, where they are challenged - and have some fun. The newly admitted grads hack electric bicycles, construct Lego made robotic arms, design composite materials, build bridges made of spaghetti, and analyze Cameron Diaz’s face at a computer vision workshop. At the end of the workshop the students are ready to present their final projects and deal with innovation challenges in the real world. They are also ready to begin their multidisciplinary technological and science education in IT, Energy,

Space, Biomedicine or Manufacturing. There are no compulsory courses at Skoltech. But students are supported in their active pursuit of their goals. They tackle challenges, develop solutions, study independently and work in teams. When students begin their period with Skoltech, they are ready to speak English with their friends and colleagues, a fifth of whom comes from abroad. They are ready to study in a Russian university and education follows international standards such as the CDIO framework and the EU’s Bologna process. And most of all students are ready to grow along with a unique institution — the only one of its kind in a vast part of the world. Are you ready? WANT TO APPLY? CHECK OUT THIS LINK APPLY.SKOLTECH.RU OR SEND US AN EMAIL AT ADMISSIONS@SKOLTECH.RU FEEL LIKE HE ARING MORE ABOUT OUR CROSSCUT TING TR ACK S, EDUCATIONAL MODULE S AND DEGREE S? FOLLOW THIS LINK SKOLTECH.RU/EDUCATION

WANT TO WATCH SOME VIDEOS ABOUT STUDENTS’ LIFE AND INDUSTRY IMMERSION?

www.youtube.com/ watch?v=wI8VidG3kWA

www.youtube.com/ watch?v=4MOElTbP9YE

CHECK OUT OUR ONLINE COMMUNITIE S AT FACEBOOK, VKONTAK TE, INSTAGR AM AND T WIT TER IN ENGLISH AND RUSSIAN OR VISIT OUR WEBSITE

www.facebook.com/ Skoltech

vk.com/skoltech

instagram.com/ skoltech

twitter.com/ Skoltech

www.skoltech.ru/en

F A C U LT Y P R O S P E C T U S AUGUST 2014

Skoltech Milestones

It might be true that even the longest road begins with the smallest step. Yet Skoltech has already covered quite a distance since 2009, when Russia announced its plans to create a contemporary technical center that will incorporate research, education and innovation. Here are some of the milestones in Skoltech’s journey so far: 2011

2012

2013

Announcement of plans to found Skoltech

APRIL 25

Beginning of 2012 First faculty hired 2013 Skoltech researchers begin to and pilot group of M.Sc. students submit and publish in journals and selected Top-tier conferences.

OCTOBER 26

JANUARY

A newly created Skoltech signs The Center for Entrepreneurship partnership agreement with the and Innovation (CEI) announces its Massachusetts Institute of Technol- Innovation Support Program ogy (MIT) D EC E MBE R 19

Skoltech launches campaign to raise $2 billion for endowment

FEBRUARY

2014 APRIL

Science Drive a program to select promising Russian physicists that will work in Manchester, UK under the guidance of Noble laureate Andre Geim.

M.Sc. student Anastasia Uryasheva gains Skolkovo Resident status for her start-up company Sadko Mobile M A Y 2 7 - 2 8 International biomed conference J U LY 9 APRIL 8 attended by Nobel laureates in The Skoltech Board of Trustees ap- Skoltech President Edward Crawley Medicine Philip A. Sharp and Shinya proves the first three CREIs — Cen- signs a three-sided agreement to Yamanaka ters for Research, Education and create the first CREI — the Center Innovation: Stem Cell, Infectious for Stem Cell Research. The Vavilov A U G U S T 1 5 Diseases and Functional Genomics, Institute of General Genetics, Rus- Skoltech has appointed directors of sia and University Medical Centre 6 CREIs. Skoltech faculty numbers and Energy Storage Groningen, the Netherlands, joined 38 permanent members. AUGUST 9 Skoltech as partners. President Edward Crawley rings a M AY By 2020 bell and launches Skoltech’s first Skoltech students reach the 10 course, the Innovation Workshop finalists at MIT’s 100k Competition By 2020, Skoltech plans to have SEPTEMBER hired 200 professors, attained a with an application for simplifying M.Sc. students travel to four class size of 1,200 M.Sc. and Ph.D. satellite photography. different international universities students and selected 440 postdocs M AY 28 for one year abroad and begin to conduct research in its 15 Centers for Research, Education and programs in Energy Science and IT Skoltech participates in Startup Village events, organizing seminars Innovation (CREIs) (Information Technology) and supporting start-up companies OCTOBER 28

M.Sc. students Vahe Taamazyan and Nikita Rodichenko win 1st place at the TAPPED Hackathon in Boston, Massachusetts NOVEMBER 2

Skoltech signs a cooperation agreement in the fields of education, science and technological development with major international corporations operating in Russia, including Intel

JUNE

Skoltech launches a double degree program along with the Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology (Phystech) JUNE 20

Skoltech signs a five-year collaboration agreement with St Petersburg State University (SPbU). J U LY 15

Skoltech appoints Prof Victor Kotelianski as its first CREI Director SEPTEMBER 5

The Skoltech Colloquium kicked off its first seminar DECEMBER 31

Skoltech faculty numbers 28 permanent members.

Nobel laureate Sidney Altman after giving a Skoltech seminar on antibiotics, May 2014

F A C U LT Y P R O S P E C T U S AUGUST 2014

Life in Moscow CHECK OUT THE NUMBERS Moscow is home to a HALF A MILLION English speakers who are expats Moscow hosts 40 THOUSAND LICENSED TAXIS — as many as New York 6 MILLION tourists visit

the city every year

More than 30 INTERNATIONAL SCHOOLS

and kindergartens are available for children Known as one of the greenest capitals, the city has over 100 PARKS, GARDENS, AND SQUARES 1 $USD (35 RUBLES)

is the average price of a subway ticket It takes HALF AN HOUR to reach Sheremetyevo airport with the aero-express train

LOOK AROUND YOU. Moscow is home to 15 million people. See how they rush on and off rumbling trains, as they arrive at underground stations every 90 seconds.

medieval icon, a hundred years old modern painting or a 20 years old bartender mixing vodka with any drinkable liquid imaginable — and some that aren’t.

LOOK UP. The subway station’s vaulted ceilings are covered with glorious murals and mosaics. A first ‘wow’ or ‘whoa’ might escape your mouth. As you climb up from the underground and emerge onto the street, historical buildings and modern skyscrapers tower above the stream of people. The energy is almost palpable.

MOM, DAD, LOOK AT THAT… Moscow is a city where international kindergartens, schools and universities offer programs in dozens of languages; where street signs and bus stations are being dressed up with updated information in English; where families devoted to shopping roam the giant malls, wide parks and trendy back alleys, and the faithful congregate in churches, mosques, synagogues and shrines.

TAKE A LOOK AT CULTURE. Moscow is a cultural powerhouse, celebrating centuries of creativity. Opera houses showcase visceral baritones. Ballet troupes fete ethereal ballerinas. Theaters provide English subtitles. It’s a city where you marvel at a thousand years’ old

LOOKS LIKE FUN. Restaurants offer anything from a kids menu, through a salad called “herring under a fur coat” to priceless delicacies. It’s where ice-skating,

sun-bathing, snowboarding and sauna-soaking are available 24/7. Moscow even has beaches, replete with golden sand and red-white recliners. And on an island in the Moskva river, the “Red October” arts & entertainment complex paints the city in new, hip colors LOOK FORWARD. Moscow has always been a cosmopolitan city. Now it’s becoming an increasingly modern metropolis. People on the go need constant connectivity — and the city provides it. Free Wi-Fi is available almost everywhere, even on underground trains. A budding startup scene is complemented by a mature market and a growing demand for researchers and managers, IT experts and energy specialists. New office buildings, techno parks, residential areas and green public spaces spring up. The rush is on, day in day out.

IMAGE COURTESY OF PAVEL KAZACHKOV, FLICKR

F A C U LT Y P R O S P E C T U S AUGUST 2014

Russian: Say it по-русски

Legend has it that Catherine the Great (a German princess before she became Russian empress) managed to write the humble Russian word щи, meaning cabbage soup, with eight spelling mistakes: schtschi. Eight wrong letters in a two-letter-word. Not bad for a Tsaritsa. If you feel overwhelmed by this beautiful, profound and complex language, we’re here to give you a push up the linguistic hill. 5 very useful expressions and words to know “Po-Russkie”:

Skoltech’s working language is English, so you can always revert to “howdy” and “wassup”. But wouldn’t you like to start your day with a thick, healthy Здравствуйте (Zdrastvooyte)? That means “hello”.

DENNIS JARVIS, FLICKR

Better be able to say ‘thank you’ (Spaseeba), ‘please’ (Pozhaluysta) and the occasional Eezveeneete (Sorry!) or Prasteete (Excuse me).

Another way to greet people is by saying Привет! (Preevyet) which means ‘Hi!’ Better use that with people you know or are friends with.

It’s all in a name, right? So Meenya zavoot equals “My name is...”

Don’t go! But if you do, then Da sveedaneeya means goodbye and paka is a friendly bye-bye.

Russian: Say it по-русски

F A C U LT Y P R O S P E C T U S AUGUST 2014

NICK SHERMAN, FLICKR

4 BITS OF L ANGUAGE TRIVIA YOU CAN SHOW OFF WITH (COURTESY BBC L ANGUAGES)

The main source of loan words for modern Russian is English so don’t be surprised if you see words such as ФЛЭШ-КАРТА — flash card, or ХАКЕР —hacker. There are plenty of loan words from Italian, French or German. Some of those made their way into the Russian language in the 18th and 19th centuries, such as the word ПАРИКМАХЕРСКАЯ (parikmacherskaya) — hair salon, from the German word for wig maker.

MAGALIE L’ABBE, FLICKR

About 10% of Russian words are internationalisms and bear a resemblance to English words, eg. ПРОБЛЕМА — problem, КОФЕ — coffee, or КАФЕ — café.

Can you read this?

«ЛЮБОВНЫЕ ПИСЬМА НУЖНО ЖЕЧЬ ВСЕНЕПРЕМЕННО. ИЗ ПРОШЛОГО ПОЛУЧАЕТСЯ БЛАГОРОДНОЕ ТОПЛИВО.»

It translates as ‘Love letters have to be burned. The past provides the noblest fuel’. If the acclaimed Vladimir Nabokov, who acknowledged that Russian wasn’t his first language, could pull off such stylish prose — there is always hope for the non-native speaker.

WANT TO TELL SOMEONE THAT YOU LOVE THEM IN RUSSIAN?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tJMVHL-25H8

FEEL LIKE LE ARNING THIS COMPLE X AND RICH L ANGUAGE?

http://www.themoscowtimes.com/arts_n_ideas/article/sheddinglight-on-moscows-russian-language-schools/479624.html

FOR MORE INFORMATION ABOUT SKOLTECH VISIT

WEB www.skoltech.ru

http://faculty.skoltech.ru/

TWITTER @Skoltech @skoltech_ru FACEBOOK Skoltech VKONTAKTE Skoltech