Skoltech is an international graduate research-focused university that was founded by the group of world-renowned scientists in 2011. Skoltech's curriculum focuses on technology and innovation, offering Master's programs in 11 technological disciplines. Students receive rigorous theoretical and practical training, design their own research projects, participate in internships and gain entrepreneurial skills in English. The faculty is comprised of current researchers with international accreditation and achievements.

Skoltech releases a unique comic book inspired by real research

A unique science-inspired comic book developed by the Skolkovo Institute of Science and Technology (Skoltech) and Schrödinger’s Cat is now ready to be published by Eksmo.

Compared to countless other sci-comics, the new book has at least one salient feature: each of its 13 stories is about a real piece of research that was or will be published in a leading scientific journal. The comics describe the work of the Skoltech scientists and their colleagues from leading Russian and foreign universities in a simple and funny way, focusing on the research areas that gain world attention. The book lifts the veil on the scientists’ life, intricacies of modern research and its real-life applications.

Skoltech Vice President for Development Alexander Safonov comments on the forthcoming publication: “This book has everything that people love about comics, although there is nothing fictional about it: each story features real science, real scientists and real environment – Skoltech.”

This collection of 13 picture stories culminates the six-month project of 25 professionals ‒ scriptwriters, artists, editors, etc. The idea was to create a simple and captivating graphic narrative on a scientific topic while offering an individual artistic interpretation: all the comics were created by different artists and reflect their unique style. The main characters are researchers from Skoltech, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), the University of Tokyo (Japan), the University of Graz (Austria) and other leading international research centers.

Every scientific discovery has a history of its own. Whether written on papyrus kept in the Royal Library of Alexandria, or praised in the books of Jules Verne and Yakov Perelman, or told by Richard Feynman and Carl Sagan on TV, these stories have fascinated children and adults alike and have been a source of inspiration for the current and future generations of researchers. Each comic in the collection tells a story about real science and the incredible things scientists can do.

The online version and the first batch of 5,000 hard copies will go on sale in December. Advance orders for the Russian version can be placed on Eksmo’s web site.

In the lead-up to the launch of sales, the project team is conducting presentations and round table meetings at the largest Russian popular science literature events, such as What are sci-comics and why read them? ‒ a round table held on November 11 in the framework of the Prosvetitel 2018 Festival, with the participation of Skoltech professor Mikhail Gelfand and Junior Research Scientist at Skoltech’s Center for life Sciences Pavel Mazin, the lead characters of one of the comics.

This past October, two more book characters, Advisor to Skoltech President for Science Dr. Grigory Kabatyansky and Skoltech PhD student Elena Egorova shared their impressions of the project with the participants of the 13th Moscow NAUKA 0+ Festival.

The presentation of the book followed by an autograph session is scheduled for December 2, 2018 at the Non / fictio№ International Fair of Intellectual Literature which will take place in Moscow on 28.11.2018 ‒ 02.12.2018.

Contact information:
Skoltech Communications
+7 (495) 280 14 81

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