Interview with Mr. Edward Crawley during Skoltech’s first anniversary event
Can you please give us your thoughts on this past year at the Skolkovo Institute of Science and Technology?
I think this has been a tremendous year for Skoltech. We have recruited our first 20 students, who have started in classes, recruited our first professors, and even created the university’s leadership team. We are just about to create our first three research centers, recently received 143 proposals for our second round of research centers, and have begun our Innovation Support Program by sponsoring our innovation projects in universities and institutions of the Russian Federation.
We will launch our third Master’s program at Skoltech next September with an expected 70 students participating in Biomedical Science and Technology, Energy Science and Technology, and Information Science and Technology. So, across the board, it has been a tremendous year for the Skoltech.
The most important task for the coming year will be to select our next group of students. We’ll also finalize our three main Centers for Research, Education and Innovation (CREIs) and hopefully name directors for each of these centers.
We’ll continue collaborating with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) to develop our education for the fall. And we’ll continue hiring leading faculty members, of course.
Are you satisfied with your first course of students?
The real test is not if I am satisfied, but whether professors, who are teaching them at MIT, Imperial College at London, ETH Zurich and Hog Kong University of Science and Technology are satisfied.
They(their professors) think they are fabulous students. Compared with the MIT students, our students are doing very well. They are not only scientifically prepared, but they also get this spirit of innovation, that we have here at Skolkovo.
Can you comment on the status of the university’s endowment and what role industry has to play in raising funds?
I am happy to say that we have the largest endowment of any university in Russia, and we are working very hard to secure other contributions from Russian industry.
We understand that this has to be a partnership. We have to work on projects and topics that are interesting to them broadly. We are working very closely with the aerospace industry and a vehicle construction company on composite materials. We are going to have an active program in the fields of oil and gas, electricity , including conversion and conservation of electric energy.
This is how companies and universities work together in the rest of the world: this is mutual cooperation, providing funds, researching and preparing young talent and students.
What will the educational programs be for the next year?
The Master’s programs will continue with students studying in Moscow for the first time next September in IT and Energy. In all, we’ll have about 50 students in these programs, about 25 in each program. This means 30 students will be joining the already 20 taking courses in 2012-13.
Now, the material list in the programs is under development. We have this almost revolutionary idea. We give the students both a firm scientific basis and we teach them about innovation and entrepreneurship. We focus on educating them in knowledge that will be important in their specific sector.
So, if you want to be an innovator in information technology, how does the information sector works? What are the technical systems? What’s the business system? And while designing this curriculum, from the perspectives of the students we are very flexible. They’ll be able to study, within limits, many of the things they study. It will leave them with this excellent preparation to go on and become great entrepreneurs and innovators.
photo album of the event