“Skoltech’s requirements to research are much higher than those to most other academic institutions”

First Deputy Chairman of the State Duma Committee on Science and Higher Education Alexander Mazhuga paid a working visit to Skoltech, where he toured several research facilities and met with the institute’s top managers and PhD students.

Skoltech researchers are working in many fields of science, including several priority areas, such as AI and communications, life sciences and health, breakthrough engineering and advanced materials, energy efficiency and ESG, photonics, and advanced studies. Mazhuga took a tour around some of the Institute’s laboratories and watched a presentation of projects with import substitution potential.

At the Center for Energy Science and Technology (CEST) which runs a pilot facility for manufacturing cathode materials, the researchers presented their projects in electrode materials and battery cells for metal-ion batteries. Skoltech teams have developed a new technology for assembling sodium- and potassium-ion battery cells which have very similar performance to their much more expensive lithium-ion counterparts.

Mazhuga also got acquainted with the achievements of the 5G Laboratory at the Skoltech-based NTI Center of Excellence in Wireless Technology and Internet of Things, which develops next-generation mobile communication technologies and applications for industries and telecom networks. The Laboratory’s key products include a 5G/LTE OpenRAN base station, enterprise-level 5G/LTE mobile network core, and an ultra-narrowband wireless standard for IoT networks for the housing and utility sector, infrastructure monitoring, and other applications.

The Center for Materials Technologies (CMT) presented world-class technologies and unique solutions that lie at the core of the country’s technological sovereignty. The Center has several laboratories, including the Additive Manufacturing Laboratory that uses 3D-printing to make complex products, develops additive materials and equipment, conducts laboratory tests of additive materials and optimizes additive technology. The Laboratory team presented the prototype of a ceramic 3D printer developed at Skoltech and some samples of printed products, including those made from ceramic paste manufactured at Skoltech. The Center also develops software for 3D printing of engineering ceramics. The Center’s products form the basis of import substitution in the oil and gas sector, healthcare, nuclear power industry, and space programs.

CMT also presented its Laboratory of Thermal Spray Coatings and a method for applying copper coatings on radioactive waste disposal containers. There are plans to introduce the method on an industrial scale in high-responsibility areas.

At the Advanced Imaging Core Facility (AICF), the guest examined its state-of-the-art equipment, including the aberration corrected transmission electron microscope, Titan Themis Z. AICF’s research performed for both Skoltech teams and external customers covers a broad variety of topics ranging from petroleum engineering and electrochemical energy storage (in collaboration with CEST) to elemental composition and electronic configuration of battery materials and microelectronics.

Mazhuga visited Skoltech’s FabLab Shared Facility which houses student workshops for fast prototyping and training along with a modern laboratory fitted with CNC machines and 3D printers for complex manufacturing of products from a wide range of materials.

Mazhuga met with the Skoltech management and staff to discuss the current status and prospects of the Russian research instrumentation industry using mass spectrometry as an example. Skoltech scientists are developing a new generation of mass spectrometers for the analysis of organic and inorganic compounds, pharmaceuticals, and foods. Earlier, at a meeting with the President of the Russian Federation, Skoltech put forward the initiative to draw up a roadmap for the development of research instruments in Russia.

Mazhuga also met with Skoltech PhD students. Currently, the institute offers PhD programs in seven disciplines: Mathematics and Mechanics; Physics; Computation and Data Science and Engineering; Life Sciences; Materials Science and Engineering; Engineering systems; and Petroleum Engineering. The programs combine fundamental science, experimental and innovative research, the unique experience of world-renowned professors, advanced methods, and the best practices in various scientific specialties.

Three PhD programs − Computation and Data Science and Engineering, Life Sciences, and Materials Science and Engineering − have been granted 5-year international accreditation in accordance with the European Standards and Guidelines for Quality Assurance in the European Higher Education Area (ESG). Also, Skoltech is working under agreements on joint research supervision as one of the forms of international cooperation: PhD students defend their doctoral theses and are awarded a double PhD degree within a joint procedure with an international university.

“Skoltech with its amazing campus, infrastructure, researchers and students is very impressive. Our today’s meetings and exchanges are a source of enthusiasm and energy: it’s one thing to know about Skoltech, but it’s quite another to see everything with your own eyes. Skoltech’s requirements to research are much higher as compared to most other academic institutions,” Mazhuga said.

Recently, the State Duma has passed a bill in its first reading, entitling higher education institutions at the Skolkovo Innovation Center to award officially recognized academic degrees to high caliber researchers and professors.

Contact information:
Skoltech Communications
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