Skolkovo Institute of Science and Technology

Skolkovo
Skolkovo Institute of Science and Technology
Сколковский институт науки и технологий

Type	Private Research University
Established	2011
President	Alexander Kuleshov
Students	1200 (by 2020 year)
Location	Skolkovo, Moscow Oblast, Russia
Website	http://skoltech.ru/

The Autonomous Non-Profit Organization for Higher Education Skolkovo Institute of Science and Technology is a private research university located near Skolkovo, Moscow Oblast, in the close vicinity of the capital city of Moscow, Russia. The school, which was founded in 2011, is a project led by the Skolkovo Foundation, with MIT as a major developmental partner as part of the MIT Skoltech Initiative.

Key Mission

One of the main missions of Skolkovo Institute of Science and Technology (Skoltech) is to bridge the “alienation gap” between Russian and Western science. It was conceived as a shared platform for a broad spectrum of researchers.

Talks are under way with the future residents of the Skolkovo hub, all of which were selected on a competition basis. Depending on their results, a cluster of research, innovative and educational centers will be created. The future research will be driven by industrial needs. Consultations are already being held with representatives of Gazpromneft, IBS, Rosatom, TNK-BP and other companies.

Education

The Skolkovo Institute of Science and Technology will provide graduate education programs that fulfill key learning outcomes in the knowledge, skills, and attitudes for scientific research, entrepreneurship, and innovation. Skoltech will award Master’s and Ph.D. degrees in its five education programs, corresponding to the priority areas for the Skolkovo project:

1. Information Technology
2. Energy Science and Technology
3. Biomedical Science and Technology
4. Nuclear Science and Technology
5. Space Science and Technology.^[1]

Each of these academic programs will be deeply integrated with Skoltech’s 15 Research Centres, in order to foster multidisciplinary discoveries and inventions that arise from mixing students, faculty, and researchers across traditional disciplinary boundaries. Graduate students at Skoltech will be expected to participate in research throughout their careers.

Skoltech’s education programs and integrated curriculum in innovation and entrepreneurship will provide a means to ensure that all students understand the potential and processes for commercialization of science and technology. Formal subjects in innovation and entrepreneurship will be required for all students, and additional electives will provide greater depth and focus

Inaugural Student Class

On June 7, 2012, Skoltech announced its acceptance of 20 Russian students from 14 different universities into its interdisciplinary master's degree program.^[2] The inaugural student class attended a 4-week Innovation Workshop at MIT in August 2012. Afterwards, the students began their 3-year Master's program in September with a year abroad at one of 4 leading research universities — Imperial College London (ICL), Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich (ETHZ), Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) or the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) — and undergo a pilot program in entrepreneurship and innovation.

All students participating in the program will receive a fellowship that provides funding for the costs of the program.^[3]

Innovation

Research Center Proposers Conference

Skoltech held its Second Research Center Proposers Conference at Skolkovo, near Moscow, Russia on July 9 and 10, 2012. The conference brought together representatives of academia and industry to inform them about the current call for proposals, to provide input to Skoltech’s research strategy, and to help form new contacts between scientists and with industry.

Centers for Research, Education and Innovation (CREI)

Skoltech invited over 400 scientists, government officials and industrial representatives from Russia and around the world to the conference. A key element was to promote partnerships between Russian and non-Russian researchers — a requirement for proposing a Skoltech Center for Research, Education and Innovation (CREI). Skoltech also presented its foresight and strategy called Skoltech Vision 2030, in order to solicit feedback on the future critical areas for research and education.

To aid in identifying the future research needs, industry leaders — Gazpromneft, IBS, National Composite Centre, Rosatom, SP Korolev Rocket & Space Corporation Energia and TNK-BP — also gave presentations to scientists. Later, in round tables, academics and industry collectively analyzed which areas of research would provide the greatest potential to create technological breakthroughs.

“By creating the Centers for Research, Education and Innovation, we are doing something vital for Russia — closely aligning interests of the academic community and industry,” Vice President of Research Mats Nordlund said. “By addressing these stakeholders, we will contribute to solving critical problems facing our world.”.^[4]

Each CREI will form a partnership among a Russian institute, a non-Russian university and Skoltech, and a typical center can receive up to $12 million per year in funding from Skoltech. These CREIs will be established to create innovative solutions in the following 5 priority areas: Information Technology, Energy Science and Technology, Biomedical Science and Technology, Nuclear Science and Technology, and Space Science and Technology.

President Edward F. Crawley also gave a review of Skoltech’s activities for the 9 months since its founding. It highlighted the selection process used to identify the first few CREI, the formation of 4 of 6 industrial working groups which will assist in forming research strategy, and the induction of 20 Master’s students in the first class.

Commenting on Skolech’s accomplishments, President Edward Crawley said: “Each of our 3 spheres — education, innovation and research — is ramping up in parallel, but the research centers are the key element of our strategy. Research with a consideration of use will be driven by the needs of industry, and will drive the graduate education that we will deliver.”.^[4]

The first call for proposals is in its final stage of identifying up to 3 proposals that will become the first CREIs. By March 2012, 129 research teams from over 350 universities applied and went through a peer-review process involving an international expert review panel. Negotiations are currently about to begin, and the first CREIs will be announced as soon as agreements are finalized in the early fall.

On June 3, 2013, the Skoltech Board of Trustees confirmed Anton Berns as the director for this CREI.^[5]

Draft proposals for the second round must be submitted by November 30, and final awards will be announced after May 2013.

From Ed Seidel September 2012 until January 2014, he was the senior vice president for research and innovation at the Skolkovo Institute of Science and Technology.^[6][7] Previously, he was the assistant director for Mathematical and Physical Sciences at the National Science Foundation and was director of NSF's Office of Cyberinfrastructure.^[8][9][10]

In February 2016, Prof. Edward Crawley stepped down as the president of Skoltech, passing on the reins to Alexander Kuleshov. Kuleshov praised Crawley for having done a great job setting up the university.^[11] Crawley returned to his home institute, MIT, but also said he will remain involved in Skoltech colleagues' work,^[12] and retains the honorary title of founding president.

Leadership

• Alexander Kuleshov, President
• Alexei Sitnikov, Vice President, Institutional and Resource Development
• Alexey Ponomarev, Vice President, Industrial Cooperation & Governmental Programs
• Ilia Dubinsky, Director, Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation
• Ivan Sherstov, Director, Industrial Cooperation & Governmental Programs
• Tatyana Shubina, HR Director

External links

• Official site

References

• Site of a joint program Skolkovoteh and MIT