20 graduates of technical colleges have enrolled in the magistracy Skoltech program, all of them will spend four weeks at MIT, and then part of students will go to different universities in Europe and Asia
First 20 young men and women, who were accepted to study at the Skoltech University, have gone to US. While Skoltech’s campus is still to be built, the university has already launched its first master's program, developed in cooperation with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). The Skoltech’s key partner, the US Boston based MIT university (the Skoltech’s president Edward Crowley had headed the Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics at MIT from 1996 to 2003). The MIT will hold a first four weeks seminar for all Skoltech students. The main objective of the introductory course is to give an idea about the commercialization of technology and how to plan studies for the sake of both business and society. Within four weeks the students will attend lectures, seminars and workshops on innovation and entrepreneurship and will become familiar with the MIT laboratories, where they will be engaged in a round of educational experiments. They’ll also study computer modeling, along with other academic programs.
Some of them, as, for example, a graduate of Moscow State University Nikita Rodichenko, have already had a startup experience and attempted to create their own small business. At the Moscow State University Rodichenko was in business of making and distributing souvenirs with embossed logos his alma mater. Some other graduate students have working experience as programmers and web designers. “The Skoltech exposes us its fatherly shoulder,” they say, arguing that the program will provide them with the opportunity to transform their scientific ideas into business in future. To enroll into the Skoltech young people have gone through a serious selection process that began with a fill a form on the website of the university. Applicants were to tell about themselves, confirm their level of technical expertise, provide references of professors, who taught them at their bachelors programs and write an essay, explaining why they want to study in Skoltech. And after that, the university’s selection committee chose 41 finalists, who were invited to Moscow to participate in the final round.
After passing the TOEFL, test of English proficiency, students had to solve some practical assignments, working in groups, and then had to go through a presentation of their projects, and went through personal interviews. The pilot Skolkovo University master's program is designed for three years of study. And all first year students will spend outside their homeland. But the introductory seminar at MIT brings together all students and, and these twenty Skoltech students will be joined by another six, from different European and Asian partner universities.
Before leaving for Boston students met with journalists at Skolkovo business school premises, where the University rents two floors. The meeting was attended by five students, three of which will remain for a year at MIT. In Boston 12 students will stay full year, while the rest will go to other partner universities. Informal communication with students over a cup of tea proved that they know well their goal, and some consider that their career development should be associated with the Skolkovo innovation center. "I hope that in future my acquaintance with the Skolkovo programs will help me to make necessary contacts," Anastasia Uryasheva, a graduate of the Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology. "I hope Skolkovo’s infrastructure will be useful for me, particularly their prototyping laboratories and other facilities will help me in my future business," Dmitry Smirnov, graduate of the Saint-Petersburg State Polytechnical University, who, after a four-week seminar at MIT will travel to study at the Zurich Swiss Federal Institute of Technology. Meanwhile the Skoltech will be actively recruiting their teaching staff, to develop educational and research programs to ensure that next two years of their academic program students will spend in the walls of a new university in Russia.
link to the photo album of the event