The first batch of Skoltech students will celebrate the end of their last year of study in a ceremony at Startup Village, the innovation university’s vice president Alexei Sitnikov told sk.ru.
Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev with Skoltech student Nikita Rodichenko at last year's Startup Village. Photo: sk.ru
Fifty-three students who enrolled in 2012-13, the institute’s first year of operations, are to attend a ceremony in the Russian traditional “last bell” style at the event on Wednesday at the Skolkovo Innovation Center.
“On June 3 we will show off our graduates to the Skolkovo community, to participants and guests of the Startup Village, and to investors,” Sitnikov said.
“We really hope that our graduates will get to chat with Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev, who is also visiting Startup Village,” he added.
The first group of graduates are mainly MSc students reading energy and Information Technology subjects.
Every year, Skoltech takes an active part at Startup Village. Presentations will be made by leading researchers including President Ed Crawley,professor Dzmitry Tsetserukou, Alessandro Golkar and others, and a working session of IPOCA – International Proof of Concept Centers Association will be held, among other things.
Skoltech is a core ingredient of the Skolkovo ecosystem, supplying the brain power to create innovations that will be commercialized further down the road. More than half of the university’s current intake already have innovations that are either on the market or soon to be available.
“The most important thing for us as producers of talent inside the innovation center, is that many of the guys already have their own companies and startups, and intend to develop them further after graduating from Skoltech,” Sitnikov said.
The genuine “last bell” graduation ceremony will take place later this month at Skoltech.
Startup Village is a two-day event held at the Skolkovo headquarters just west of Moscow. Its purpose is to help startup businesses to get off the ground and encourage the creation of new ones. It matches new technology with investors and, more broadly, aims to serve as a catalyst for economic diversification.
While it is traditionally split into three parts - the conference, the Startup Bazaar and the pitch sessions – Startup Village also features all manner of master-classes, workshops, consultation events, investment forums and other activities.
The conference is to be held across three stages – the Main Stage, the Patio Stage and the Workshops Stage - and headlined by a diverse range of speakers from Skolkovo president Victor Vekselberg to AvtoVAZ CEO Bo Andersson, from former F1 champion Mika Hakkinen to TechCrunch editor Mike Butcher.