Course Catalog for 2019-2020
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MSc Streams:
Term 1
| Course Title | Lead Instructors | ECTS Credits | Stream | Course Code |
|---|---|---|---|---|
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Academic Communication: Preparatory English for Phd Exam (Term 1-2)
Efficient professional communication is the key to Academic success. The course is designed for PhD students who want to maximize their academic potential by boosting their ability to write research papers, present in front of multidisciplinary audiences, participate in scholarly discussions and engage in other forms of academic communication.
The main goal of the course is to enable PhD students to produce clear, correct, concise and coherent texts acceptable for the international professional community. The course is designed for a multi-disciplinary audience. The course serves as a preparation for the qualification language exam, which is a prerequisite for the Thesis defense. |
Elizaveta Tikhomirova |
31.5 per term
|
PE03029 | |
|
Bayesian Methods of Machine Learning
The course addresses Bayesian methods for solving various machine learning and data analysis problems (classification, regression, dimension reduction, topic modeling, etc.).
The course starts with an overview of canonical machine learning (ML) applications and problems, learning scenarios, etc. and then introduces foundations of Bayesian approach to solve these problems. Bayesian approach allows one to take into account subject domain knowledge and/or user’s preferences through a prior distribution when constructing the model. Besides, it offers an efficient framework for model selection. We discuss which prior distributions types are usually used, limit properties of a posterior distribution, and provide some illustrations of the Bayesian approach. The practical applicability of Bayesian methods in the last 20 years has been greatly enhanced through the development of a range of approximate inference algorithms such as variational Bayes and expectation propagation, as well as posterior simulation methods based on the Markov chain Monte Carlo approach. As a result Bayesian methods have grown from a specialist niche to become mainstream. Therefore, we devoted a second part of the course to approximation tools, vitally important for Bayesian inference, and provide examples how to use Bayesian approaches to automatically select features, tune the regularization parameter in regression and classification, etc. The last part of the course is devoted to advanced Bayesian methods, namely, Gaussian Processes and deep Bayesian neural networks, which have become widespread in the last 5-8 years. We discuss deep Bayesian framework and then illustrate its applications through construction of deep variational autoencoders, approaches to variational dropout, Wasserstein Generative Adversarial Networks, deep Kalman filter, etc. Home assignments include solution of applied problems, development of modifications of Bayesian ML algorithms, and some theoretical exercises. |
Evgeny Burnaev | 6 | MA06129 | |
|
Biomedical Mass Spectrometry
This course introduces students to the first principles and methods of mass spectrometry with special emphasize on biological and medical applications. The course will cover wide range of mass spectrometry techniques used for ion generation, separation, detection and data processing and interpretation. The course will teach the theoretical fundamentals required for the design of instruments and methods for measuring mass spectra of biological samples. The course will cover mass spectrometry applications in OMICs technologies, mass spectrometry applications in biomarker discovery and tissue imaging.
After successful completion of this class, students will acquire the initial knowledge of the operational principles and design of different mass spectrometers, different methods of ionization of biological molecules of wide mass range, different methods of ion separation including magnetic sector, time of flight, RF and DC ion traps, as well as FTICR. Experimental and bioinformatics based methods of protein, peptides, lipids and metabolite molecule identification, different fragmentation methods for primary and secondary structure determination, methods of quantitative determination of proteins, lipids, metabolites and small molecule in physiological liquids |
Evgeny Nikolaev | 6 | MA06256 | |
|
CDMM Research Seminar (Term 1B-4)
This is the main research seminar of the Skoltech Center for Design, Manufacturing and Materials (CDMM). All MSc students either enrolled into the Masters Program in Advanced Manufacturing Technologies or PhD students affiliated with CDMM should attend this seminar. The format of the seminar is weekly invited lectures from top scientists in the research fields related to Advanced Manufacturing, Digital Engineering Technologies, Computational Engineering, and Mechanics and Physics of Advanced Manufacturing.
|
Iskander Akhatov |
10.25 per term
|
Extra | MF01007 |
|
Cancer Biology
The course is dedicated to basics of clinical and molecular cancer biology with emphasis on innovative drugs and technologies for cancer treatment and diagnostics.
The main themes to be discussed: What is cancer? Classification, staging, grading; The hallmarks of cancer; Mutations, oncogenes, tumor suppressors; Genomic instability; Epigenetics in cancer initiation and progression (miRNA, siRNA, lncRNA, methylation, histones modification, etc.); Cell cycle and growth and it’s deregulation in cancer; Tumor energy metabolism (the Warburg effect); Cell death and it’s deregulation in cancer (necrosis, apoptosis, autophagy); Cell differentiation and dedifferentiation in cancer, EMT, Metastasis; Cancer stem cells hypothesis; Tumor stroma and heterogeneity, neoangiogenesis; The “seed and soil hypothesis” – pre-metastatic niche; Extracellular vesicles for communication between cells; Cancer diagnostics, tumor markers; Liquid biopsy; Conventional treatment trajectories for patients; Biological factors in Cancer (inflammation, viruses, bacteria, microbiome); Target therapy, Immune checkpoint inhibitors; Emerging therapeutic modalities, Car-T, dendritic cells, viruses; Invited medical oncologists will give talks on the usolved questions in the field. |
Vera Rybko | 3 | MA03088 | |
|
Classical Integrable Systems (Term 5-6)
Course description: A self-contained introduction to the theory of soliton equations with an emphasis on their algebraic-geometrical integration theory. Topics include:
1. General features of the soliton systems. 2. Algebraic-geometrical integration theory. 3. Hamiltonian theory of soliton equations. 4. Perturbation theory of soliton equations and its applications to Topological Quantum |
Igor Krichever |
63 per term
|
MA06179 | |
|
Computational Imaging
In the computational era of everything, imaging has not become an exception. Computational algorithms allow both to extract valuable information from a scene and to improve the very sensor that forms the image. Today, computational and image processing enhancements became integrable parts of any digital imager, be it a miniature smartphone camera or a complex space telescope.
This crash course is designed as a prerequisite for those students who would like to venture into the field of Computer Vision. We will cover foundational mathematical equations that are involved in the image formation and in the geometric projection principles. The concept of Point Spread Function that distorts the object will be explained on particular examples and will be experimented with for the tasks of image reconstruction and denoising. Image processing will be covered with an emphasis on the Python libraries to be used in the rest of the imaging-related courses on the DS/IST tracks (openCV and others). A basic DSLR photo camera will be considered as a model for understanding Fourier Imaging and Filtering methods in a short laboratory exercise. Hands-on tutorial on how to select a camera and a lens for your machine vision application will be provided. The theory of color and stereo light-field cameras will be covered using the models of commonplace Bayern RGB sensors; as well as state-of-art spectral and multi-lens imagers. An overview of practical regularization recipes for these cameras will be given. The course will consist of three theoretical lectures riffled by three graded in-class laboratory coding sessions on the subjects covered in the theoretical lectures. 100% attendance is mandatory. There will be a single in-class exam during the evaluation week and no homeworks. |
Dmitry Dylov | 3 | MA03121 | |
|
Computational Materials Science Seminar (Term 1B-4)
This is the main research seminar at Skoltech for Computational Materials scientists. All students of Computational Materials Science subtrack of Materials Science MSc program should attend this seminar. Topics include materials modeling (at atomistic scale), theoretical and computational chemistry, theoretical and computational physics of materials, underlying mathematical methods and algorithms etc. Invited lectures are top scientists in their research field.
Please see the seminar webpage at https://www.skoltech.ru/en/cms/ |
Dmitry Aksenov |
30.75 per term
|
Extra | MF03006 |
|
Condensed Matter Spectroscopy and Physics of Nanostructures (Term 1B-4)
This course presents a modern introduction to the field of optical phenomena in condensed matter and nanostructures. The first part of the course starts from the classical and quantum theory of electromagnetic response, and basics of the condensed matter spectroscopy. Then the major research directions in the modern condensed matter spectroscopy are considered, such as spectroscopy of graphene, topological materials, and two-dimensional transition metal dichalcogenides. The second part of the course is focused on specific optical phenomena in semiconductors, heterostructures, nanostructures and interfaces, such as surface plasmons and polaritons, excitons, spin-orbit coupling effects, Raman scattering and color centers.
|
Alexey Sokolik |
61.5 per term
|
MA06313 | |
|
Continuum Mechanics (Term 1B-2)
Continuum mechanics is a section of mechanics and theoretical physics, or rather the continuation of theoretical mechanics that deals with analysis of deformable bodies. However, mathematics in continuum mechanics represents the main constructive tool. Continuum mechanics allows to demonstrate the power of logic and mathematical thinking. Based on a few fundamental postulates and principles, using the mathematical apparatus can reveal non-trivial, and even striking results.
Foundation of continuum mechanics consists of: This course uses tensor representations in the Cartesian coordinate system of the observer. But it will one shown in detail how to to write the continuum mechanics equations in the arbitrary curvilinear coordinate system. This way the common link is not lost and the exposition becomes easier and clearer. |
Robert Nigmatulin |
63 per term
|
MA06181 | |
|
Differential Geometry of Connections (Term 1-2)
Symplectic geometry is the mathematical language of classical mechanics a hamiltonian dynamic. The course will cover the base of symplectic and contact geometry: symplectic forms, symplectomorphisms, Hamilton vector fields, as well as contact counterparts of these objects. Some applications in differential geometry will include geometry of caustics and wave fronts and their singularities. Among topological applications we will discuss different aspects of Arnold's conjecture on fixed points of symplectomorphisms and its variations.
|
Maxim Kazarian |
63 per term
|
MA06175 | |
|
Efficient Algorithms and Data Structures (Term 1B-2)
Design and analysis of algorithms and data structures is a core part of Computer Science and is of fundamental importance to all application areas. The goal of this course is to provide a representative sample of advanced algorithmic notions and techniques that constitute a modern toolbox for solving real-life problems. We will mainly deal with basic discrete objects – sets, trees, graphs, strings, … – and present efficient data structures and algorithms for solving various basic problems on these objects. Therefore, this course can be viewed as a basis for more specialized subjects. Lecture part of the course will focus on principles and ideas as well as on their mathematical justification. The practical part will include two in-class projects as well as several programming exercises assigned for homework. Those will strengthen practical problem solving skills using techniques taught in the course.
|
Gregory Kucherov |
63 per term
|
MA06270 | |
|
English Toolkit (Term 1B-2)
The goal of the English Toolkit course is to activate Academic English skills required for successful education at Skoltech.
The students will practice Academic vocabulary and grammar, as well as boost their reading, writing and speaking skills. The blended format includes a weekly online workload plus an offline group tutorial providing a flexible and individualised learning trajectory. Real-time feedback in online exercises will be complimented by tutor feedback for the writing and speaking assignments. |
Elizaveta Tikhomirova |
31.5 per term
|
Extra | MF03001 |
|
English. Candidate Examinations
This is a meta-course which allows PhD students to register for English Qualification Exam for the Russian PhD Degree. There will be no lectures or seminars, only the exam. The preparatory course is also available in course catalog (look for "Academic Communication for PhD students" course).
The Exam has two parts: Part 1 – Pre-exam activities (Assignments 1, 2a, 2b) |
Elizaveta Tikhomirova | 3 | PE03003 | |
|
Essential Engineering Toolbox
The course is a seriеs of tutorials on essential tools that are extensively used throughout coursework and research in the Advanced Manufacturing Technologies program and generally in engineering practice. The tutorials involve hands-on exercises on a computer. After introduction to Latex, Python, Mathematica, Matlab and other basic tools, final topics in the course involve numerical computations of problems in solid and fluid mechanics with such widely used software as Abaqus, Ansys, and COMSOL. Students will be required to solve particular problems and write reports in Latex using the tool learned in the first tutorials.
|
Aslan Kasimov | 3 | MA03351 | |
|
Experimental Data Processing
The course introduces students to practically useful approaches of data processing for control and forecasting. The focus will be on identifying the hidden and implicit features and regularities of dynamical processes using experimental data. The course exposes data processing methods from multiple vantage points: standard data processing methods and their hidden capacity to solve difficult problems; statistical methods based on state-space models; methods of extracting the regularities of a process on the basis of identifying key parameters. The course addresses the problems in navigation, solar physics, geomagnetism, space weather and biomedical research and will be useful for broad range of interdisciplinary applications.
|
Tatiana Podladchikova | 6 | MA06238 | |
|
Foundations of Engineering Physics (Term 1B-4)
The course is dedicated to basics of building interfaces ”experiment-computer” in the modern scientific research. In most general configuration such interface comprises three stages:
1) “input” analog front-end feeding the electronic signals from sensors, transducers, 2) analog-to-digit as well as digit-to-analog conversion “bridges” and 3) logical channels conveying the ultimate digital information to a computer. The consideration of the three stages is made with emphases on the principle aspects of scientific measurements rather than detailed schematic/circuitry of the instrumentation. All stages of the measurement systems will be reviewed from the point of view of the fundamental imperatives of signal conditioning like impedance matching, optimal choice of the bandwidth solving the ubiquitous trade-off “precision versus rate” of data acquisition and et al. As well important peculiarities of configuring the elements of the system – such as prefiltering, modulation-demodulation techniques, the choice of the type and bit width of ADCs/DACs – will also be thoroughly discussed. At all stages a short concomitant overview of the modern commercially available electronic equipment will be given in order to improve students’ ability to select a proper set of the electronic devices among a great variety of those available on the market. |
Yuri Romanovskiy |
61.5 per term
|
MA06213 | |
|
Geometric Representation Theory (Term 1-2)
Geometric representation theory applies algebraic geometry to the problems of
representation theory. Some of the most famous problems of representation theory were solved on this way during the last 40 years. The list includes the Langlands reciprocity for the general linear groups over the functional fields, the Langlands-Shelstad fundamental Lemma, the proof of the Kazhdan-Lusztig conjectures; the computation of the characters of the finite groups of Lie type. We will study representations of the affine Hecke algebras using the geometry of affine Grassmannians (Satake isomorphism) and Steinberg varieties of triples (Deligne-Langlands conjecture). This is a course for master students knowing the basics of algebraic geometry, sheaf theory, homology and K-theory. |
Mikhail Finkelberg |
63 per term
|
MA06271 | |
|
Hamiltonian Mechanics (Term 1-2)
This is the first among the base courses in the theoretical physics, aimed for the master
students. Matematical methods of modern theory of Hamiltonian systems are based on the concepts, The preliminary program of the course includes: |
Igor Krichever |
63 per term
|
MA06174 | |
|
Heterogeneous Volume Modeling and Digital Fabrication
The course covers methods and techniques of digital modeling of volumetric point sets with attributes presenting pointwise properties such as material fractions, color, and other volumetric object properties. Modelled objects are characterized by complex volumetric geometry, multi-scale microstructures and volumetric multi-material density distribution. Stress will be made on using continuous and discrete scalar fields for modelling both geometry and attributes. Associated methods of multi-material digital fabrication will be outlined.
|
Alexander Pasko | 3 | MA03299 | |
|
Innovation Workshop
The Innovation Workshop (IW) is a one-month full-time “boot camp” MS-level course that unites the entire Skoltech incoming class with faculty and esteemed invited mentors to create the foundational experience in Entrepreneurship and Innovation (E&I) for all. IW is designed to instill a positive “can-do” teamwork attitude in the Skoltech culture, as well as to cultivate the art of prototyping quickly, under pressure, with help from others, and based on whatever resources are at hand here and now.
. Experiential inquiry-based learning leads IW student through the entire technology innovation cycle along the three pillars of innovation: (i) Impact (Problem + Feedback), (ii) Novelty of the solution (IP + Prototype + Science), and (iii) Vision for the subsequent iterations (Next Steps + Picture of Success). This work is performed in cross-disciplinary teams operating under time pressure thus creating real life experience of complex innovation project. . This file is the abbreviated version of the IW syllabus that carries only the most technical summary information. Please find the full IW Syllabus in the Files section of your IW Canvas page, as well as the attachement to this submission (the clickable "Upload" URL in the bottom of this document). Students of the IW are strongly recommended to read the full Syllabus as it carries plenty of information necessary to succeed in the IW and in innovation in general. . |
Dmitry Kulish | 6 | E&I | MC06001 |
|
Introduction to Advanced Manufacturing Technologies
The course provides an introduction to the field of Advanced Manufacturing and Digital Engineering Technologies and focuses on main research and educational thrusts of the Center for Design, Manufacturing and Materials (https://https://crei.skoltech.ru/cdmm): Advanced Manufacturing Technologies, Digital Engineering Technologies, Science of Advanced Manufacturing, and Computational Engineering.
The first thrust is focused on advanced technologies such as Advanced Manufacturing of Composite Materials, Additive Technologies, Thermal Spray Coatings, and Materials Selection in Design. The second thrust is focused on digital engineering technologies related to simulation-driven product development, model based systems engineering, digital manufacturing, product lifecycle management, and geometric modeling in Computer-Aided Design. The last two consist of fundamental disciplines required to understand the mechanics and physics of advance manufacturing processes, to develop mathematical and computational models of these processes to predict and improve the properties of the materials, structures, and engineering systems, as well as to develop digital twins of manufacturing processes and their individual components, what is commonly referred to as simulation-based engineering science. Professors and research scientists from the Center for Design, Manufacturing and Materials will introduce students to the Center laboratories, to ongoing research activities, and propose possible projects for Master's thesis research. This course will help students to select a specialization and future research advisors. |
Aslan Kasimov | 3 | MA03296 | |
|
Introduction to Artificial Intelligence
This is an introductory course which overviews general aspects of Artificial Intelligence such as main applications, ethics, current trends and challenges etc.
The course is aimed for 1st year MSc students who would like to become familiar with AI. Although the course does not go deeply into technical details of AI (which will be fought later on by other courses in the Data Science program), it will be also of interest to those who have experience in AI but would like to understand the general role the new AI technologies play in the modern society. During the course several topics will be discussed: |
Maxim Fedorov | 3 | MA03358 | |
|
Introduction to Data Science
The course gives an introduction to the main topics of modern data analysis such as classification, regression, clustering, dimensionality reduction, reinforcement and sequence learning, scalable algorithms. Each topic is accompanied by a survey of key machine learning algorithms solving the problem and is illustrated with a set of real-world examples. The primary objective of the course is giving a broad overview of major machine learning techniques. Particular attention is paid to the modern data analysis libraries which allow solving efficiently the problems mentioned above.
|
Mikhail Belyaev, Maxim Panov |
3 | MA03111 | |
|
Introduction to IoT
In the last decade the Internet of Things (IoT) paradigm has slowly but steadily and increasingly permeated what researchers and engineers study and build. The term “Internet of Things” doesn’t have a single definition and people today often use it to interchangeably refer to Wireless Sensor Network (WSN), Machine-to-Machine (M2M), Web of Things (WoT) and other concepts. The focus of this course is to learn about these technologies that will be extending the Internet as we know it and use it today, to interconnect not only people and computers but also sensors and associated objects. The course will be divided into two strongly coupled parts. The first part of the course covers the IoT ‘pillar’ technologies, i.e. embedded systems, wireless sensor networks, semantic technologies, and theory behind them while the second part will have a special focus on IoT development, i.e. IoT apps, open platforms, sensors and actuators, software/middleware. Apart from covering the theory behind the IoT and “how to connect things to the Internet”, the course will therefore also engage the students to demonstrate the feasibility of simple IoT real applications and will challenge them to improve their applications through the use of cognitive technologies and cloud computing.
|
Andrey Somov | 3 | MA03233 | |
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Introduction to Life Sciences program
Professors from the Life Science Center will tell about their labs and research projects. This course will help students to select a lab of their interest and a future research adviser.
The information about the Life Science labs is here: https://crei.skoltech.ru/cls/research-projects/current-projects/ As final project students should select one topic from the professors' lectures;find the professor's papers on this topic, read and analyze them (two-three most important/interesting ones)also, find some interesting papers from other groups, to get a contextwrite an essay / review (if you have ideas about what else could be done in the selected area, add them) – about 2-3 pages. The final schedule (what lecture reads which professor, and when) will be available by the end of the September. |
Mikhail Gelfand | 3 | MA03371 | |
|
Introduction to Petroleum Engineering
The course is an introduction to Petroleum Engineering and gives an overview of Petroleum Engineering and its various components and their internal connection.
The course will address the story of oil from its origin to the end user. The objective is to provide an overview of the fundamental operations in exploration, drilling, production, processing, transportation, and refining of oil and gas. As additional topics it is planned to consider Permafrost Engineering and Flow Asuurance, which are actual for Russian Oil&Gas Industry. Within the framework of the course it is planned to invite speakers form industry. |
Dimitri Pissarenko | 3 | MA03064 | |
|
Introduction to Programming for biologists
Science is constantly changing. The more and more complicated analyses are needed for publication, not only for a theoretical study but also for experimental research. In the light of ongoing development of new high-throughput experimental techniques, the skill of data processing and analysis becomes inevitable for any researcher.
One of the most used tools to process data and make publication-quality plots is Python programming language. Python is simple, powerful, and extremely popular. Among programming languages, Python is the closest to natural languages making it easy to begin with. In the course “Introduction to Programming for Biologists” I will provide basic knowledge of Python in a simple form suitable for understanding by all students, especially by completely unfamiliar with programming. With many exercises, students will inevitably master their programming skills to the level appropriate for processing their own data and making basic-to-medium analyses. |
Dmitry Ivankov | 3 | MA03372 | |
|
Introduction to The Quantum Field Theory (Term 1-2)
Introduction to basic notions of gauge theory: gauge invariance, SU(N) Lie algerbras and their representations, Yang Mills Largangian and its quantization, Faddeev-Popov method, ghosts and unitarity, diagram technique, basics on perturbation theory, analysis of simplest Feynman diagramms, beta function in non-abelian Yang-Mills theory, renormalization group, asymptotic freedom, Higgs mechanism, basic notions of QCD and electroweak theory. Depending on progress: some advanced topics: anomalies, instantons.
|
Yaroslav Pugai |
63 per term
|
MA06273 | |
|
Introduction to The Theory of Disordered Systems (Term 1-2)
This course is mainly dealing with the quantum electronic properties of disordered materials. I start with a review of different types of disorder and general methods of their theoretical treatment. Then I give a detailed discussion of the two popular models of quenched disorder, widely used for description of quantum solid state systems: Anderson model and Lifshits model. I discuss the properties of the disordered systems in the insulating phase: the density of states, the tails in the optical absorption ( with the optimal fluctuation method) and different versions of hopping conductivity: the nearest neighbour hopping and the Mott's variable range hopping. I also take into account the long-range Coulomb correlations and derive the Coulomb gap in the density of states and the Efros-Shklovskii law for the conductivity.
As to the vicinity of the metal-insulator transition, I give a qualitative discussion of the mechanism behind the transition, as well as the most powerful tools for probing the properties of the system near the transition: analysis of inverse participation ratios and the concept of multifractality of the wave-functions. In the metallic phase I discuss the weak localization corrections, including magnetoresistance, inelastic phase-breaking mechanisms and interaction-induced anomalies in the density of states near the Fermi surface. At the end of the course I give a brief introduction to mesoscopics, including the Landauer formalism and quantization of the ballistic conductance. |
Alexey Ioselevich |
63 per term
|
MA06274 | |
|
Laser Spectroscopy (Term 1B-4)
Spectroscopy is a science of studies of the quantum objects using the light. Before the laser era, its methods were limited to the spectroscopies of emission, absorption, and Raman scattering. The subject of the present course is not so much an improving, using the lasers, performance of the classical approaches (although this also is mentioned) but rather learning the new (more than a dozen) methods that have become possible only due to the appearance of the lasers. The course provides knowledge of the fundamental processes in spectroscopy as well as the methods allowing one to solve the problems that require (i) ultrahigh sensitivity, (ii) ultrahigh selectivity, (iii) ultrahigh spectral resolution, and (iv) ultrahigh temporal resolution. As an elective, the effects of quantum interference are considered such as coherent population trapping, the Autler–Townes effect, electromagnetically induced transparency, lasing without inversion, and more.
|
Alexander Makarov |
61.5 per term
|
MA06212 | |
|
Lie Groups and Lie Algebras, and Their Representations (Term 1-2)
We shall begin with the basics of the theory of Lie groups and Lie algebras. Then we shall provide an accessible introduction to the theory of finite-dimensional representations of classical groups on the example of the unitary groups U(N).
Tentative plan: linear Lie groups and their Lie algebras; universal enveloping algebras; Haar measure on a linear Lie group; general facts about representations of compact groups and their characters; radial part of Haar measure; Weyl's formula for characters of the unitary groups; Weyl's unitary trick; classification and realization of representations; symmetric functions. |
Grigory Olshanski |
63 per term
|
MA06173 | |
|
Master Your Thesis in English 1 (Term 5-6)
The key to efficient professional communication is the ability to convey ideas clearly, coherently and correctly both orally and in writing.
The Course offers concise and practical guidelines for writing and defending a Master Thesis at Skoltech. The course focuses on the main parts of the Thesis in terms of structure, vocabulary and grammar, and their transformations for a presentation with slides. Students will develop a conscious approach to own writing and presentations through thorough analyses of the best authentic examples combined with intensive writing and editing practice. The ‘process-for-product’ approach teaches the students to write – use (peer) reviewer’s advice – revise/edit – repeat, and creates linguistic awareness needed to avoid the typical pitfalls. The Course is offered in two modules which gradually build on the necessary writing and presentation skills. |
Elizaveta Tikhomirova |
31.5 per term
|
Extra | MF03003 |
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Master Your Thesis in English 1 (Term 5B-6)
Writing is the key priority and the need of utmost importance for all would-be scientists. Science demands not just writing, but good writing. It presupposes the skills to communicate ideas, theories and findings as efficiently and clearly as possible. Science lives and dies by how it is represented in print and a printed material is the final product of scientific endeavour. The primary goal of this course is to prepare master students for wiring, editing, and defending a Master Thesis.
This course is designed to explain how to write chapters of their Thesis through practical examples of good writing taken from the authentic linguistic environment. The course teaches how to overcome certain typical problems in writing a text of a thesis and abounds in useful linguistic assistance. Feedback on students’ texts will constitute the major part of the course. |
Anastasiia Sharapkova |
31.5 per term
|
Extra | MF03003ls |
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Mathematical Methods in Engineering and Applied Science (Term 1B-2)
The course introduces students to mathematical methods widely used in modern engineering and applied sciences. It consists of three main parts: 1) Methods of Applied Linear Algebra (solving linear systems, LU, QR, SVD, and other factorizations, Principal Component Analysis, iterative methods, FFT, least squares, pseudo-inverse, etc.); 2) Statistical Methods and Data Analysis (mean, variance, probability; moments, covariance, Gaussian processes, Markov chains; regression, gradient descent; neural networks, machine learning); and 3) Applied Differential Equations (linear and nonlinear ordinary differential equations, stability and bifurcations of solutions, linear and nonlinear partial differential equations, hyperbolicity, characteristics, dispersion, reaction-diffusion phenomena, pattern formation).
The course is introductory by nature, covering a wide range of topics and methods of modern interest in applications. Its theoretical content is informal in style and most of the concepts will be illustrated with problems from engineering, physics, chemistry, and biology using numerical computations in Matlab and Python. The three parts of the course are aimed at: part 1 – using the right language that is crucial for understanding many computational techniques used in engineering; part 2 – learning important tools of analysis of results obtained either by computation or in experiments; and part 3 – learning the nature of key mathematical models that form the foundation of engineering and applied sciences. |
Aslan Kasimov |
63 per term
|
MA06352 | |
|
Mathematical Methods of Science (Term 1-2) The course is addressed to undergraduates of the first year and contains applications of various mathematical methods for solving problems of mathematical physics. The course assumes a minor familiarity with various sections of theoretical physics (classical mechanics, field theory, quantum mechanics, statistical physics, hydrodynamics, elasticity theory) on the example of solving specific problems. The main purpose of the course is to encourage undergraduates to independent research work. For this reason, the main element of the course is an independent solution to the problem, requiring the study of additional material. In the endpoint the students are assumed to acquire the use of Green functions, distributions, Laplace and Fourier transforms, asymptotic evaluations in mathematical physics |
Sergei Khoroshkin |
63 per term
|
MA06317 | |
|
Mathematics for Engineers
The aim of this is to recap the basic topics that you are expected to get at bachelor level. If you do not feel confident with basic matrix manipulations, integration and differentiation – you should definitely take this course; fluency in these is a must for an educated engineer. At the first day of studies you’ll take the preliminary exam to make final decision regarding taking this course.
|
Elena Gryazina | 3 | MA03282 | |
|
Molecular Biology (Term 1B-2)
Molecular biology course is based on learning the principles of replication, recombination, DNA repair. Additionally, replication strategies of phages and viruses will be discussed. Mitosis and meiosis will be described in a context of DNA biosynthesis. Also, the principles of RNA biosynthesis, i.e. transcription and processing, as well as protein biosynthesis, i.e. translation, maturation and transport will be described.
The goal of the course is obtaining a comprehensive knowledge on the structure of DNA and processes of DNA replication, recombination and repair in bacteria and eukaryotes, as well as on replication of phages and viruses. To obtain a detailed knowledge on the processes of transcription, in bacteria and eukaryotes, on the regulation of transcription in bacteria and eukaryotes, on examples of complex networks of transcriptional regulation in bacteria and eukaryotes, on maturation of RNA in eukaryotes, on protein biosynthesis in bacteria and eukaryotes, on the transport of protein in bacteria and eukaryotes. Students activities include: |
Petr Sergiev |
63 per term
|
MA06034 | |
|
Molecular Spectroscopy (Term 1B-4)
The first part of this course covers the basics of interaction of radiation (light) with molecules: absorption, emission of light, Raman scattering. Born-Oppenheimer approximation is used to separate the electronic motions and nuclear motions in a molecule. As a result the energy of molecule is considered as a sum of electronic, vibrational and rotational energy.
Elements of quantum chemistry are considered relying on variational principle. Molecular-orbital (MO) and Valence-bond (VB) methods are applied for description of molecule wave function. Molecular geometry is considered. Properties of quantum states depend on symmetry of molecule. Theory of symmetry (group theory) is presented including theory of group representation. In the second part of this course the structure and symmetry of rotational, vibrational and electronic states of molecules are considered. The spectra of absorption, fluorescence and Raman spectra are considered. The applications of molecular spectroscopy for investigations of physical and technical process are presented. |
Vladimir Mironenko |
61.5 per term
|
MA06209 | |
|
Nanooptics
Nano-optics aims at the understanding of optical phenomena on the nanometer scale, i.e. near or beyond the diffraction limit of light. Typically, elements of nano-optics are scattered across the disciplines. Nano-optics is built on the foundation of optics, quantum optics, and spectroscopy. In the presence of an inhomogeneity in space the Rayleigh limit for the confinement of light is no longer strictly valid. In principle infinite confinement of light becomes possible, at least theoretically.
The course will cover basic theoretical concepts, multiphoton microscopy, interaction of light with nanoscale systems, optical interaction between nanosystems, and resonance phenomena, namely localized surface plasmons, surface plasmon polaritons, and microresonators. |
Vladimir Drachev | 3 | MA03153 | |
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Pedagogical Experience
The main function of this course is to articulate Skoltech's expectations on PhD students who do their pedagogical TA assignment at Skoltech. The course
describes the intended learning outcomes and how they are assessed. The main bulk of the 81 hours of the course is spent in the actual courses in which Please note that those, who did not pass Pedagogy of Higher Education [PE03025] and are going to be TA in the current term, should register for another course Pedagogical Experience – Pre-requisite [PE03005pre]. |
Dmitry Artamonov | 3 | PE03005 | |
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Physical Nature of Information
The course is a parting gift to those leaving physics for greener pastures and
wondering what to take with them. Statistically, most former physicists use statistical physics in their scientific, engineering or business activities. This is because, this discipline (and this course) answers the frequent question: How much can we say about something we do not know? The simplest approach is phenomenological and called thermodynamics, which treats macroscopic manifestations of hidden degrees of freedom and mean values. More sophisticated is statistical physics, which derives statistical laws, justifying thermodynamics and giving the probability of fluctuations. We start by briefly reminding basics of thermodynamics and stat-physics and the central role of entropy. We then describe how irreversible entropy growth can appear from reversible dynamics, learning the basics of dynamical chaos. We shall understand that the entropy is not the property of a system, but of our knowledge of the system and re-tell the story of statistical physics using the language of information theory, which shows its universality. We discuss numerous applications, from nano-particles to bacteria and from neurons to quantum computers. One magic instrument appears over and over: mutual information and its quantum sibling, entanglement entropy. I then describe the most sophisticated way to forget information – renormalization group, and modern generalizations of the second law of thermodynamics. Overall goal is to give you the most powerful and universal tool developed in |
Gregory Falkovich | 3 | MA03338 | |
| Preparation for Pedagogy | Dmitry Artamonov | 0 | PE00006 | |
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Quantum Mechanics
The course will review the basic concepts of quantum mechanics. It is intended both for those who studied quantum mechanics previously and for those who did not. The purpose of the course is not only to introduce the main principles of quantum mechanics but to familiarize with them through active problem solving, which is the only practical way to study quantum mechanics. The course will cover the main topics such as one-dimensional motion, perturbation theory, scattering theory, approximate methods in quantum mechanics, density matrix formalism.
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Mikhail Skvortsov | 3 | MA03177 | |
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Quantum Theory (Term 1-2)
The course is addressed to students who know the basics and basic principles of
quantum theory. Physical applications of quantum theory on examples of specific problems will be considered. It is planned to study the following issues: supersymmetric quantum mechanics,motion of a charged particle in a uniform and constant magnetic field, electromagnetic field interacting with an external source, the Caldeira-Leggett model, the band structure of one dimensional systems, the basics of quantum Informatics. As can be seen from the list, the purpose of the course is to prepare the student for the study of quantum field theory. Students will be asked to choose their own topics to be discussed. |
Vladimir Losyakov |
63 per term
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MA06384 | |
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Quantum Theory of Radiation and Quantum Optics (Term 1B-4)
The main goal of the course is to study by students basic physical principles, main quantum electrodynamical (QED) phenomena and mathematical apparatus of quantum electrodynamics and quantum optics. Students must know theory and experimental data on interaction of radiatiation with matter. Particularly will be discussed: quantum theory of electromagnetic field, problem of phase in QED, coherent and squeezed states, relativistic quantum theory of electrons and positrons, Klein paradox, diagram technique,
divergences and renormalization of mass and charge of electron, Lamb shift, cavity quantum electrodynamics (including last achievements), dynamical Casimir effect, basics of united theory of electromagnetic and weak interactions etc. |
Yuri Lozovik |
61.5 per term
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MA06314 | |
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Research Methodology: Space Center Seminar (Term 1-4)
The seminar will cover current topics in the space domain: latest news, discoveries. Also planned that all PhD students and some Master students will present their research. External lecturers will be invited regularly to focus on the main applications of space technologies: science, telecommunication, navigation and remote sensing. Aspects of space technologies will also be discussed: structures, software, attitude determination and control systems, on board computers, communication system power supply systems and others. The seminar will be offered in English.
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Anton Ivanov |
30.75 per term
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PA03102es | |
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Research seminar "Modern Problems of Mathematical Physics" (Term 1-4)
Course "Modern problems of mathematical physics" is a student seminar, so participants are expected to give talks based on the modern research papers. Current topic of the seminar can vary from time to time: now it is devoted to the study of N=2 supersymmetric gauge theory and its links with random matrix models, ABJM theory, localization, complex curves, and integrable systems. Other topics that were already covered, or can be covered in the future, are: classical integrable equations, complex curves and their theta-functions, quantum integrable models (quantum-mechanical and field-theoretical), models of statistical physics.
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Pavlo Gavrylenko |
61.5 per term
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MA06268 | |
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Research seminar "Modern Problems of Theoretical Physics" (Term 1-4)
Research seminar "Modern Problems of Theoretical Physics" is supposed to teach students to read, understand and represent to the audience recent advances in theoretical physics. Each student is supposed 1) to choose one of recent research papers from the list composed by the instructor in the beginning of each term, 2) read it carefully, 3) present the major results of the paper to his/her colleagues during the seminar talk, 4) answer the questions from the audience about the content of the paper. The papers in the list are selected, normally, from the condensed matter theory and related fields, like: physics quantum computing, statistical physics, etc. The papers to the list are usually chosen from most competitive physics journals, like Nature Physics, Science, Physical Review Letters, Physical Review X and others.
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Mikhail Feigelman, Sergei Khoroshkin |
61.5 per term
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MA06319 | |
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Scientific Computing
This is an introductory course to Scientific Computing with a focus on mathematical and algorithmic aspects of High-Performance Computing (HPC) techniques and their areas of applications. The course has also a practical component, consisting of learning basic principles of HPC and applying the acquired knowledge and skills to solving industry-relevant problems in oil & gas, electrochemical energy storage, aerospace, food and pharmaceutics.
The practical aspects of use of a variety of computational techniques for solving scientific and engineering tasks will be taught during practical demonstrations and they will be integrated as much as possible with the corresponding theoretical materials given during the lectures. During the practical demonstrations the students will get access to the parallel cluster in Skoltech. All topics in the course will be covered at an advanced introductory level, with the goal that after passing the course the students will learn enough to start using scientific computing and HPC methods in their everyday research work. Once the students reached that level, they will learn more details and more advanced subjects in other courses in the overall Computational Science & Engineering program. Students should be comfortable with undergraduate mathematics, particularly with basics of calculus, linear algebra and probability theory. Some preliminary knowledge of Unix-like operative systems is a plus. Many of the examples used in lectures and assignments will require this background. Although the course will overview most popular pieces of commercial software used in HPC, all of the software used for practical tasks in this course is open source and freely available. |
Nikolay Koshev, Dmitry Yarotsky |
6 | MA06113 | |
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Space Center Seminar (Term 1B-4)
The seminar will cover current topics in the space domain: latest news, discoveries. Also planned that all PhD students and some Master students will present their research. External lecturers will be invited regularly to focus on the main applications of space technologies: science, telecommunication, navigation and remote sensing. Aspects of space technologies will also be discussed: structures, software, attitude determination and control systems, on board computers, communication system power supply systems and others. The seminar will be offered in English.
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Anton Ivanov |
10.25 per term
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Extra | MF01005 |
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Statistical Mechanics and Kinetics (Term 1B-2)
The course will start with a review of the basic concepts of statistical mechanics and thermodynamics and will cover a broad range of topics. These include quantum degenerate gases, phase equilibrium and phase transitions (including Landau theory of second order phase transitions), theory of linear response and fluctuations, and treatment of nonequilibrium phenomena in gases using the Boltzmann kinetic equation. Examples considered in class and homework assignments will focus on applications of the general formalism to physical systems. The course is intended for both theorists and experimentalists.
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Anton Andreev |
63 per term
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MA06339 | |
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Statistical Mechanics, Percolation Theory and Conformal Invariance (Term 1-2)
This is a course on rigorous results in statistical mechanics, random fields and percolation theory. Some of it will be dedicated to the theory of phase transitions, uniqueness or non-uniqueness of the lattice Gibbs fields. We will also study the models at the criticality, where one hopes to find (in dimension 2) the onset of conformal invariance. We will see that it is indeed the case for the percolation and the Ising model.
The topics will include: Crossing probabilities Critical percolation The Russo-Seymour-Welsh theory Cardy’s formula Parafermionic observables Conformal invariance of two-dimensional percolation Conformal invariance of two-dimensional Ising model O(N)-symmetric models The Mermin–Wagner Theorem The Berezinskii–Kosterlitz–Thouless transition Reflection Positivity and the chessboard estimates Infrared bounds |
Semen Shlosman |
63 per term
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MA06383 | |
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Supersymmetric Gauge Theories (Term 1-2)
This course is an introduction to the supersymmetry, which is one of the main basic principles, being used both in field theory and in string theory. The main emphasis will be made on the consideration of dynamics of supersymmetric gauge field theories: in particular, at the non-perturbative level.
Course starts from the introduction of the main concepts: supersymmetric algebra, its representations, chiral and vector multiplets. One will consider Wess-Zumino model and introduce superpotential. Then one will consider supersymmetric quantum electrodynamics, discuss supersymmetric Higgs mechanism and Higgs branches. One will consider in detail supersymmetric quantum chromodynamics. Its vacuum structure at the classical level will be discussed. Then one will introduce instantons and explain how they change vacuum structure by generating Affleck-Dine-Seiberg superpotential. Finally we will consider Seiberg duality. |
Alexei Yung, Pavlo Gavrylenko, Andrey Marshakov |
63 per term
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MA06381 | |
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Survey of Materials
Please see the course website for syllabus and other information: http://zhugayevych.me/edu/Materials/index.htm
The course teaches fundamentals of modern Materials Science (Part I of the course) and provides a survey of materials (Part II), covering all relevant Skoltech research areas and beyond, with brief explanation of structural, electronic, physical, chemical or other properties of materials relevant for their practical use, or from the point of view of utilizing their unique properties in applications. It is a core course in Materials Science educational track providing a reference knowledge base for the rest of material-specific courses as well for student research. |
Andriy Zhugayevych | 6 | MA06063 | |
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Theory of Phase Transitions (Term 1-2)
The role of long-range thermal fluctuations in the condensed matter
physics is considered. We give a theory of the second order transitions starting from the Landau expansion in the order parameter. As an introduction we consider the mean field theory, then we take into account fluctuations the role of which can be examined in the framework of the perturbation theory and the so-called renorm-group formalism. The peculiarities of a weak crystallization transition where fluctuations qualitatively change the nature of the phase transition in comparison with the mean field picture are treated on the same diagrammatic language. The theoretical approach based on the Landau expansion is utilized to examine thermal fluctuation effects far from phase transition points. We consider the long-scale properties of smectics where fluctuations destroy the long-range order. The smectics are treated in the framework of the renorm-group approach. The same renorm-group technique is developed also for two-dimensional ferromagnets where the effective coupling constant increases with increasing scale what drastically change long-scale properties of the system. Long-range fluctuations are also relevant for membranes which are two-dimensional objects immersed into a three-dimensional fluid. Elastic modules of a membrane are logarithmically renormalized, the renormalization law can be found by using renorm-group methods. Of special interest is Berezinskii-Kosterlitz-Thouless phase transition in superfluid, crystal or hexatic films which is related to appearing free point defects (vortices, dislocations or disclinations). The problem can be mapped into sine-Gordon model and then examined by renorm-group methods. We present some facts concerning critical dynamics and the so-called KPZ (Kardar-Parisi-Zhang) problem. Then we consider peculiarities of the 2d hydrodynamics and passive scalar. |
Vladimir Lebedev |
63 per term
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MA06138 | |
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Topics in Neurobiology Seminar
A research paper-based course.
Overview of current research relating to various ‘hot topics’ in neurobiology and discussion of current research articles on the subject. Analysis of experiments and research described in scientific papers are presented by students and critically discussed by the class led by the instructor. Novel methods in neurobiology – optogenetics, molecular magneto technique, transparent tissues imaging will be discussed in depth. Topics include mapping of the brain and behavior, optogenetic manipulation of memory engrams, mouse models of Alzheimer disease, synaptic plasticity, dendritic spines morphology, pathology, and neurodegenerative diseases. |
Dmitry Artamonov | 3 | MA03104 | |
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Uncertainty Quantification
Uncertainty Quantification (UQ) marks a new approach to mathematical modelling and design at all levels. Instead of deterministic models, we consider randomized setup which can include uncertainties in model parameters, computational domains, inputs and many others. Thus, instead of a single quantity the probability distribution of the output parameter has to be studied, and many other associated tasks that include risk estimation, variance analysis. This also requires new computational tools that include the approximation of multivariate functions and computation of multidimensional integrals.
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Ivan Oseledets, Maxim Panov |
3 | MA03226 | |
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Virasoro Algebra and Conformal Field Theory (Term 1-2)
Conformal field theory is a quantum field theory that is invariant under conformal transformations.The course is devoted to a two-dimensional theory, which possess an infinite dimensional algebra of local conformal transformation, which includes Virasoro Lie algebra.
We will mainly focus on the mathematical aspects of the theory based on the relations with the representation theory of Virasoro algebra. A small preliminary acquaintance with string theory and conformal field theory is assumed. |
Mikhail Bershtein |
63 per term
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MA06321n |
Term 2
| Course Title | Lead Instructors | ECTS Credits | Stream | Course Code |
|---|---|---|---|---|
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3D Bioprinting: Processes, Materials, and Applications
Three-dimensional (3D) printing represents the direct fabrication of parts layer-by-layer, guided by digital information from a computer-aided design file without any part-specific tooling. Additive manufacturing technology offers significant advantages for biomedical devices and tissue engineering due to its ability to manufacture low-volume or one-of-a-kind parts on-demand based on patient-specific needs, at no additional cost for different designs that can vary from patient to patient, while also offering flexibility in the starting materials. Bioprinting requires a broad range of expertise from different major disciplines, namely, biology (e.g. tissue and cell behaviors), mechanical engineering (e.g. additive manufacturing, machine design and control and CAD/CAM) and materials science (e.g. biomaterials, fluid behaviour).
The main goal of 3D bioprinting course is thus written to bridge the gaps between the abovementioned three disciplines, providing not only the fundamentals, but practice knowledge. The course starts with the introduction of tissue engineering (TE) and the scaffold-based TE approaches. Big part of course will be devoted to main processes of 3D biofabrication. We will describe the three key stages in 3D bioprinting, which are pre-processing (biomaterials and cell source), processing (the 3D bioprinting systems and processes) and post-processing (cell culture). The application areas of bioprinting, including tissue engineering and regenerative medicine, clinics and transplantation, pharmaceutics, and cancer research, the future trends in bioprinting that will revolutionize the organ transplantation technology in the next decades will be discussed. During laboratory class students will get acquainted with the bio additive technologies on various bioprinting installations and biomaterial mechanical testing. |
Igor Shishkovsky | 3 | MA03354 | |
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Academic Communication: Preparatory English for Phd Exam (Term 1-2)
Efficient professional communication is the key to Academic success. The course is designed for PhD students who want to maximize their academic potential by boosting their ability to write research papers, present in front of multidisciplinary audiences, participate in scholarly discussions and engage in other forms of academic communication.
The main goal of the course is to enable PhD students to produce clear, correct, concise and coherent texts acceptable for the international professional community. The course is designed for a multi-disciplinary audience. The course serves as a preparation for the qualification language exam, which is a prerequisite for the Thesis defense. |
Elizaveta Tikhomirova |
31.5 per term
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PE03029 | |
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Advanced Molecular Biology Laboratory Practice
This course offers students the opportunity to work individually on laboratory projects assigned by the course instructor. During the term students are expected to have at least one entire working day in the lab, although additional days may be required. Final grades are determined by the students' final presentations, which describe their project/goals along with the results/progress accomplished. Participation in the course requires approval from the students' own advisors, as well as the instructors of the course
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Konstantin Severinov | 6 | PA06046 | |
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Advanced PLM techniques: Digital Design and Optimization
This course is dedicated to the end-to-end design methodology, based on the PLM approach. During the course students will develop small unmanned aerial vehicle with deployable wings.
The design includes: concept development, conceptual design, systems engineering, 3D physical simulation (CFD and FEM), parametric and topology optimization, final solid design. Educational process is focused on teamwork in this course. Siemens Teamcenter PLM platform is used as to provide interaction within students workgroup. The course provides students with a theoretical and practical basis for implementing projects devoted to the design of complex technical systems, such as unmanned aerial vehicles. |
Ighor Uzhinsky, Sergei Nikolaev |
6 | MA06252 | |
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Advanced Solid State Physics
The course presents an overview of solid-state physics with emphasis on the quantum properties of solids. It covers quantum theory of electronic and lattice degrees of freedom, magnetism and superconductivity, including, in particular, strongly-correlated electronic systems and high-temperature superconductivity. The course also includes a review of experimental techniques used in the modern solid-state physics research.
The course assumes basic preliminary knowledge of quantum mechanics and statistical physics. Second-quantization formalism is introduced and used throughout the course. |
Boris Fine | 6 | MA06068 | |
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Aerosol Science and Technology
The course will introduce the basic phenomena of aerosol science, particle formation in the gas phase and their behavior, concepts and measurement techniques for the aerosol particles. Students will synthesize (carbon nanotubes, NaCl, metal, metal oxide and polymer) nanoparticles by two aerosol techniques: gas-to-particle and liquid-to-particle conversions. Students will be trained to operate spark-discharge aerosol synthesis reactor for production of nanoparticles and single-walled carbon nanotubes and spray drying and pyrolysis reactors.
The student will perform the on-line measurements of number size distribution of aerosol synthesized nanoparticles by differential mobility analyzer (size range: 2-1000 nm). Students will become familiar with processes of the aerosol particle collection (filtration, electrostatic precipitation, thermophoretic precipitation). The produced samples of nanoparticles will be observed with means of transmission and scanning electron microscopies. Totally 34 lecture hours and 15 exercise hours, 5 hours for seminar lessons, 6 presentation hours will be arranged. Students will write a short essay and give a presentation on one of the selected topics. |
Albert Nasibulin | 6 | MA06300 | |
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Bioinformatics
This course is aimed for the first year master students with no prior knowledge in bioinformatics. The main course idea is to get students from different backgrounds acquainted with basic tools and algorithms in bioinformatics, such as basic phylogenetic analysis, algorithms behind sequence alignments, protein structure analysis, gene and genome annotation, as well as main databases storing sequence, protein and epigenetics data.
The knowledge obtained during this course can be immediately utilized in the real biological and computational projects. |
Mikhail Gelfand | 6 | MA06307 | |
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Biomedical Innovation and Entrepreneurship
The course aims to provide students with an understanding of applications and practices of biomedical science in an industrial healthcare. To put it simple, we will discuss where and how Skoltech biomedical graduates may employ their skills beyond academy science. To achieve this goal the course will decompose the industry into the value chain of independent but interconnected entities and then make deep investigation of motives, profits, and costs of any segment/entity of this value chain. The incomplete list of such entities will include: R&D-driven startups, CROs, CMOs, regulators, integrated pharmas, marketing agents, distributors, retail, hospitals, doctors. The emphasis will be made on the value chain groups that are immersed into the challendge of transforming high technologies into the tangible patient benefit, from hardcore drug development to all kinds of medical devices and services. Such challenges will be taught through development of the group project that will be developed through the stages of Problem statement (indication, regulation, POC and QC), preclinical design, clinical design, manufacturing/delivery design and final integrative presentation.
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Dmitry Kulish | 3 | E&I | MC03013 |
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CDMM Research Seminar (Term 1B-4)
This is the main research seminar of the Skoltech Center for Design, Manufacturing and Materials (CDMM). All MSc students either enrolled into the Masters Program in Advanced Manufacturing Technologies or PhD students affiliated with CDMM should attend this seminar. The format of the seminar is weekly invited lectures from top scientists in the research fields related to Advanced Manufacturing, Digital Engineering Technologies, Computational Engineering, and Mechanics and Physics of Advanced Manufacturing.
|
Iskander Akhatov |
10.25 per term
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Extra | MF01007 |
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Classical Integrable Systems (Term 5-6)
Course description: A self-contained introduction to the theory of soliton equations with an emphasis on their algebraic-geometrical integration theory. Topics include:
1. General features of the soliton systems. 2. Algebraic-geometrical integration theory. 3. Hamiltonian theory of soliton equations. 4. Perturbation theory of soliton equations and its applications to Topological Quantum |
Igor Krichever |
63 per term
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MA06179 | |
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Communication Technologies for IoT
This is a newly developed course that prepares students for the applying modern telecommunication technologies, both wired and wireless in the Internet of Things area.
The course combines lectures and labs related to hardware, transmission techniques, the medium-access control layer, networking, applications and standards for the IoT communication technologies. All technologies are considered with use-case based approach that shows their practical application in real industrial and research scenarios. |
Dmitry Lakontsev, Kirill Andreev |
3 | MA03234 | |
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Computational Chemistry and Materials Modeling
The course provides an overview of modern atomistic computer simulations used to model, understand, and predict properties of realistic materials. The emphasis is on practical techniques, algorithms and programs to bridge theory and applications, from the discovery of materials to their use in real-world technologies. This introductory course is intended for both theoreticians and experimentalists in modern Materials Science at academic level ranging from MSc students to PhD students and postdocs.
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Andriy Zhugayevych | 6 | MA06008 | |
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Computational Materials Science Seminar (Term 1B-4)
This is the main research seminar at Skoltech for Computational Materials scientists. All students of Computational Materials Science subtrack of Materials Science MSc program should attend this seminar. Topics include materials modeling (at atomistic scale), theoretical and computational chemistry, theoretical and computational physics of materials, underlying mathematical methods and algorithms etc. Invited lectures are top scientists in their research field.
Please see the seminar webpage at https://www.skoltech.ru/en/cms/ |
Dmitry Aksenov |
30.75 per term
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Extra | MF03006 |
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Condensed Matter Spectroscopy and Physics of Nanostructures (Term 1B-4)
This course presents a modern introduction to the field of optical phenomena in condensed matter and nanostructures. The first part of the course starts from the classical and quantum theory of electromagnetic response, and basics of the condensed matter spectroscopy. Then the major research directions in the modern condensed matter spectroscopy are considered, such as spectroscopy of graphene, topological materials, and two-dimensional transition metal dichalcogenides. The second part of the course is focused on specific optical phenomena in semiconductors, heterostructures, nanostructures and interfaces, such as surface plasmons and polaritons, excitons, spin-orbit coupling effects, Raman scattering and color centers.
|
Alexey Sokolik |
61.5 per term
|
MA06313 | |
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Continuum Mechanics (Term 1B-2)
Continuum mechanics is a section of mechanics and theoretical physics, or rather the continuation of theoretical mechanics that deals with analysis of deformable bodies. However, mathematics in continuum mechanics represents the main constructive tool. Continuum mechanics allows to demonstrate the power of logic and mathematical thinking. Based on a few fundamental postulates and principles, using the mathematical apparatus can reveal non-trivial, and even striking results.
Foundation of continuum mechanics consists of: This course uses tensor representations in the Cartesian coordinate system of the observer. But it will one shown in detail how to to write the continuum mechanics equations in the arbitrary curvilinear coordinate system. This way the common link is not lost and the exposition becomes easier and clearer. |
Robert Nigmatulin |
63 per term
|
MA06181 | |
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Convex Optimization and Applications
This course introduces the basic theory in convex optimization and illustrates its use in recent successful applications such as sparse learning, blind source separation, low-rank optimization, image processing, regression and classification, phase retrieval.
Through the course, students will study convex sets and functions and their properties, duality and dual maximization problem with the same optimal value, a certificate of optimality for an optimization problem. Students will also learn some commonly known convex optimization forms such as Linear Program, Quadratic Program, Second Order Cone Programs, Semi-Definite Programs etc. Students will know practical tools, and able to recognize and formulate convex optimization problems and solve them using efficient solvers. |
Anh Huy Phan, Andrzej Cichocki |
3 | MA03136 | |
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Differential Geometry of Connections (Term 1-2)
Symplectic geometry is the mathematical language of classical mechanics a hamiltonian dynamic. The course will cover the base of symplectic and contact geometry: symplectic forms, symplectomorphisms, Hamilton vector fields, as well as contact counterparts of these objects. Some applications in differential geometry will include geometry of caustics and wave fronts and their singularities. Among topological applications we will discuss different aspects of Arnold's conjecture on fixed points of symplectomorphisms and its variations.
|
Maxim Kazarian |
63 per term
|
MA06175 | |
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Digital Signal Processing
Digital signal processing (DSP) refers to various techniques for improving the accuracy and reliability of digital communications. The goal, for students of this course, will be to learn the fundamentals of Digital Signal Processing from the ground up. Starting from the basic definition of a discrete-time signal, we will work our way through Fourier analysis, filter design, sampling, signal statistics estimation theory, interpolation and quantization to build a DSP toolset complete enough to analyze a practical communication system in detail. We will also deal with modulation, synchronization and propagation channel modes. Hands-on examples and demonstration will be routinely used to close the gap between theory and practice.
The extra topics covered in this course are: – Fundamentals of random signal theory and analysis; – Modeling communication signals as random processes; – Baseband signal processing, signal synthesis and filter design for communication; – Statistical signal processing in communication; It is hoped that through learning this course students will be equipped with a clear picture of DSP as well as a necessary foundation for further study of advanced DSP topics in the future. |
Andrey Ivanov | 6 | MA06255 | |
|
Efficient Algorithms and Data Structures (Term 1B-2)
Design and analysis of algorithms and data structures is a core part of Computer Science and is of fundamental importance to all application areas. The goal of this course is to provide a representative sample of advanced algorithmic notions and techniques that constitute a modern toolbox for solving real-life problems. We will mainly deal with basic discrete objects – sets, trees, graphs, strings, … – and present efficient data structures and algorithms for solving various basic problems on these objects. Therefore, this course can be viewed as a basis for more specialized subjects. Lecture part of the course will focus on principles and ideas as well as on their mathematical justification. The practical part will include two in-class projects as well as several programming exercises assigned for homework. Those will strengthen practical problem solving skills using techniques taught in the course.
|
Gregory Kucherov |
63 per term
|
MA06270 | |
|
Energy Colloquium
The Energy Colloquium educates the audience in the present-day research and applications within the broader field of Energy Science and Technology. The Colloquium consists of a series of presentations by invited academic and industry speakers. The presentations target a nonspecialist audience.
All Master and Ph.D. students within the Energy Program are encouraged to attend the Energy Colloquium during the entire period of their studies. Students can earn 1 credit, if he/she participates in the Energy Colloquium over the course of any 2 terms of the academic year. Students who passed one round can make next (for credit) over the course of their subsequent studies. |
Alexei Buchachenko | 1 | Extra | MF01092 |
|
Energy Systems Physics and Engineering
Classical equilibrium thermodynamics is a theory of principles, which provides a framework to study means to produce motive power and useful heat, crucial for our everyday life. It is a pillar of any serious physics and engineering curriculum. This graduate course provides the students from possibly diverse backgrounds with the theoretical concepts that underlie the physics of energy conversion at the heart of heat engines operation, including chemical processes, and the specific knowledge of energy technologies in use nowadays. Covering some of the main real-world technologies for the generation of electric/mechanic, heating and cooling power: boilers, steam and organic Rankine cycles, gas turbines, internal combustion engines, heat pumps and chillers to name a few, students will learn to critically analyze and assess these technologies to improve their performance and imagine innovative and commercially viable solutions to energy problems, accounting for costs and environmental aspects like pollutants formation and their abatement.
Essential notions which are taught include: energy conversion; heat transfer; work; first and second principles; working fluids and thermoelastic coefficients; chemical reactions; thermodynamic cycles; motors and refrigerators: engines and heat pumps; sources of irreversibility; finite-time thermodynamics. Time permitting, notions of kinetic theory and statistical thermodynamics may be briefly introduced. The course is organized around the learning of essential concepts and an awareness development of current energy technologies. It is based both on "teaching with lecture" and "teaching with discussions" methods. In addition to home assignments and project, students will solve problems during tutorials and discuss their solutions, and also perform some experimental activity in the Thermal Lab. |
Henni Ouerdane | 6 | MA06001 | |
|
English Toolkit (Term 1B-2)
The goal of the English Toolkit course is to activate Academic English skills required for successful education at Skoltech.
The students will practice Academic vocabulary and grammar, as well as boost their reading, writing and speaking skills. The blended format includes a weekly online workload plus an offline group tutorial providing a flexible and individualised learning trajectory. Real-time feedback in online exercises will be complimented by tutor feedback for the writing and speaking assignments. |
Elizaveta Tikhomirova |
31.5 per term
|
Extra | MF03001 |
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English. Candidate Examinations
This is a meta-course which allows PhD students to register for English Qualification Exam for the Russian PhD Degree. There will be no lectures or seminars, only the exam. The preparatory course is also available in course catalog (look for "Academic Communication for PhD students" course).
The Exam has two parts: Part 1 – Pre-exam activities (Assignments 1, 2a, 2b) |
Elizaveta Tikhomirova | 3 | PE03003 | |
|
Finite Element Analysis
The course is intended to give basic knowledge and skills for finite element analysis method and procedures. The main topics of the course are introduction to FE theory and fundamentals, static stress analysis, structural stability, crack propagation analysis, extended finite element method (X-FEM), explicit dynamic analysis, Eulerian analysis, particle methods, heat transfer and thermal-stress analysis, submodeling. The both theory and practice with Abaqus software are given. Application of constitutive material models and equations of state are explained and demonstrated for typical problems.
|
Ivan Sergeichev | 3 | MA03355 | |
|
Foundations of Engineering Physics (Term 1B-4)
The course is dedicated to basics of building interfaces ”experiment-computer” in the modern scientific research. In most general configuration such interface comprises three stages:
1) “input” analog front-end feeding the electronic signals from sensors, transducers, 2) analog-to-digit as well as digit-to-analog conversion “bridges” and 3) logical channels conveying the ultimate digital information to a computer. The consideration of the three stages is made with emphases on the principle aspects of scientific measurements rather than detailed schematic/circuitry of the instrumentation. All stages of the measurement systems will be reviewed from the point of view of the fundamental imperatives of signal conditioning like impedance matching, optimal choice of the bandwidth solving the ubiquitous trade-off “precision versus rate” of data acquisition and et al. As well important peculiarities of configuring the elements of the system – such as prefiltering, modulation-demodulation techniques, the choice of the type and bit width of ADCs/DACs – will also be thoroughly discussed. At all stages a short concomitant overview of the modern commercially available electronic equipment will be given in order to improve students’ ability to select a proper set of the electronic devices among a great variety of those available on the market. |
Yuri Romanovskiy |
61.5 per term
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MA06213 | |
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Foundations of Multiphase Flow Modeling
This is a course into foundations of the Multiphase Flow Modeling.
We consider the basics of the multiphase flow modeling, including the multi-continua approach, the derivation of the multi-phase flow models from first principles (mass and momentum conservation laws) within the multi-fluid approach. Closure relations for suspension rheology and particle settling are discussed. Small scale phenomena are considered: particle migration, and bridging, transition to close packing. We specifically consider multiphase flows in reservoir, fracture and well, as applied to oil production technologies. |
Andrei Osiptsov | 3 | MA03344 | |
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Fundamentals of Photonics
This course is aimed for the first year master students, and provides an overview of the main physical principles of photonics and photonic devices. The emphasis is made on the demonstration that the light matter interaction in photonic devices can be modified by means of the modern technology. The course give the illustration how the basic physical laws help to get qualitative understanding of different branches of photonics such as light emission, transmission and detection. This introductory course is designed for both theoreticians and experimentalists.
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Nikolay Gippius | 6 | MA06160 | |
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Fundamentals of Power Systems
This course covers power systems analysis & operations, including fundamentals (balanced three-phase power) steady-state analysis (power flow), state estimation, operation (optimal power flow), security (contingency analysis and security-constrained optimal power flow), distribution grid operation, and challenges and trend of future power systems. After successfully completing this course, the student will be capable of analyzing the technical and economic operation of an electric energy system.
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David Pozo | 6 | MA06007 | |
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Geometric Representation Theory (Term 1-2)
Geometric representation theory applies algebraic geometry to the problems of
representation theory. Some of the most famous problems of representation theory were solved on this way during the last 40 years. The list includes the Langlands reciprocity for the general linear groups over the functional fields, the Langlands-Shelstad fundamental Lemma, the proof of the Kazhdan-Lusztig conjectures; the computation of the characters of the finite groups of Lie type. We will study representations of the affine Hecke algebras using the geometry of affine Grassmannians (Satake isomorphism) and Steinberg varieties of triples (Deligne-Langlands conjecture). This is a course for master students knowing the basics of algebraic geometry, sheaf theory, homology and K-theory. |
Mikhail Finkelberg |
63 per term
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MA06271 | |
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Hamiltonian Mechanics (Term 1-2)
This is the first among the base courses in the theoretical physics, aimed for the master
students. Matematical methods of modern theory of Hamiltonian systems are based on the concepts, The preliminary program of the course includes: |
Igor Krichever |
63 per term
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MA06174 | |
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High Performance Python Lab
This course is devoted to learning how to use Python for High Performance Computing on different architectures – multi-core CPUs and general purpose GPUs.
The course is oriented on practical knowledge, where the students will get a hands-on experience with Python code profiling, modern Python frameworks, such as Python MultiProcessing, Numba, Cython, mpi4py, PyCuda and others. Wide range of problem sets from linear algebra, image processing, deep learning, physics and engineering makes this course interesting and suitable for all levels of students from all CREIs. Students will also get the possibility to work on modern supercomputers. |
Sergey Rykovanov | 3 | MA03367 | |
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History and Philosophy of Science. Candidate Examinations
History and Philosophy of Science
The aim of this course is to give to Skoltech students and postgraduates basic information about the main stages of the development of science from its birth in Ancient Greece through the Middle Ages and the Renaissance to Modern Times and to the great scientific revolutions of the XX century. Every man of culture especially a future scientist should know the impact of such great thinkers as Plato, Aristotle, Thomas Aquinas, Avicenna, Nicholas of Cusa, Copernicus, Galileo, Descartes, Newton, Boscovich, Darwin, Bohr and Einstein (omitting many other brilliant names, that would be spoken about in the frames of the course) to the development of a scientific picture of the universe. Also there will be discussed the main topics and notions of the philosophy of science: demarcation between science and humanities, Popper’s theory of falsification, Kuhn’s theory of scientific revolutions, science-philosophical ideas of Lakatos and Feyerabend. The course will consist of 18 3-hour lectures and 6 examination sessions (3 hour each). The students are to submit 6 written essays in English on the following themes: 1. Ancient Greek and Roman Science; 2. Medieval and Renaissance Science; 3. Scientific Revolution of the XVII century; 4. Science in the XVIII and XIX century; 5. Science in the XX-XXI centuries; 6. Philosophy of Science. For the final exam the students should prepare 10-15 minutes oral presentation on the scientific problem they are currently working upon (on the theme of their research). Lectures 1-3 are devoted to the Ancient Greek and Roman Science Lectures 4-6 are devoted to Medieval and Renaissance Science Lectures 7-9 are devoted to the Scientific Revolution of the XVII century Lectures 10-12 are devoted to Science in the XVIII and XIX century Lectures 13-15 are devoted to Science in the XX-XXI centuries Lectures 16-18 are devoted to the Philosophy of Science |
Ivan Lupandin | 6 | PE06026 | |
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Ideas to Impact: Foundations for Commercializing Technological Advances
Technological innovation is critical to the survival and competitiveness of emerging and existing organizations. This course lays the foundation to undertake a robust analysis and design of opportunities for technology-based commercialization. We introduce tools and frameworks that help isolate and control the factors shaping the identification, evaluation and development of commercial opportunities. Throughout the course we use technology examples originating from problem sets found in engineering and scientific education to develop the skills necessary to connect technology and impact.
At the same time, through creativity lab students will be introduced to a variety of creative problem solving techniques and learn how to apply these techniques in the context of the development, evaluation and application of ideas and concepts with commercial potential; consider the evaluation of business ideas that translate existing business models into new national contexts. The course is designed to help students develop the ability to find, evaluate, and develop technological ideas into commercially viable product and process concepts, and build those concepts into viable business propositions. The material covered is research and theory-based but the course is practice-oriented with much of the term spent on shaping technology-based opportunities. A central objective of this subject is to equip students with an understanding of the main issues involved in the commercialization of technological advances at both strategic and operational levels. |
Zeljko Tekic | 6 | E&I | MC06002 |
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Industrial Robotics
Industrial robots are used to do repetitive actions in various different manufacturing processes. They are automated, programmable and can be integrated with various external devices depending on the solving problem. Typical applications of industrial robots-manipulators include welding, painting, assembly, moving, palletizing, product inspection processes accomplished with high speed and precision.
The main goal of this course is explain principles of controlling robots and solve different automation tasks demanded in industry. In this course, a wide range of questions will be addressed, beginning from the basics of robot teaching and controlling up to integration of manipulators and external devices into a single system. During laboratory class we will get acquainted with modern industrial robots. Students will be able to control an teach robots for solving different tasks: from simple movement of manipulators up to build an automated system for real manufacturing task |
Igor Shishkovsky | 3 | MA03249 | |
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Introduction to Blockchain
This course provide an overview of modern blockchain technology and its' practical applications (Cryptocurrency, Certification, Anchoring. Industrial examples.) We will start from basic cryptography and distributed data base systems and show how these tools are used in blockchain. The covered topics are the following:
-) Introduction to cryptography, type of ciphers. Private and Public crypto systems |
Alexey Frolov, Yury Yanovich |
3 | MA03272 | |
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Introduction to Computer Vision
Computer Vision is one of the most rapidly evolving subfields of Computer Science with many applications, e. g. in autonomous driving and healthcare, among others. This course is designed to provide a comprehensive systematic introduction to the field. We'll start with the recognition of some simple object elements such as corners and edges and then proceed to the detection of more complex local features. All major problem statements such as image classification, object detection and segmentation as well as the corresponding classical algorithms will be covered within the course. Finally, we'll briefly introduce convolutional networks and discuss key deep learning architectures for the same set of problems.
We'll extensively use Python and CV & image analysis libraries scikit-image and OpenCV during hands-ons and homeworks. The final grade will be calculated using the results of three homeworks (20% each) and the final project (40%). |
Mikhail Belyaev | 3 | MA03348 | |
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Introduction to Linux and Supercomputers
The course is devoted to series of frequently asked questions from people who start their scientific computing life with Linux. We'll give a masterclass for a work within the ssh-session, standard terminal commands and their combinations, tips on organization of the simplest possible bash-scripts (loops, background calculations, IO-redirections, etc.).
We'll explain and demonstrate the gentleman's set for software compilation from source (user configuration files, environment variables, Makefiles basics, compiler options and optimization flags, linking external libraries and connection of these concepts). We'll describe then the very basic points of hard- and software architectures of modern computing systems. And in the end of the day we'll present the model project based on all the concepts above. Lecturers expect that after the course student will be able to login on the HPC-cluster, properly setup the environment, compile the source code, run parallel programs on HPC-systems and write scripts for data post-processing. |
Sergey Matveev | 3 | MA03366 | |
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Introduction to Plant Biology
General biological courses give knowledge of eukaryotic features basing on processes in animals. Plants are out of focus as usual. This course aims to fill the gaps and show the plant specificity. The main purpose of the course is to consider the plant features that are absent in animals or that differ substantially from animal analogs. The characteristic features will be analyzed in plant biochemistry, cell organization and at the level of a whole organism. Last section will be devoted to applications in contemporary biotechnology. The course does not pretend to draw comprehensive picture of plant life; the focus will be on most important traits required to deep understanding of basic eukaryotic processes. Consequently, the general knowledge in eukaryotic biochemistry and cell biology is the prerequisite for this course.
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Eugene Lysenko | 3 | MA03261 | |
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Introduction to Product Lifecycle Management (PLM)
Basic course for 1st year MSc students devoted to PLM as applied to product development. Lectures are devoted to an overview of current trends in industry digitalization, “digital twins” technology and modern implementation of computer-aided design, computer-aided engineering, computer-aided manufacturing, model-based systems engineering, product lifecycle management, multidisciplinary optimization, predictive and prescriptive maintenance. Practical classes are dedicated to the simulation-driven product development process in a particular case study. Students learn how to develop a high-level model of a complex system, split it into subsystems and connect it with the functional models of each subsystem and with preliminary 3D models (e.g. aerodynamics and structural analysis). Also, the optimization of the whole system plays an important role in the course. The case study is a challenging task like High-Altitude Pseudo Satellite or Truss-Braced wing aircraft) Thus, during the course students go through all the main stages of complex system development process.
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Ighor Uzhinsky, Sergei Nikolaev |
6 | MA06148 | |
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Introduction to Solid State Physics
This course gives an introduction to solid state physics, one of the cornerstones on which a modern technologies are based. We will begin with the conventional classification of solids on the basis of binding forces, to be followed by crystal structure description and experimental techniques for crystal studies. From there we will discuss classical and quantum aspects of lattice dynamics and begin the study of the electronic structure of solids, including energy band formalism and carrier statistics in metals, semiconductors and insulators. Next we will consider basics of the atomic and electronic processes at crystal surfaces and interfaces, kinetic effects and scattering of the electrons. We will continue with the study of the optical processes in solids, including nonequilibrium carrier dynamics and photovoltaic effects and their applications in technology.
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Sergey Kosolobov | 6 | MA06027 | |
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Introduction to Surface Physics
This course assumes the study of techniques able to provide information concerning electronic and atomic surface structure. The techniques can be applied to materials and nanostructures research. The students should learn how the surface is arranged, what are the specific properties of the surface, what processes occur at the surface and interfaces, including metal-semiconductor interface and some other interfaces typical for heterostructures. Adsorption, interfacial reactions and films growth are also considered. Vacuum techniques of surface characterization are accented.
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Andrey Ionov | 3 | MA03218 | |
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Introduction to The Quantum Field Theory (Term 1-2)
Introduction to basic notions of gauge theory: gauge invariance, SU(N) Lie algerbras and their representations, Yang Mills Largangian and its quantization, Faddeev-Popov method, ghosts and unitarity, diagram technique, basics on perturbation theory, analysis of simplest Feynman diagramms, beta function in non-abelian Yang-Mills theory, renormalization group, asymptotic freedom, Higgs mechanism, basic notions of QCD and electroweak theory. Depending on progress: some advanced topics: anomalies, instantons.
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Yaroslav Pugai |
63 per term
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MA06273 | |
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Introduction to The Theory of Disordered Systems (Term 1-2)
This course is mainly dealing with the quantum electronic properties of disordered materials. I start with a review of different types of disorder and general methods of their theoretical treatment. Then I give a detailed discussion of the two popular models of quenched disorder, widely used for description of quantum solid state systems: Anderson model and Lifshits model. I discuss the properties of the disordered systems in the insulating phase: the density of states, the tails in the optical absorption ( with the optimal fluctuation method) and different versions of hopping conductivity: the nearest neighbour hopping and the Mott's variable range hopping. I also take into account the long-range Coulomb correlations and derive the Coulomb gap in the density of states and the Efros-Shklovskii law for the conductivity.
As to the vicinity of the metal-insulator transition, I give a qualitative discussion of the mechanism behind the transition, as well as the most powerful tools for probing the properties of the system near the transition: analysis of inverse participation ratios and the concept of multifractality of the wave-functions. In the metallic phase I discuss the weak localization corrections, including magnetoresistance, inelastic phase-breaking mechanisms and interaction-induced anomalies in the density of states near the Fermi surface. At the end of the course I give a brief introduction to mesoscopics, including the Landauer formalism and quantization of the ballistic conductance. |
Alexey Ioselevich |
63 per term
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MA06274 | |
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Laser Spectroscopy (Term 1B-4)
Spectroscopy is a science of studies of the quantum objects using the light. Before the laser era, its methods were limited to the spectroscopies of emission, absorption, and Raman scattering. The subject of the present course is not so much an improving, using the lasers, performance of the classical approaches (although this also is mentioned) but rather learning the new (more than a dozen) methods that have become possible only due to the appearance of the lasers. The course provides knowledge of the fundamental processes in spectroscopy as well as the methods allowing one to solve the problems that require (i) ultrahigh sensitivity, (ii) ultrahigh selectivity, (iii) ultrahigh spectral resolution, and (iv) ultrahigh temporal resolution. As an elective, the effects of quantum interference are considered such as coherent population trapping, the Autler–Townes effect, electromagnetically induced transparency, lasing without inversion, and more.
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Alexander Makarov |
61.5 per term
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MA06212 | |
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Leadership for Innovators
Succesful innovators are distinguished not only by their scientific excellence as well as end user vision, but also by superior leadership skills. Scientists dream about being honored and awarded by fans on the merits of their science alone, but unfortunately it never works this way. Innovation is impossible without leading, cooperating, negotiating, and keeping resilience from the constant stress. This course presents the comprehensive skillset of leadership that includes theory and practice of:
– leadership & teamwork – self-awareness and goal setting – stress management and self-presentation – empathy and 360 feedback – influence & negotiations The recurring topic of the class is that all these beneficial skills are fuzzy and overrated unless they are taken together in the globally accepted framework of "Emotional Intelligence" (EQ). The class is built as highly interactive action that starts with Q&A on a particular component of the EQ toolkit and then culminates in the intensive group and personal exercises. Unlike your favorite hard skill classes, this course is light on homework, but hard on class participation. Student should be ready to attend at all costs or face course failure. If you miss the class, you steal learning experience not only from yourself, but also from the entire group, hence consequences will be serious. Please note that this class is 80% similar to the ISP combo of "Hardcore EQ" and "Negotiation games" so you may optimize your learning schedule. |
Dmitry Kulish | 3 | E&I | MC03011 |
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Lie Groups and Lie Algebras, and Their Representations (Term 1-2)
We shall begin with the basics of the theory of Lie groups and Lie algebras. Then we shall provide an accessible introduction to the theory of finite-dimensional representations of classical groups on the example of the unitary groups U(N).
Tentative plan: linear Lie groups and their Lie algebras; universal enveloping algebras; Haar measure on a linear Lie group; general facts about representations of compact groups and their characters; radial part of Haar measure; Weyl's formula for characters of the unitary groups; Weyl's unitary trick; classification and realization of representations; symmetric functions. |
Grigory Olshanski |
63 per term
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MA06173 | |
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Magnetic Phenomena At Macro-, Micro- and Nanoscales
Objectives of this course are as follows: the mastery of the fundamental concepts, laws, experimental results and theories of the rapidly developing field of spintronics. Spintronics involves study of active control and manipulation of spin degrees
of freedom in solid-state systems. The primary focus of the course is on basic physical principles underlying the generation of carrier spin polarization, spin-polarized transport in metals, semiconductors and insulators and spin dynamics. The basic principles are illustrated by direct calculations in the framework of simple and transparent physical models. A number of problems are suggested for individual work followed by subsequent group discussions. |
Irina Bobkova | 3 | MA03219 | |
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Master Your Thesis in English 1 (Term 5-6)
The key to efficient professional communication is the ability to convey ideas clearly, coherently and correctly both orally and in writing.
The Course offers concise and practical guidelines for writing and defending a Master Thesis at Skoltech. The course focuses on the main parts of the Thesis in terms of structure, vocabulary and grammar, and their transformations for a presentation with slides. Students will develop a conscious approach to own writing and presentations through thorough analyses of the best authentic examples combined with intensive writing and editing practice. The ‘process-for-product’ approach teaches the students to write – use (peer) reviewer’s advice – revise/edit – repeat, and creates linguistic awareness needed to avoid the typical pitfalls. The Course is offered in two modules which gradually build on the necessary writing and presentation skills. |
Elizaveta Tikhomirova |
31.5 per term
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Extra | MF03003 |
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Master Your Thesis in English 1 (Term 5B-6)
Writing is the key priority and the need of utmost importance for all would-be scientists. Science demands not just writing, but good writing. It presupposes the skills to communicate ideas, theories and findings as efficiently and clearly as possible. Science lives and dies by how it is represented in print and a printed material is the final product of scientific endeavour. The primary goal of this course is to prepare master students for wiring, editing, and defending a Master Thesis.
This course is designed to explain how to write chapters of their Thesis through practical examples of good writing taken from the authentic linguistic environment. The course teaches how to overcome certain typical problems in writing a text of a thesis and abounds in useful linguistic assistance. Feedback on students’ texts will constitute the major part of the course. |
Anastasiia Sharapkova |
31.5 per term
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Extra | MF03003ls |
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Materials Chemistry
The goal of this course is to provide a survey of materials chemistry and their characterization techniques with an emphasis on chemical, electrical, optical and magnetic properties. Further emphasis will be placed application of materials chemistry to energy storage and conversion processes (batteries, fuel- and solar-cells)
Upon completion of this course the students will be able to master: 1.Classes of Materials crystalline solids ionic, covalent, metallic, polymers 2. Property of Materials Electrical 3. Materials Chemistry Analysis Methods Surface Sensitivity and Specificity |
Keith Stevenson | 6 | MA06042 | |
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Mathematical Methods in Engineering and Applied Science (Term 1B-2)
The course introduces students to mathematical methods widely used in modern engineering and applied sciences. It consists of three main parts: 1) Methods of Applied Linear Algebra (solving linear systems, LU, QR, SVD, and other factorizations, Principal Component Analysis, iterative methods, FFT, least squares, pseudo-inverse, etc.); 2) Statistical Methods and Data Analysis (mean, variance, probability; moments, covariance, Gaussian processes, Markov chains; regression, gradient descent; neural networks, machine learning); and 3) Applied Differential Equations (linear and nonlinear ordinary differential equations, stability and bifurcations of solutions, linear and nonlinear partial differential equations, hyperbolicity, characteristics, dispersion, reaction-diffusion phenomena, pattern formation).
The course is introductory by nature, covering a wide range of topics and methods of modern interest in applications. Its theoretical content is informal in style and most of the concepts will be illustrated with problems from engineering, physics, chemistry, and biology using numerical computations in Matlab and Python. The three parts of the course are aimed at: part 1 – using the right language that is crucial for understanding many computational techniques used in engineering; part 2 – learning important tools of analysis of results obtained either by computation or in experiments; and part 3 – learning the nature of key mathematical models that form the foundation of engineering and applied sciences. |
Aslan Kasimov |
63 per term
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MA06352 | |
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Mathematical Methods of Science (Term 1-2) The course is addressed to undergraduates of the first year and contains applications of various mathematical methods for solving problems of mathematical physics. The course assumes a minor familiarity with various sections of theoretical physics (classical mechanics, field theory, quantum mechanics, statistical physics, hydrodynamics, elasticity theory) on the example of solving specific problems. The main purpose of the course is to encourage undergraduates to independent research work. For this reason, the main element of the course is an independent solution to the problem, requiring the study of additional material. In the endpoint the students are assumed to acquire the use of Green functions, distributions, Laplace and Fourier transforms, asymptotic evaluations in mathematical physics |
Sergei Khoroshkin |
63 per term
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MA06317 | |
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Mathematical Modeling in Biology
The course aims to teach students to quantify biological observations into conceptual models, frame these models in mathematical terms, and analyze these models, both qualitatively and numerically.
It includes considering strategies to choose the relevant variables, parameters and observables, model nature (e.g. discrete vs continuous), modeling technique (e.g. agent-based simulations vs. dynamical system approach), and visualization and interpretation of the results. The following classes of systems will be used as examples: 1. Population models |
Yaroslav Ispolatov | 6 | MA06033 | |
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Molecular Biology (Term 1B-2)
Molecular biology course is based on learning the principles of replication, recombination, DNA repair. Additionally, replication strategies of phages and viruses will be discussed. Mitosis and meiosis will be described in a context of DNA biosynthesis. Also, the principles of RNA biosynthesis, i.e. transcription and processing, as well as protein biosynthesis, i.e. translation, maturation and transport will be described.
The goal of the course is obtaining a comprehensive knowledge on the structure of DNA and processes of DNA replication, recombination and repair in bacteria and eukaryotes, as well as on replication of phages and viruses. To obtain a detailed knowledge on the processes of transcription, in bacteria and eukaryotes, on the regulation of transcription in bacteria and eukaryotes, on examples of complex networks of transcriptional regulation in bacteria and eukaryotes, on maturation of RNA in eukaryotes, on protein biosynthesis in bacteria and eukaryotes, on the transport of protein in bacteria and eukaryotes. Students activities include: |
Petr Sergiev |
63 per term
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MA06034 | |
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Molecular Biology Seminar: CRISPR - the beginnings
The CRISPR story has been unfolding in front of our eyes. An esoteric subject of little interest to anyone became a totally new immunity system that some considered to be the only known Lamarkian mechanism in nature and then a powerful technology of gene editing that is revolutionising the life sciences. The first instalment of the seminar series will deal with “classical” papers on CRISPR, from original “low impact” publications in lesser journals and theoretical predictions to the pioneering work of Danisco scientists published in Science in 2007, the discovery of the Type II systems and the Doudna and Zhang papers of 2013 that opened up the field of genome engineeering.
For each class, there will be a paper that two people will present to the rest of the class. We will go down to the details of experiments – how things were done and what do the data/figures really show, so be prepared to answer in-depth questions. Presenters will start by stating the name of the paper/main authors and telling the take home message of the paper – why it is signficant, what problem it solved. Then they will proceed to the actual work. If there are methods/results mentioned in the paper that refer to prior work, you shall be prepared to answer questions about it too. The audience is supposed to read the paper being discussed beforehand and participate in discussions. To pass, one would need to present a paper at least once during the module and actively take part in discussions of other papers. One absence is allowed no questions asked. Additional absences when unexplained will be a cause for no-pass grade. There will be a few home assignments. They must be submitted in time, typed–not written up–and done professionally (written in good language, be concise and free of spelling errors – consider them as part of academic writing exercises). It is gonna be fun – students tend to like the seminar and its atmosphere |
Konstantin Severinov | 3 | MA03388 | |
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Molecular Spectroscopy (Term 1B-4)
The first part of this course covers the basics of interaction of radiation (light) with molecules: absorption, emission of light, Raman scattering. Born-Oppenheimer approximation is used to separate the electronic motions and nuclear motions in a molecule. As a result the energy of molecule is considered as a sum of electronic, vibrational and rotational energy.
Elements of quantum chemistry are considered relying on variational principle. Molecular-orbital (MO) and Valence-bond (VB) methods are applied for description of molecule wave function. Molecular geometry is considered. Properties of quantum states depend on symmetry of molecule. Theory of symmetry (group theory) is presented including theory of group representation. In the second part of this course the structure and symmetry of rotational, vibrational and electronic states of molecules are considered. The spectra of absorption, fluorescence and Raman spectra are considered. The applications of molecular spectroscopy for investigations of physical and technical process are presented. |
Vladimir Mironenko |
61.5 per term
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MA06209 | |
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Molecular biology of sensory systems
Sensory systems – vision, olfactory, taste, etc. – determines abilities of animals to detect environmental information and react immediately. The capabilities of sensory systems are striking in their sensitivity, specificity and wide adaptability. The course describes cellular and molecular mechanisms of reception of various environmental factors by animals. Receptor proteins and downstream cascades are considered in detail. Besides fundamental problems, related medical issues (disorders, existing and perspective therapies) and biotechnological applications (opto-, thermo-, chemo-genetics) are discussed.
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Konstantin Lukyanov | 3 | MA03376 | |
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Neural Natural Language Processing
The course is about neural models for natural language processing. The new generation of neural network-based methods based on deep learning has dramatically improved the performance of a wide range of natural language processing tasks, ranging from text classification to question answering. The course covers the basics and the details of successful models and methods for natural language processing based on neural networks, starting from the simple word embedding models, such as word2vec, all the way to more sophisticated language models, such ELMo and BERT. Besides, the course contains a small introduction to basic NLP methods. The course involves a substantial practical component with a number of practical assignments.
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Alexander Panchenko | 3 | MA03361 | |
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Numerical Linear Algebra
Numerical linear algebra forms the basis for all modern computational mathematics. It is not possible to develop new large scale algorithms and even use existing ones without knowing it.
In this course I will show, how numerical linear algebra methods and algorithms are used to solve practical problems. Matrix decompositions play the key role in numerical linear algebra. We will study different matrix decompositions in details: what are they, how to compute them efficiently and robustly, and most importantly, how they are applied to the solution of linear systems, eigenvalue problems and data analysis applications. For large-scale problems iterative methods will be described. I will try to highlight recent developments when it is relevant to the current lecture. This course should serve as a basis for other IT Skoltech courses. It will also serve as a first-time place where programming environment and infrastructure is introduced in a consistent manner. |
Ivan Oseledets | 6 | MA06024 | |
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Pedagogical Experience
The main function of this course is to articulate Skoltech's expectations on PhD students who do their pedagogical TA assignment at Skoltech. The course
describes the intended learning outcomes and how they are assessed. The main bulk of the 81 hours of the course is spent in the actual courses in which Please note that those, who did not pass Pedagogy of Higher Education [PE03025] and are going to be TA in the current term, should register for another course Pedagogical Experience – Pre-requisite [PE03005pre]. |
Dmitry Artamonov | 3 | PE03005 | |
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Permafrost and Natural Hydrates
This course is about permafrost and natural hydrates. You will learn The course is devoted to the consideration of cryogenic-geological conditions of the northern oil and gas provinces of Russia and their influence on the construction and operation of production wells. The course includes permafrost characterization within the main oil and gas fields in the European North and Siberia, including the Arctic zone. The main cryogenic-geological processes occurring in the areas of permafrost propagation are considered. The description of gas and gas hydrate accumulations in permafrost is given. The conditions for the formation and existence of gas and gas hydrate accumulations in permafrost are analyzed. Zoning of the territories of oil and gas provinces on the complexity of geocryological conditions for the development of deposits is carried out. The characteristic of engineering and permafrost studies for the selection of construction sites for producing wells is given. Analyzed the complications arising from the construction and operation of wells in permafrost. Thermal and mechanical interaction of producing wells with permafrost is considered. The behavior of gas hydrate accumulations in permafrost zone during the development of gas and oil fields in the Arctic is analyzed. The impact of global climate change on the stability of wells and ground engineering structures of the oil and gas complex is assessed.
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Evgeny Chuvilin | 3 | MA03343 | |
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Petroleum Reservoir Engineering
Review of petroleum reservoir types, their rock and fluid properties;
discussion of reservoir drive mechanisms; reserves estimation using volumetric and material balance methods in different gas and oil reservoirs; introduction to single-phase fluid flow in porous media; theory and techniques for well testing in different petroleum reservoirs; decline analysis implementation; aquifer modeling; introduction to immiscible reservoir recovery processes by waterflooding; essentials of petroleum reservoir development forecasting using 3D hydrodynamic models. |
Stanislav Ursegov | 3 | MA03290 | |
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Physics of Partially Disordered Systems
Principle notions and phenomena being specific for partially ordered media and amorphous state are considered. Examples and illustrations are provided for liquid crystals, plastic crystals (rotary crystals), nanocrystals, and partially ordered polymer structures. Phase transitions in these systems are accented, as well as the role of defects and dislocations. Optical properties of partially disordered systems are addressed. The systems consisting of nm- and sub-mkm-size particles are also discussed.
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Pavel Dolganov | 3 | MA03215 | |
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Physics of Semiconductor Bulk Crystals and Nanostructures
The course focuses on the presentation of foundations of the modern physics of semiconductors. Along with the traditional branches (band theory, phenomena in the contacts, single particle excitations and interparticle interactions) developed for bulk semiconductors, the course includes the problems of composite quasiparticles and collective excitations in low dimensional semiconductor nanostructures (quantum wells, quantum wires and quantum dots) and microcavities. The basic principles and features of semiconductor lasers are also addressed.
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Vladimir Kulakovsky | 3 | MA03214 | |
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Practicum in Experimental Physics
This course assumes mastering in certain experimental techniques in physics, including a practical work with experimental setups. For each technique, the program includes (i) an introductory lecture and demonstrations (one day totally) and (ii) one day of self-dependent research activities available for beginners. Each student is expected to make a choice of at least 8 of 13 proposed techniques. The final stage in each semester is individual research work (it will take at least two days). It is recommended to choose a combination of physical technique, technology and characterization technique. Students are invited to suggest the topic of individual work related to their future MSc research. Experimental facilities are currently located in the Institute of Solid State Physics RAS (Chernogolovka, Moscow Region). Joint transportation is arranged.
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Valery Ryazanov | 6 | MA06208 | |
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Quantum Theory (Term 1-2)
The course is addressed to students who know the basics and basic principles of
quantum theory. Physical applications of quantum theory on examples of specific problems will be considered. It is planned to study the following issues: supersymmetric quantum mechanics,motion of a charged particle in a uniform and constant magnetic field, electromagnetic field interacting with an external source, the Caldeira-Leggett model, the band structure of one dimensional systems, the basics of quantum Informatics. As can be seen from the list, the purpose of the course is to prepare the student for the study of quantum field theory. Students will be asked to choose their own topics to be discussed. |
Vladimir Losyakov |
63 per term
|
MA06384 | |
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Quantum Theory of Radiation and Quantum Optics (Term 1B-4)
The main goal of the course is to study by students basic physical principles, main quantum electrodynamical (QED) phenomena and mathematical apparatus of quantum electrodynamics and quantum optics. Students must know theory and experimental data on interaction of radiatiation with matter. Particularly will be discussed: quantum theory of electromagnetic field, problem of phase in QED, coherent and squeezed states, relativistic quantum theory of electrons and positrons, Klein paradox, diagram technique,
divergences and renormalization of mass and charge of electron, Lamb shift, cavity quantum electrodynamics (including last achievements), dynamical Casimir effect, basics of united theory of electromagnetic and weak interactions etc. |
Yuri Lozovik |
61.5 per term
|
MA06314 | |
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Renewable Energy
The course will present a comprehensive study of modern renewable energy resources integration to power systems. Mostly focused on wind and solar power – the main contributors to renewable generation profile – the course will provide with profound technical expertise in the field of planning, grid level behavior, and device-level control of renewable energy sources.
With the falling prices for power electronics devices, there is an exploding grows of grid connected renewable generation all over the world. Being taken for granted by most people, these power sources have quite sophisticated control systems inside them. In this course we will uncover the complex dynamic behavior of the systems, that govern the stable and secure operation of such devices with the main power grid. Solar and wind maximum power point tracking (MPPT) techniques to extract the maximum power from the primary sources, phase-locked loop systems for tight grid connection, doubly fed induction machines for flexible power output – are all the part of the course. |
Petr Vorobiev | 6 | MA06201 | |
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Research Methodology: CDMM Research Seminar (Term 2-4)
This is the main research seminar for the Skoltech Center for Design, Manufacturing and Materials (CDMM). All MSc students either enrolled into the Master Program in Advanced Manufacturing Technologies or PhD students affiliated with CDMM should attend this seminar. The format of the seminar is weekly invited lectures from top scientists in the research fields related to Advanced Manufacturing, Digital Engineering Technologies, and Mechanics and Physics of Advanced Manufacturing will be given.
|
Iskander Akhatov |
31 per term
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PA03102dmm | |
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Research Methodology: Computational and Data Science and Engineering (Term 2-3)
A modern researcher needs to have a set of various skills in order to conduct research efficiently. In addition to high level of research skills and understanding of the research environment of one’s particular field, a researcher should be able to manage research-related business processes, be personally effective, have high level of communication and presentation skills, build effective professional relationship with colleagues and effectively manage the career development. The course covers all these topics and implies active interaction between the tutor and students during the classes. In the end of the course each student will be asked to write an essay.
|
Maxim Fedorov |
31.5 per term
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PA03102cds | |
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Research Methodology: Molecular Biology Seminar
Main topic of term-2 seminar will be "CRISPR – the beginnings"
For each class, there will be a paper that two people will present to the rest of the class. We will go down to the details of experiments – how things were done and what do the data/figures really show, so be prepared to answer in-depth questions. Presenters will start by stating the name of the paper/main authors and telling the take home message of the paper – why it is signficant, what problem it solved. Then they will proceed to the actual work. If there are methods/results mentioned in the paper that refer to prior work, you shall be prepared to answer questions about it too. The audience is supposed to read the paper being discussed beforehand and participate in discussions. To pass, one would need to present a paper at least once during the module and actively take part in discussions of other papers. One absence is allowed no questions asked. Additional absences when unexplained will be a cause for no-pass grade. There will be a few home assignments. They must be submitted in time, typed–not written up–and done professionally (written in good language, be concise and free of spelling errors – consider them as part of academic writing exercises). It is gonna be fun – students tend to like the seminar and its atmosphere Dear students, Please note that the final list of participants will be selected by prof. Severinov after registration closes. |
Konstantin Severinov | 3 | PA03102ls | |
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Research Methodology: Space Center Seminar (Term 1-4)
The seminar will cover current topics in the space domain: latest news, discoveries. Also planned that all PhD students and some Master students will present their research. External lecturers will be invited regularly to focus on the main applications of space technologies: science, telecommunication, navigation and remote sensing. Aspects of space technologies will also be discussed: structures, software, attitude determination and control systems, on board computers, communication system power supply systems and others. The seminar will be offered in English.
|
Anton Ivanov |
30.75 per term
|
PA03102es | |
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Research Seminar "Advanced Materials Science" (Term 2-4)
This is the main research seminar of the Skoltech Center for Electrochemical Energy Storage and Materials Science Education program featuring presentations of young researchers: MSc students, PhD students, postdocs. Every MSc and PhD student of Materials Science program should deliver at least one presentation per two years. The range of topics is broad and includes any aspects of materials science and engineering.
Please see the seminar webpage at http://crei.skoltech.ru/cee/education/wednesday-scientific-seminar/ |
Keith Stevenson |
30.5 per term
|
MA03302 | |
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Research seminar "Modern Problems of Mathematical Physics" (Term 1-4)
Course "Modern problems of mathematical physics" is a student seminar, so participants are expected to give talks based on the modern research papers. Current topic of the seminar can vary from time to time: now it is devoted to the study of N=2 supersymmetric gauge theory and its links with random matrix models, ABJM theory, localization, complex curves, and integrable systems. Other topics that were already covered, or can be covered in the future, are: classical integrable equations, complex curves and their theta-functions, quantum integrable models (quantum-mechanical and field-theoretical), models of statistical physics.
|
Pavlo Gavrylenko |
61.5 per term
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MA06268 | |
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Research seminar "Modern Problems of Theoretical Physics" (Term 1-4)
Research seminar "Modern Problems of Theoretical Physics" is supposed to teach students to read, understand and represent to the audience recent advances in theoretical physics. Each student is supposed 1) to choose one of recent research papers from the list composed by the instructor in the beginning of each term, 2) read it carefully, 3) present the major results of the paper to his/her colleagues during the seminar talk, 4) answer the questions from the audience about the content of the paper. The papers in the list are selected, normally, from the condensed matter theory and related fields, like: physics quantum computing, statistical physics, etc. The papers to the list are usually chosen from most competitive physics journals, like Nature Physics, Science, Physical Review Letters, Physical Review X and others.
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Mikhail Feigelman, Sergei Khoroshkin |
61.5 per term
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MA06319 | |
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Research seminar 1 "Energy systems and technologies" (Term 2-4)
This research seminar is the general meeting for faculty, researchers and master and PhD students of Energy Systems programs. The seminar takes place every week during Terms 2(6)-3(7)-4(8).
Master students must attend the seminar at least for one academic year but welcome to attend during two years. PhD students are welcome to attend the seminar during all years of studies but can gain no more than 6 credits in total. The seminar consists of faculty lectures, invited lectures of top scientists in their research field as well as students’ reports on their own or examined papers. To PASS the course and gain 3 credits per academic year the student must fulfill all three requirements: 1. Attendance: > 2/3 of seminars. 2. Presentation. Depending on the status: 3. Evaluation. Filling in the Online feedback form. The core of the self-study activity will be preparation to the talk that is comparable to project implementation (a significant part of many regular courses). The students are expected to assign at the beginning of Term 2/6 and may drop the seminar till the beginning of Term 3/7 while credits are provided in Term 4/8. |
Elena Gryazina |
31 per term
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MA03386 | |
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Research seminar 2 "Energy systems and technologies" (Term 2-4)
This research seminar is the general meeting for faculty, researchers and master and PhD students of Energy Systems programs. The seminar takes place every week during Terms 2(6)-3(7)-4(8).
Master students must attend the seminar at least for one academic year but welcome to attend during two years. PhD students are welcome to attend the seminar during all years of studies but can gain no more than 6 credits in total. The seminar consists of faculty lectures, invited lectures of top scientists in their research field as well as students’ reports on their own or examined papers. To PASS the course and gain 3 credits per academic year the student must fulfill all three requirements: 1. Attendance: > 2/3 of seminars. 2. Presentation. Depending on the status: 3. Evaluation. Filling in the Online feedback form. The core of the self-study activity will be preparation to the talk that is comparable to project implementation (a significant part of many regular courses). The students are expected to assign at the beginning of Term 2/6 and may drop the seminar till the beginning of Term 3/7 while credits are provided in Term 4/8. |
Elena Gryazina |
31 per term
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MA03377 | |
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Reservoir Rock Characterization
The course provides both conclusive theoretical knowledge in reservoir characterization and practical skills in laboratory measurements of the rock properties. During the course the students will learn the key rock parameters, defining the reservoir geological and recoverable reserves, well design and completion, field development strategy and rates of economic production. Particular emphasis is made on the genesis and relationships of the rock properties as well as their relevance for well logging data interpretation and geological modeling.
The course includes lectures, laboratory practicums and seminars. The participants will get acquainted with every stage of reservoir rock study, starting from coring while drilling, core handling at the well site, its further processing, sampling, transportation and preparation for laboratory tests. Further the students will learn in details routing and special laboratory tests (SCAL). Finally, the students will study how to designed a laboratory program, acknowledging geology and rock properties of a reservoir. |
Alexei Tchistiakov | 3 | MA03346 | |
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Robotics
The lecture course introduce you to basics knowledge of methods for robot design, simulation, and control of robotic system. Topics include robot kinematics, dynamics, control, design, simulation, motion planning, and AI. The course slightly touches the research in wearable, space and telexistence robotics. The projects in robotics done by the lecturer, such as NurseSim, iFeel_IM!, FlexTorque, NAVIgoid, TeleTA will be presented. The lecture aims at student preparation and motivation to conduct projects in Robotics, Automation, Advanced manufacturing, and Intelligent Systems.
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Dzmitry Tsetserukou | 6 | MA06050 | |
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Selected Topics in Energy: Physical, Chemical and Geophysical Challenges (Term 2-4)
The course provides an introduction to the modern topics related to fundamentals of exploration of energy resources, energy generation, storage, conversion and use. It identifies the corresponding practical challenges to be addressed at the fundamental research level and familiarizes the students with the state-of-the-art approaches, methods and techniques in use in related scientific areas. The course seeks to emphasize and maintain interdisciplinary nature of the energy-related topics, in particular, combination of micro- and macroscopic approaches of geophysics, mechanics and chemistry in hydrocarbon exploration and development, relation between the physical and chemical processes of energy generation and conversion, integration of physical, chemical and mechanical approaches to perspective materials (physical and chemical synthesis, micro- and macroscopic characterization, structure-property relations, etc.) and related theoretical methodologies. These interdisciplinary links are mostly demonstrated by horizontal knowledge exchange among the students reporting and discussing practical examples from their own research field or from modern review or research publications. Topical lectures are included for further exploration of these links. The secondary aim of the course is the development of presentation skills (oral and writing), as well as scientific peer-review experience. The seminar format chosen for most activities allows students free exchange of knowledge and ideas, broader vision of their research projects and methodologies, better assessments of their own research skills and demands for further education.
|
Alexei Buchachenko |
62 per term
|
PA06106 | |
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Space Center Seminar (Term 1B-4)
The seminar will cover current topics in the space domain: latest news, discoveries. Also planned that all PhD students and some Master students will present their research. External lecturers will be invited regularly to focus on the main applications of space technologies: science, telecommunication, navigation and remote sensing. Aspects of space technologies will also be discussed: structures, software, attitude determination and control systems, on board computers, communication system power supply systems and others. The seminar will be offered in English.
|
Anton Ivanov |
10.25 per term
|
Extra | MF01005 |
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Spacecraft Dynamics and Control
This course surveys basic concepts and computational fundamentals of astrodynamics and then proceeds with the principles of spacecraft attitude determination and control. The emphasis throughout the course is made on solving real-world engineering problems and analyzing up-to-date misions. Orbital and rotational dynamics of spacecraft are discussed and simulated under a variety of environmental conditions, along with the realistic constraints imposed by available hardware.
The first part of the course is focused on the orbital dynamics of spacecraft and discusses main principles of how the orbits of satellites or trajectories of spacecraft are formed due to environmental factors and how they are designed, when a space mission is planned. The second part of the course shows a few methods of nonlinear dynamics identification and control through the example of attitude control systems. The students will learn how the attitude control systems are modeled and designed, and what sensors, actuators and algorithms are used. |
Dmitry Pritykin | 6 | MA06379 | |
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Statistical Mechanics and Kinetics (Term 1B-2)
The course will start with a review of the basic concepts of statistical mechanics and thermodynamics and will cover a broad range of topics. These include quantum degenerate gases, phase equilibrium and phase transitions (including Landau theory of second order phase transitions), theory of linear response and fluctuations, and treatment of nonequilibrium phenomena in gases using the Boltzmann kinetic equation. Examples considered in class and homework assignments will focus on applications of the general formalism to physical systems. The course is intended for both theorists and experimentalists.
|
Anton Andreev |
63 per term
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MA06339 | |
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Statistical Mechanics, Percolation Theory and Conformal Invariance (Term 1-2)
This is a course on rigorous results in statistical mechanics, random fields and percolation theory. Some of it will be dedicated to the theory of phase transitions, uniqueness or non-uniqueness of the lattice Gibbs fields. We will also study the models at the criticality, where one hopes to find (in dimension 2) the onset of conformal invariance. We will see that it is indeed the case for the percolation and the Ising model.
The topics will include: Crossing probabilities Critical percolation The Russo-Seymour-Welsh theory Cardy’s formula Parafermionic observables Conformal invariance of two-dimensional percolation Conformal invariance of two-dimensional Ising model O(N)-symmetric models The Mermin–Wagner Theorem The Berezinskii–Kosterlitz–Thouless transition Reflection Positivity and the chessboard estimates Infrared bounds |
Semen Shlosman |
63 per term
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MA06383 | |
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Supersymmetric Gauge Theories (Term 1-2)
This course is an introduction to the supersymmetry, which is one of the main basic principles, being used both in field theory and in string theory. The main emphasis will be made on the consideration of dynamics of supersymmetric gauge field theories: in particular, at the non-perturbative level.
Course starts from the introduction of the main concepts: supersymmetric algebra, its representations, chiral and vector multiplets. One will consider Wess-Zumino model and introduce superpotential. Then one will consider supersymmetric quantum electrodynamics, discuss supersymmetric Higgs mechanism and Higgs branches. One will consider in detail supersymmetric quantum chromodynamics. Its vacuum structure at the classical level will be discussed. Then one will introduce instantons and explain how they change vacuum structure by generating Affleck-Dine-Seiberg superpotential. Finally we will consider Seiberg duality. |
Alexei Yung, Pavlo Gavrylenko, Andrey Marshakov |
63 per term
|
MA06381 | |
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Systems Engineering
The course introduces students to the fundamentals of systems engineering as an interdisciplinary approach and means to enable the realization of successful systems, as defined by the International Council of Systems Engineering.
The course covers the entire spectrum of the lifecycle management of a system, encompassing conceptual design, design, implementation, assembly-Integration and test (AIT), operations and disposal of systems. Being a foundational course for the Space and Engineering Systems students of Skoltech, the course discusses many applications of systems engineering including some parts of space systems engineering . The course also discusses systems architecture principles. The Systems Engineering course follows the systems engineering V-model as an educational guideline. The course includes a design project that is conducted throughout the term. |
Alessandro Golkar | 6 | MA06023 | |
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Technology Commercialization: Foundations for Doctoral Researchers
In knowledge-based society, more than ever before, it is imperative that inventions, scientific knowledge and technological knowledge created throughout research at universities have an impact outside university faculties and laboratories. Commercialization of research is a means to fulfill that goal. This course is designed to help PhD students to consider their research ideas and results through the lenses of opportunities that are attractive for business and investors, and to prepare them to make impact through commercial execution of those opportunities.
The course lays the foundation to undertake a robust analysis and design of opportunities for technological innovation. It helps PhD students to develop the ability to recognize, evaluate, and develop technological ideas into commercially viable product and service concepts, and build those concepts into viable business propositions. We introduce tools and frameworks to help isolate and control the factors shaping the identification, evaluation and development of commercial opportunities. During the course, students first gain practical experience in shaping technology-based opportunities (originating from problems found in engineering and scientific education) and in identifying market-based opportunities (from social, economic and environmental contexts). Students are then challenged to employ that same commercialization framework to reflect on and examine ideas and scientific results from their own doctoral research, link these with appropriate market-based opportunities, and identify one or more pathways to create practical impact from their ideas. The material covered is research and theory-based but the course is practice-oriented with much of the term spent on shaping technology-based opportunities. A central objective of this subject is to equip students with an understanding of the main issues involved in the commercialization of technological advances at both strategic and operational levels. |
Zeljko Tekic | 6 | E&I | PC06002 |
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Technology Entrepreneurship: Foundation
The course target is to help you to understand technology entrepreneurship process (e.g. creation of a technology-based startup or a new business stream within an established company) from a technology-oriented background.
The course is designed primarily for the students: As a framework for the course we use the “battle proven” approaches as “Disciplined Entrepreneurship” (Bill Aulet, MIT) and “Customer Development” (Steve Blank, UC Berkeley & Stanford). The course will have team- and project-based active learning formats with the combination of class lectures, “real-live” cases, in class and homework assignments (including “get out of the building and interview entrepreneur and/or customer” exercises!) as well as guest speakers’ sessions and teams’ activities and report outs. In the course you will be studying such topics as opportunity recognition and market evaluation, forming a startup team, start-up strategies, gathering resources, entrepreneurial marketing, revenue streams and pricing, as well as other you will need to know to increase your odds in putting a new technology to use and commercial success. Special emphasis is given to provide you with networking opportunities and connections within Skolkovo innovation ecosystem. The course serves as an introduction and prerequisite for the further in-depth E&I courses: Product Innovation (Term 3, new tech products & services design in cooperation with external business partners) and Technology Entrepreneurship: advanced (Term 4, deep-dive into your startup projects). |
Alexey Nikolaev | 3 | E&I | MC03008 |
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Theoretical Methods of Deep Learning
Deep Learning (DL) is a highly promising and popular applied science that, at present, is poorly understood theoretically. We know that neural networks work well, but cannot fully explain why. Nevertheless, in the last few years, there has been a rapid growth of publications that shed light on the new mathematics underlying DL, and we see now many interesting connections between DL and other fields such as approximation theory, random matrix theory, and statistical physics. This course aims to introduce students to these cutting-edge developments.
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Dmitry Yarotsky | 3 | MA03327 | |
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Theory of Phase Transitions (Term 1-2)
The role of long-range thermal fluctuations in the condensed matter
physics is considered. We give a theory of the second order transitions starting from the Landau expansion in the order parameter. As an introduction we consider the mean field theory, then we take into account fluctuations the role of which can be examined in the framework of the perturbation theory and the so-called renorm-group formalism. The peculiarities of a weak crystallization transition where fluctuations qualitatively change the nature of the phase transition in comparison with the mean field picture are treated on the same diagrammatic language. The theoretical approach based on the Landau expansion is utilized to examine thermal fluctuation effects far from phase transition points. We consider the long-scale properties of smectics where fluctuations destroy the long-range order. The smectics are treated in the framework of the renorm-group approach. The same renorm-group technique is developed also for two-dimensional ferromagnets where the effective coupling constant increases with increasing scale what drastically change long-scale properties of the system. Long-range fluctuations are also relevant for membranes which are two-dimensional objects immersed into a three-dimensional fluid. Elastic modules of a membrane are logarithmically renormalized, the renormalization law can be found by using renorm-group methods. Of special interest is Berezinskii-Kosterlitz-Thouless phase transition in superfluid, crystal or hexatic films which is related to appearing free point defects (vortices, dislocations or disclinations). The problem can be mapped into sine-Gordon model and then examined by renorm-group methods. We present some facts concerning critical dynamics and the so-called KPZ (Kardar-Parisi-Zhang) problem. Then we consider peculiarities of the 2d hydrodynamics and passive scalar. |
Vladimir Lebedev |
63 per term
|
MA06138 | |
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Thermal Petrophysics and Geothermy
The course presents theoretical and experimental background of thermal petrophysics and geothermics in application to solution of modern problems of fundamental and applied geophysics and geology of unconventional hydrocarbon resources. The recent essential evolution in experimental and theoretical basis of the thermal petrophysics and oil&gas geothermics are described. Reasons of significant extension of applications of methods and equipment developed recently within these scientific directions are explained. Qualitatively new possibilities in prospecting, exploration and development of unconventional hydrocarbon fields based on advanced theoretical and experimental basis of thermal petrophysics and geothermics are shown. Peculiarities in applications of methods of thermal petrophysics and geothermics to heavy oil fields and shale oil fields are illustrated. Necessity of wide implementation of new thermophysical and geothermal technologies is demonstrated on graphic examples of their implementation for investigations of many unconventional oil&gas resevoirs. Cardinal changes in effectiveness of oil&gas thermal petrophysics and geothermics caused due to development of optical scanning and continuous thermal core logging technologies are revealed. It is shown that significant improvement of reliability of basin and petroleum system modeling as well as hydrodynamic modeling was reached after new methods of thermal petrophysics and geothermics became obligatory components of prospecting, exploration and development of unconventional resource fields. The advanced methods, technologies and equipment of thermal petrophysics and geothermics are effective also for prospecting, exploration and development of conventional resource fields.
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Yuri Popov | 6 | MA06295 | |
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Transport in Mesoscopic Systems
The course aims to provide introduction to a modern direction of the solid-state physics, devoted to studying charge transport (charge currents) in mesoscopic structures. Mesoscopic structures are intermediate between micro- and macroscopic systems; in our context, this name refers to systems with many electron in which mechanics (in particular, quantum mechanics) of single electrons is still important. The course consists of two parts, devoted to normal (i.e., non-superconducting) and superconducting systems. A number of these systems form a basis for nanoelectronics devices. The course assumes participation of students interested in both experimental and theoretical aspects of mesoscopic research.
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Yakov Fominov | 6 | MA06217 | |
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Virasoro Algebra and Conformal Field Theory (Term 1-2)
Conformal field theory is a quantum field theory that is invariant under conformal transformations.The course is devoted to a two-dimensional theory, which possess an infinite dimensional algebra of local conformal transformation, which includes Virasoro Lie algebra.
We will mainly focus on the mathematical aspects of the theory based on the relations with the representation theory of Virasoro algebra. A small preliminary acquaintance with string theory and conformal field theory is assumed. |
Mikhail Bershtein |
63 per term
|
MA06321n |
Term 3
| Course Title | Lead Instructors | ECTS Credits | Stream | Course Code |
|---|---|---|---|---|
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Academic Communication: Preparatory English for Phd Exam (Term 3-4)
Efficient professional communication is the key to Academic success. The course is designed for PhD students who want to maximize their academic potential by boosting their ability to write research papers, present in front of multidisciplinary audiences, participate in scholarly discussions and engage in other forms of academic communication.
The main goal of the course is to enable PhD students to produce clear, correct, concise and coherent texts acceptable for the international professional community. The course is designed for a multi-disciplinary audience. The course serves as a preparation for the qualification language exam, which is a prerequisite for the Thesis defense. |
Elizaveta Tikhomirova |
31.5 per term
|
PE03029 | |
|
Academic Writing Essentials (Term 3-4)
Academic writing skills are necessary for effective research, innovation, and educational activities in a multinational setting. The aim of the course is to provide guidelines and strategies for writing academic texts, focusing on relevant aspects of grammar, vocabulary, and style. The course includes analysis and practice of various forms of scientific and technical writing, and builds writing skills from sentences to paragraph structure, from summary to abstract, and lays the foundations for writing scientific papers and Master Thesis.
Modern science is, for most purposes, a collective collaborative effort, so the course is designed to promote individual and group responsibility by providing mutually related and time-dependent tasks, such as peer review. The course is writing-intensive with ample opportunity to practice editing and peer-reviewing. |
Elizaveta Tikhomirova |
31.5 per term
|
Extra | MF03002 |
|
Advanced Drilling and Completion Technologies
Course will cover basic and advanced drilling and completion technologies during well planning and execution. Planning phase includes basics of well design: selection of trajectory, casing, drilling fluid, drilling string, bottom hole assembly (drilling bits, rotary steerable systems, mud motors, measured while drilling and logging while drilling tools), cement, lower completion and upper completion, wellheads, x-mass tree, drilling rig, etc. Execution phase covers techniques of directional drilling, hole cleaning, casing running, cementing operation, completion running and emergency situations prevention and recovery while drilling (well control, stuck pipe, etc.). The course will cover basics of the offshore drilling and completion.
|
Kirill Bogachev | 3 | MA03347 | |
|
Advanced Molecular Biology Laboratory Practice
This course offers students the opportunity to work individually on laboratory projects assigned by the course instructor. During the term students are expected to have at least one entire working day in the lab, although additional days may be required. Final grades are determined by the students' final presentations, which describe their project/goals along with the results/progress accomplished. Participation in the course requires approval from the students' own advisors, as well as the instructors of the course
|
Svetlana Dubiley | 6 | PA06046 | |
|
Advanced PLM techniques: Digital Design and Optimization
This course is dedicated to the end-to-end design methodology, based on the PLM approach. During the course students will develop small unmanned aerial vehicle with deployable wings.
The design includes: concept development, conceptual design, systems engineering, 3D physical simulation (CFD and FEM), parametric and topology optimization, final solid design. Educational process is focused on teamwork in this course. Siemens Teamcenter PLM platform is used as to provide interaction within students workgroup. The course provides students with a theoretical and practical basis for implementing projects devoted to the design of complex technical systems, such as unmanned aerial vehicles. |
Ighor Uzhinsky, Sergei Nikolaev |
6 | MA06252 | |
|
Advanced PLM techniques: Product Prototyping
The main goal of the course is the familiarization with the advanced manufacturing, testing, and model validation methods.
During the course, students should develop the technology for small unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) prototype production. The course provides students with a theoretical and practical basis for advanced manufacturing of complex systems, such as UAV and forms the final understanding of the product lifecycle management. |
Ighor Uzhinsky | 3 | MA03253 | |
|
Advanced PLM techniques: Testing and Models Validation
This course is final course in PLM series and is devoted to the different types of testing and numerical models validation.
Students learn how to perform vibrational and modal testing in order to identify dynamic parameters of given structure. The modal testing is performed using laser scanning vibrometry. The results of modal and vibrational testing are used for finite-element model validation and updating for accurate dynamics simulation. Also, so called Hardware-in-the-Loop (HiL) testing is important part of the course. The idea of HiL is to upload the functional model of investigated system to real-time board and test it in combination with physical parts. During the course students perform a number of tests with the system that was designed and prototyped during courses Advanced PLM I and Advanced PLM II. Finally the results are used for system model validation. |
Ighor Uzhinsky | 3 | MA03254 | |
|
Advanced Statistical Methods
This course introduces the main notions, approaches, and methods of nonparametric statistics. The main topics include smoothing and regularization, model selection and parameter tuning, structural inference, efficiency and rate efficiency, local and sieve parametric approaches. The study is mainly limited to regression and density models. The topics of this course form an essential basis for working with complex data structures using modern statistical tools.
Course structure: lectures, seminars, exam. |
Vladimir Spokoiny | 3 | MA03132 | |
|
Applied Geomechanics
This course covers different aspects of experimental geomechanics, and it is divided into three parts: lectures, seminars and laboratory work in SCHR Geomechanical laboratory. During the lectures, the introduction to the basic principles of physical characteristics of rocks measurements during geomechanical testing will be presented. In the seminars, the examples of calculations of geomechanical parameters using MS Excel will be demonstrated. Usually, oil and gas companies collect rock cores during drilling of the wells and afterwards, they send these cores to determine physical characteristics through geomechanical laboratory testing. Understanding of physical parameters of the rock is extremely important for a proper design of exploration approaches planned for hydrocarbon reservoirs in the field conditions.
The second part of the course is to take place in the lab, where different techniques of the rock physical characteristics measurements before and during the core testing will be demonstrated to the students. We are going to teach students to measure initial physical characteristics of rock samples, such as porosity, permeability, density, etc. before the test, as well as how to analyze experimental data obtained during the testing. Also, together with students we intend to make conventional geomechanical testing, stressing rock samples under confining pressure conditions, as well as hydraulic fracturing of rock samples, injecting high pressure fluid into the rock. The students will be given the results of these tests for a homework, they will have to make calculations of rock parameters based on measured in the laboratory data, and present results at project defense. Students will be considered passed the final exams of Applied Geomechanics course, if they demonstrate ability (i) to make certain measurements in the laboratory; (ii) to calculate rock geomechanical parameters; (iii) to estimate the accuracy of rock parameters measurements. |
Sergey Stanchits | 6 | MA06190 | |
|
Basic Molecular Biology Techniques
The purpose of this course is to provide students with the opportunity to obtain and develop the basic set of skills needed to be successful in a molecular biology laboratory. The course consists of hands-on laboratory work, as well as lectures from course instructors. Students without any significant background in the biological sciences should be advised that additional reading outside of the scheduled classes may be necessary to maximize classroom success (instructors are happy to provide resources at the students’ request).
|
Svetlana Dubiley | 6 | MA06022 | |
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Biostatistics
This introductory course to statistics and probability theory is modeled as an extension of a traditional university Statistics course and Advanced Placement Course in Statistics to a broader spectrum of topics, while keeping the spirit of quantitative discourse applied to real-life problems. The material is offered in 5 consecutive modules (see Course Outline below), each containing a lecture, a discussion section, and a practicum. For practical exercises we use R programming language and R-Studio software. However, this course is focused on statistics rather than R; therefore, each practicum is designed with the purpose to demonstrate and reinforce understanding of concepts introduced in the lecture rather than to provide a training in R.
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Dmitri Pervouchine | 6 | MA06036 | |
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CDMM Research Seminar (Term 1B-4)
This is the main research seminar of the Skoltech Center for Design, Manufacturing and Materials (CDMM). All MSc students either enrolled into the Masters Program in Advanced Manufacturing Technologies or PhD students affiliated with CDMM should attend this seminar. The format of the seminar is weekly invited lectures from top scientists in the research fields related to Advanced Manufacturing, Digital Engineering Technologies, Computational Engineering, and Mechanics and Physics of Advanced Manufacturing.
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Iskander Akhatov |
10.25 per term
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Extra | MF01007 |
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Carbon Nanomaterials
The course covers the subject of carbon nanomaterials (fullerenes, nanodimond, nanotubes, and graphene). The history of carbon compounds since antiquity till our days starting from charcoal to carbon nanotubes and graphene will be reviewed. The students will have opportunity to synthesize carbon nanotubes (by aerosol and CVD methods) and graphene, to observe the materials in transmission (TEM) and scanning (SEM) electron microscopes as well as by atomic force (AFM) microscope and to study optical and electrical properties of the produced carbon nanomaterials. A few lectures are presented by various specialists on the topic of their research.
Totally 32 hours of lectures, 12 hours of exercises and 4 hours of discussion work. During the courses each student is supposed to give a short presentation (15 min) on a selected topic, to write an essay on other selected topic and to prepare an exercise report. |
Albert Nasibulin | 6 | MA06044 | |
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Composite Materials and Structures
This course aims to provide knowledge about manufacturing, properties, and contemporary problems in composite materials. The emphasis is on the practical applications, theoretical background, and the use of composite materials in industry. The course cuts across several domains, covering mechanics of materials, design, manufacturing, and in service issues:
• Introduction: What is a composite? Classification. Metals vs composites, advantages and disadvantages. Applications in industry. Participants will learn fundamentals of these areas through active participation in teamwork. The course will provide practical knowledge on applications of composite materials in aerospace and mechanical engineering. |
Sergey Abaimov | 6 | MA06241 | |
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Computational Materials Science Seminar (Term 1B-4)
This is the main research seminar at Skoltech for Computational Materials scientists. All students of Computational Materials Science subtrack of Materials Science MSc program should attend this seminar. Topics include materials modeling (at atomistic scale), theoretical and computational chemistry, theoretical and computational physics of materials, underlying mathematical methods and algorithms etc. Invited lectures are top scientists in their research field.
Please see the seminar webpage at https://www.skoltech.ru/en/cms/ |
Dmitry Aksenov |
30.75 per term
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Extra | MF03006 |
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Condensed Matter Spectroscopy and Physics of Nanostructures (Term 1B-4)
This course presents a modern introduction to the field of optical phenomena in condensed matter and nanostructures. The first part of the course starts from the classical and quantum theory of electromagnetic response, and basics of the condensed matter spectroscopy. Then the major research directions in the modern condensed matter spectroscopy are considered, such as spectroscopy of graphene, topological materials, and two-dimensional transition metal dichalcogenides. The second part of the course is focused on specific optical phenomena in semiconductors, heterostructures, nanostructures and interfaces, such as surface plasmons and polaritons, excitons, spin-orbit coupling effects, Raman scattering and color centers.
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Alexey Sokolik |
61.5 per term
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MA06313 | |
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Control Systems Engineering
The course focuses on dynamic systems, and their control. Such systems evolve with time and have inputs, disturbance, and outputs. One can find examples of dynamic systems in everyday life, for examples, automobiles, aircrafts, cranes, electrical circuits, fluid flow.
You will analyze the response of these systems to input. Students will learn how to control system through feedback to ensure desirable dynamic properties (performance, stability). The practice will include work with an industrial, a humanoid, a mobile, and a telepresence robot. |
Dzmitry Tsetserukou | 6 | MA06083 | |
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Differential Topology (Term 3-4)
We plan to discuss two topics, which are central in topology of smooth manifolds, the h-cobordism theorem and theory of characteristic classes. The h-cobordism theorem proved by S. Smale in 1962 is the main (and almost the only) tool for proving that two smooth manifolds (of dimension greater than or equal to 5) are diffeomorphic. In particular, this theorem implies the high-dimensional Poincare conjecture (for manifolds of dimensions 5 and higher). Characteristic classes, in particular, Pontryagin classes are very natural invariants of smooth manifolds. Computation of characteristic classes can help one to distinguish between non-diffeomorphic manifolds. We plan to finish the course with the theorem by J. Milnor on non-trivial smooth structures on the 7-dimensional sphere. This theorem is based both on methods of Morse theory and theory of characteristic classes
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Alexander Gaifullin |
63 per term
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MA06258 | |
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Energy Colloquium
The Energy Colloquium educates the audience in the present-day research and applications within the broader field of Energy Science and Technology. The Colloquium consists of a series of presentations by invited academic and industry speakers. The presentations target a nonspecialist audience.
All Master and Ph.D. students within the Energy Program are encouraged to attend the Energy Colloquium during the entire period of their studies. Students can earn 1 credit, if he/she participates in the Energy Colloquium over the course of any 2 terms of the academic year. Students who passed one round can make next (for credit) over the course of their subsequent studies. |
Alexei Buchachenko | 1 | Extra | MF01092 |
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English. Candidate Examinations
This is a meta-course which allows PhD students to register for English Qualification Exam for the Russian PhD Degree. There will be no lectures or seminars, only the exam. The preparatory course is also available in course catalog (look for "Academic Communication for PhD students" course).
The Exam has two parts: Part 1 – Pre-exam activities (Assignments 1, 2a, 2b) |
Elizaveta Tikhomirova | 3 | PE03003 | |
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Evolutionary, Population and Medical Genomics
Nothing in biology makes sense except in the light of evolution. This course introduces the fundamentals of evolutionary science as applied to genomics. It will allow to see how the basic population genetics processes create, maintain and affect variability in populations and lead to their changes with time. The focus will be on molecular evolution, i.e., the manifestation of these processes in genomes. As humans, we will be particularly interested in evolutionary aspects of medicine. The course assumes no prior familiarity with evolutionary biology, although knowledge of the basics of molecular biology and genetics is expected. The themes covered will include basic concepts in evolutionary biology and generalizations in evolutionary genomics; population genetics and factors of microevolution; and basics of quantitative genetics.
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Georgii Bazykin | 6 | MA06222 | |
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Fabrication Technology of Nanodevices
This course concerns fundamental and practical aspects of fabriction technologies widely used for fabrication of nanoscale devices. Course start with introduction of clean room environment, code of practise and safety for operation in Nanofabrication centres. There are discussed a range of technologies and methods: UV and Electron Beam lithographies, wet and dry etching, thin film deposition, thermal annealing, controllable oxidation and ion beam implantation, metrology of nanoscale devices. An introduction to chemicals used for fabrication and safety operation are given. Finally examples of fabrication of devices are discussed. Students will have a chance to learn practical operation on some equipment.
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Vladimir Antonov | 3 | MA03311 | |
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Foundations of Engineering Physics (Term 1B-4)
The course is dedicated to basics of building interfaces ”experiment-computer” in the modern scientific research. In most general configuration such interface comprises three stages:
1) “input” analog front-end feeding the electronic signals from sensors, transducers, 2) analog-to-digit as well as digit-to-analog conversion “bridges” and 3) logical channels conveying the ultimate digital information to a computer. The consideration of the three stages is made with emphases on the principle aspects of scientific measurements rather than detailed schematic/circuitry of the instrumentation. All stages of the measurement systems will be reviewed from the point of view of the fundamental imperatives of signal conditioning like impedance matching, optimal choice of the bandwidth solving the ubiquitous trade-off “precision versus rate” of data acquisition and et al. As well important peculiarities of configuring the elements of the system – such as prefiltering, modulation-demodulation techniques, the choice of the type and bit width of ADCs/DACs – will also be thoroughly discussed. At all stages a short concomitant overview of the modern commercially available electronic equipment will be given in order to improve students’ ability to select a proper set of the electronic devices among a great variety of those available on the market. |
Yuri Romanovskiy |
61.5 per term
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MA06213 | |
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Foundations of Multiscale Modeling: Kinetics
The course is devoted to fundamental principles of modelling of kinetic processes at different time and space scales. The basic concepts are introduced, along with the theoretical and numerical techniques, which application to practical problems is illustrated. The course starts with the description of molecular kinetics in fluids, colloidal and polymer solutions; applications for molecular machines and nano-robotics is considered. Langevin and Fokker-Planck equations are introduced, supplemented with the theoretical and numerical tools of their solution.
Next, the Boltzmann kinetic equation is analyzed. An application of the fundamental theoretical and numerical techniques, such as Grad and Chapman-Enskog methods, Lattice Boltzmann and Direct Simulation Monte Carlo is illustrated. Derivation of transport coefficients and hydrodynamics equations, including these for dissipative fluids, is given. Green-Kubo relations as an alternative method for practical computation of transport coefficients is presented and compared with other methods. Based on the Boltzmann equation, the theory of aggregation-fragmentation kinetics is developed, leading to the generalized Smoluchowski equations. The basic concepts like Scaling, Generation functions, etc. are introduced for theoretical analysis and Gillespe algorithm and fast solvers for practical computations. In the rest of the course the above theoretical and numerical techniques are illustrated for the following applications: Surface growth, Phase transition kinetics, Random sequential adsorption, Nucleation & Growth and Nano-tribology. Theory of Active Matter, Traffic Models, Socio-dynamics and Complex Networks dynamics are also considered. The knowledge of undergraduate mathematics – the basics of calculus, linear algebra and probability theory, as well as reasonable skills in Matlab and Python are needed. A familiarity with the basic open source software is desirable. |
Nikolay Brilliantov | 6 | MA06326 | |
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Functional Methods in The Theory of Disordered Systems (Term 3-4)
The course provides an extensive overview of contemporary functional methods in the theory of disordered systems. Starting from the theory of random matrices, it covers various aspects of electron motion in disordered media. The concept of the nonlinear supersymmetric sigma model is introduced and used as a unique language to describe such phenomena as energy level statistics, weak localization, renormalization group analysis, nonperturbative solution of the localization problem in quantum wires. Finally, functional integral method is used to address electron-electron interaction in disordered metals and nonequilibrium phenomena in quantum dots.
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Mikhail Skvortsov |
63 per term
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MA06262 | |
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Fundamentals in methodology of scientific research (Term 3-4)
The course can be considered as a tutorial for MS and PhD students performing R&D projects within their educational tracks (e.g. while preparing thesis) and extracurricular activities focused on building scientific or entrepreneur career. In the frame of the course, we will explore the most efficient strategies for performing R&D projects starting from planning the research program and ending up with the dissemination and application of the obtained results, e.g. by filing patents, licensing or making startups. Using a set of examples, we will discuss how to address the most common challenges in scientific research and present the obtained results in a proper way. In particular, students will be actively involved in practical trainings learning how to analyze a potential impact of their results, prepare conference presentations, scientific publications and research projects. This course is designed mainly for MS and PhD students involved in experimental studies in interdisciplinary fields, mainly at the interface of physics and chemistry, aiming to address relevant challenges of modern materials science.
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Pavel Troshin |
63 per term
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MA06342 | |
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Fundamentals of Additive Technologies
Additive manufacturing (AM), also called 3D printing, has become an extremely promising technology nowadays. Unlike traditional manufacturing processes such as welding, milling and melting that involve multi-stage processing and treatments, AM allows to create products with a new level of performance and shapes.
Moreover, this technique allows to produce prototypes rapidly and leads to reducing costs and risks. Another crucial advantage of the technology is the unprecedented design flexibility that let us create the samples of high quality based on different materials such as metals, alloys, ceramics, polymers, composite materials etc. The main goal of this course is to represent the fundamental basis of different additive technologies to the students. In this course, a wide range of questions will be addressed, beginning from the process of chain and designing the structures up to various 3D printing technologies, materials and process parameters, benefits and drawbacks of AM approaches will be considered. During laboratory class, we will get acquainted with the additive technologies on various printing machines. Students will be able to create their own models, print them in metals, ceramics and polymers, and also analyze the properties of the final samples. During this course, a complete cycle of production of samples using various 3D printing techniques will be explored both theoretically and practically. |
Igor Shishkovsky | 6 | MA06243 | |
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Fundamentals of Remote Sensing This course introduces students to the first principles and methods of the observation of Earth surface, monitoring of Earth atmosphere and detection of different kind of radiation coming from Space. The course will cover wide range of the satellites-, aircraft-, rockets- and balloon- based techniques designed for environmental monitoring, meteorology, map making etc. Goals of the course include: a comprehensive knowledge of the principles and approaches to the creation and operation of remote sensing systems; acquisition of analysis skills of modern ERS programs; practical application of acquired knowledge and Course will also include a module on geomatics, i.e. platforms, sensors and methodologies related to the collection, processing, analysis and interpretation of (2D/3D) data related to Earth's surface. This includes platforms like satellite or drones, sensors like LiDAR or airborne cameras and techniques like photogrammetry, laser scanning, geodesy, topography, etc. Major learning outcomes include operational principles and design of different sensors used in remote sensing of the Earth, practical skills to design an experiment in remote sensing with applications to a practical business need. |
Vladimir Gershenzon | 6 | MA06186 | |
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Gas Recovery and Gas Hydrates
Natural gases characterization of the gas and gas-condensate fields. Traditional and non-conventional gas resources. Overview of technological complications (flow assurance) in gas production at different stages of field development.
Phase diagrams of hydrocarbon systems including water. General characteristics of phase transformations during reservoir development. A moisture content of natural gas. Gas hydrates: basic physical and chemical properties. Two-phase and three-phase equilibria. Gas hydrates as a technological complication in gas production. Thermodynamic (methanol and MEG) and low-dosage (kinetic and anti-agglomerant) inhibitors. Permafrost at northern gas fields: general characteristic, ice content, thermophysical and mechanical properties of frozen and thawed rocks. Wells and well clusters. Thawing and reverse freezing of rocks around the producing well. Simulation of the thermal interaction of well and permafrost rocks. Thermal regime of the operating well. Gas gathering systems. Technological complications in the operation of infield systems. Gas hydrate control. Gas gathering systems at the late stages of field development (water accumulations, ice formation, sand, scales). The main technological processes of gas treatment in field conditions (general overview). Dehydration of lean gases. Adsorption method of dehydration. Adsorbents and their choice. Technological schemes of adsorption dehydration. Absorption method of dehydration.Glycols as absorbents.Technological schemes of absorption dehydration. Low-temperature processes of gas treatment at gas-condensate fields. Isoenthalpic and isoentropic processes. The low-temperature separation technology and its modifications (application of ejectors, turbo-expanders, gas-dynamic separators and vortex tubes in process diagrams). Application of thermodynamic inhibitors (methanol, MEG) for hydrate control. Promising low-temperature technological schemes for gas processing at field conditions. |
Vladimir Istomin | 3 | MA03291 | |
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Gauge Fields and Complex Geometry (Term 3-4)
1. Self-duality equations, Bogomolny equations.
2. Relation to holomorphic bundles. 3. Relation to holomorphic bundles on twistor space. 4. Conformal symmetry and complex geometry in twistor space. 5. Elements of superfield formulation of SUSY field theories. 6. Chirality type constraints and complex geometry. 7. Some examples of superfield theories which require complex geometry. 8. BPS conditions in SUSY theories and complex geometry. 9. Elements of Hitchin's integrable systems and related complex geometry. |
Alexey Rosly |
63 per term
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MA06178 | |
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Immunology (Term 3-4)
The purpose of this course is to lay the foundation for understanding the principles behind the development, organization and functioning of the immune system. Such basis is necessary for further professional growth either in the field of fundamental immunology or applied research and development in medical immunology and oncology. This course will also be important for those who want to professionalize in medical practice, pharmaceutical industry, epidemiology and health services management, engineering and business in the field of biomedicine.
The course is focused on the human immune system. The main medical aspects related to the functioning of the immune system will be considered, including autoimmune diseases, allergies, tumor-immune system interactions, immunotherapy, vaccinations and transplantation. Particular attention will be paid to the adaptive branch of the immune system, immunogenomics and state-of-art approaches for immune repertoire studies, such as: application of the novel sequencing technologies and corresponding bioinformatic data analysis, novel approaches for the studying of the antibody and T-cell receptor repertoires in health and disease. |
Dmitriy Chudakov |
63 per term
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MA06172 | |
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Information and Coding Theory
The aim of the course is to explain basic ideas and results of information and coding theory, some of which has been used for rather long time in data science, in particular various entropy inequalities, and some emerged just very recently, for instance, usage of error-correcting codes for improvements of k-means method for clustering. The course is divided into two parts: introduction to information theory and elements of modern coding theory. In the first part, we consider the measure of information, mutual information, entropy, evaluation of channel capacity for single user and multi-user channels. In the second part, we consider foundations of coding theory such as block codes, linear codes, bounds on the code’s parameters and the most popular algebraic coding methods (Hamming, Reed-Muller, BCH and Reed-Solomon codes). Then we consider modern coding techniques, i.e. iterative decoding systems and graphical models to represent them. Iterative techniques have revolutionized the theory and practice of coding and have been applied in numerous communications standards. We discuss low-density parity-check (LDPC) codes, factor graphs and Sum-Product decoding algorithm.
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Alexey Frolov | 6 | MA06122 | |
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Instrumental Analysis in Molecular Biology
During this course you will get principles of main instrumental methods that are used today in molecular biology both in academia and industry. The aim of this course is to provide knowledge of modern methods for master students with minimal background in the field of molecular biology. As a result students will understand general principles of the methods used in the biomedical research and development. By focusing on examples of the biomolecule purification and purity confirmation the idea of accurate studies will be explained. The course will provide a comprehensive summary of the major methods used nowadays in the field, except microsopy. Current trends will be reviewed, along with a discussion of methods application for common tasks. Some attention will be paid to minituarization of analytical devices for the use as POC (point-of-care).
This course includes a practical part where students will be able to purify RNA and protein samples from mouse liver and analyze them by UV-spectroscopy, RT-qPCR, and western blot. |
Timofei Zatsepin | 6 | MA06250 | |
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Intellectual Property and Technological Innovation
Intellectual property (IP) is a critically important aspect of technological innovation and a key factor in the management of technology-intensive enterprises. Basic knowledge of intellectual property principles and practices is increasingly important for university researchers, and expertise in the management of intellectual property is a key skill set of technology leaders in both established corporations and entrepreneurial ventures.
Intellectual property affects not only technology commercialization strategy but also the direction of scientific research itself. University research groups increasingly compete with each other for scientific reputation and access to resources on the basis of their ability to obtain patent protection for the practical applications of their research; but also on the basis of their ability to plot research pathways to maneuver around the "proprietary territory" of other research groups. Skill in using IP data bases, and associated analytical tools, can empower university scientific teams to craft more powerful research strategies. This course will survey basic concepts of intellectual property and provide an introduction to a variety of types of intellectual property and IP-related rights, such as patents, copyright, trade secrets, trademarks, design rights, database rights, domain names, and demarcations of origin. The classroom sessions will include lively discussions of case studies of the management of IP and the resolution of IP-related problems in the process of technology commercialization. Each student will conduct an analysis of intellectual property issues related to his or her own Ph.D. research topic. Use will be made of special IP data and IP analytics tools. |
Kelvin Willoughby | 6 | E&I | MC06006 |
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Intellectual Property, Technological Innovation and Academic Research
Intellectual property (IP) is a critically important aspect of technological innovation and a key factor in the management of technology-intensive enterprises. Basic knowledge of intellectual property principles and practices is increasingly important for university researchers, and expertise in the management of intellectual property is a key skill set of technology leaders in both established corporations and entrepreneurial ventures.
Intellectual property affects not only technology commercialization strategy but also the direction of scientific research itself. University research groups increasingly compete with each other for scientific reputation and access to resources on the basis of their ability to obtain patent protection for the practical applications of their research; but also on the basis of their ability to plot research pathways to maneuver around the “proprietary territory” of other research groups. Skill in using IP data bases, and associated analytical tools, can empower university scientific teams to craft more powerful research strategies. This course will survey basic concepts of intellectual property and provide an introduction to a variety of types of intellectual property and IP-related rights, such as patents, copyright, trade secrets, trademarks, design rights, database rights, domain names, and demarcations of origin. The classroom sessions will include lively discussions of case studies of the management of IP and the resolution of IP-related problems in the process of technology commercialization. Each student will conduct an analysis of intellectual property issues related to his or her own Ph.D. research topic. Use will be made of special IP data and IP analytics tools. |
Kelvin Willoughby | 6 | E&I | PC06006 |
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Introduction to Quantum Theory (Term 3-4)
One of the most striking breakthrough of the XX century is the creation of the entirely new area of physics named quantum physics. It emerged that the whole world around us obeys the laws of quantum mechanics, while the laws of classical physics that we are familiar with (such as, for example, Newton's equations) describe only macroscopic objects and can be obtained in limiting case. After that a lot of phenomena in different areas of physics found their explanation. Also quantum mechanics had a very significant impact on the development of mathematics and mathematical physics. Today quantum mechanics is one of the keystone parts of theoretical and mathematical physics.
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Vladimir Losyakov |
63 per term
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MA06332 | |
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Laser Physics
The purpose of the course is to provide a solid background in the laser physics with strong emphasis on lasers for applications. The course will form a basis for the more advance courses in optics (Telecommunications by prof. Kueppers, Experimental optics by prof. Sakelaris). Lectures cover various aspects of modern laser physics including laser dynamics; ultra-fast lasers; Ti:Sapphire, fiber and semiconductor lasers; wavelength conversion and supercontinuum generation. Course will be focusing on a practical skills. During the lectures we will make a lot of problem solving and estimations. On practical seminars we will assemble our own femtosecond fiber laser and measure its emission properties.
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Yuriy Gladush | 3 | MA03143 | |
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Laser Spectroscopy (Term 1B-4)
Spectroscopy is a science of studies of the quantum objects using the light. Before the laser era, its methods were limited to the spectroscopies of emission, absorption, and Raman scattering. The subject of the present course is not so much an improving, using the lasers, performance of the classical approaches (although this also is mentioned) but rather learning the new (more than a dozen) methods that have become possible only due to the appearance of the lasers. The course provides knowledge of the fundamental processes in spectroscopy as well as the methods allowing one to solve the problems that require (i) ultrahigh sensitivity, (ii) ultrahigh selectivity, (iii) ultrahigh spectral resolution, and (iv) ultrahigh temporal resolution. As an elective, the effects of quantum interference are considered such as coherent population trapping, the Autler–Townes effect, electromagnetically induced transparency, lasing without inversion, and more.
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Alexander Makarov |
61.5 per term
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MA06212 | |
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Machine Learning
The course is a general introduction to machine learning (ML) and its applications. It covers fundamental modern topics in ML, and describes the most important theoretical basis and tools necessary to investigate properties of algorithms and justify their usage. It also provides important aspects of the algorithms’ applications, illustrated using real-world problems. The course starts with an overview of canonical ML applications and problems, learning scenarios, etc. Next, we discuss in depth fundamental ML algorithms for classification, regression, clustering, etc., their properties as well as their practical applications. The last part of the course is devoted to advanced ML topics such as Gaussian processes, neural networks, active learning. Within practical sections, we show how to use the methods above to crack various real-world problems. Home assignments include application of existing algorithms to solve applied industrial problems, development of modifications of ML algorithms, as well as some theoretical exercises. The students are assumed to be familiar with basic concepts in linear algebra, probability and real analysis.
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Evgeny Burnaev | 6 | MA06018 | |
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Master Your Thesis in English 2 (Term 7-8)
Writing is the key priority and the need of utmost importance for all would-be scientists. Science demands good writing, that presupposes the skills to communicate ideas, theories, and findings as efficiently and clearly as possible. Science lives and dies by how it is represented in print and printed material is the final product of scientific endeavour. The primary goal of this course is to prepare master students for wiring, editing, and defending a Master Thesis.
This course is designed to explain how to write chapters of their Thesis through practical examples of good writing taken from the authentic linguistic environment. The course teaches how to overcome certain typical problems in writing a text of a thesis and abounds in useful linguistics assistance on its various parts. Feedback on students’ texts will constitute the major part of the course. |
Anastasiia Sharapkova |
31.5 per term
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Extra | MF03004ls |
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Master Your Thesis in English 2 (Term 7-8)
The key to efficient professional communication is the ability to convey ideas clearly, coherently and correctly both orally and in writing.
The Course offers concise and practical guidelines for writing and defending a Master Thesis at Skoltech. The course focuses on the main parts of the Thesis in terms of structure, vocabulary and grammar, and their transformations for a presentation with slides. Students will develop a conscious approach to own writing and presentations through thorough analyses of the best authentic examples combined with intensive writing and editing practice. The ‘process-for-product’ approach teaches the students to write – use (peer) reviewer’s advice – revise/edit – repeat, and creates linguistic awareness needed to avoid the typical pitfalls. The Course is offered in two modules which gradually build on the necessary writing and presentation skills. |
Elizaveta Tikhomirova |
31.5 per term
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Extra | MF03004 |
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Material Structure Characterization Methods
The course teaches theoretical and practical fundamentals of diffraction and electron microscopy methods applied to the analysis of the crystal structure, nano- and microstructure of materials. The course delivers basic knowledge on the theory of crystal structure analysis with various kinds of radiation, modern techniques of crystal structure determination, the analysis of the local structure of matter, defects and microstructure, theory of image formation in the electron microscope and a review on modern spectroscopic techniques with atomic resolution. The competences acquired in this course can be further used in all branches of material science dealing with crystalline matter. The course consists of lectures, seminars/practical lessons, laboratory works and exam.
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Artem Abakumov | 6 | MA06116 | |
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Matrix and Tensor Factorizations
Machine learning and data mining algorithms are becoming increasingly important in analyzing large volume, multi-relational and multi–modal datasets, which are often conveniently represented as block matrices and/or multiway arrays or tensors. It is therefore timely and valuable to teach low-rank matrix tensor factorizations and tensor networks as emerging tools for large-scale data analysis and data mining. We provide the mathematical and graphical representations and interpretation of matrix and tensor factorizations with the main focus on Higher Order Singular Value Decomposition (HO_SVD), Multilinear Principal Component Analysis (PCA), Robust PCA, Independent Component Analysis ( ICA), Nonnegative Matrix Factorization (NMF), Canonical Polyadic Decomposition PARAFAC (CP decomposition) , the Tucker and Tensor Train (TT), Tensor Chain and Hierarchical Tucker decompositions and their extensions or generalizations.
To make the material self-contained, we also address the concept of tensorization, which allows for the creation of very high-order tensors from lower-order structured datasets represented by vectors or matrices. Then, in order to combat the curse of dimensionality and possibly obtain linear or even sub-linear complexity of storage and computation, we address super-compression of tensor data through low-rank tensor decompositions. We also explain the concepts of low-rank matrix/tensor approximations and the associated machine learning algorithms. We then elucidate how these concepts can be used to convert otherwise intractable huge-scale optimization problems into a set of much smaller linked and/or distributed sub-problems of affordable size and complexity. In doing so, we highlight the ability of tensor decompositions to account for the couplings between the multiple variables, and for multimodal, incomplete and noisy data. |
Anh-Huy Phan, Andrzej Cichocki |
3 | MA03303 | |
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Modern Dynamical Systems (Term 3-4)
Dynamical systems in our course will be presented mainly not as an independent branch of mathematics but as a very powerful tool that can be applied in geometry, topology, probability, analysis, number theory and physics. We consciously decided to sacrifice some classical chapters of ergodic theory and to introduce the most important dynamical notions and ideas in the geometric and topological context already intuitively familiar to our audience. As a compensation, we will show applications of dynamics to important problems in other mathematical disciplines. We hope to arrive at the end of the course to the most recent advances in dynamics and geometry and to present (at least informally) some of results of A. Avila, A. Eskin, M. Kontsevich, M. Mirzakhani, G. Margulis.
In accordance with this strategy, the course comprises several blocks closely related to each other. The first three of them (including very short introduction) are mainly mandatory. The decision, which of the topics listed below these three blocks would depend on the background and interests of the audience. |
Alexandra Skripchenko, Sergey Lando |
63 per term
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MA06257 | |
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Molecular Neurobiology
The Molecular Neurobiology course gives students the basics of molecular organization and functional principles of the central nervous system. This is a theoretical course, describing the current vision of how the central nervous system works at the cellular, subcellular, and molecular levels. The course will also introduce current methods used to assess the functional organization of the nervous system at the molecular level, with a particular focus on studies of the human brain. The course will include both the textbook information, as well as recent findings not yet included in textbooks.
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Philipp Khaitovich | 3 | MA03391 | |
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Molecular Spectroscopy (Term 1B-4)
The first part of this course covers the basics of interaction of radiation (light) with molecules: absorption, emission of light, Raman scattering. Born-Oppenheimer approximation is used to separate the electronic motions and nuclear motions in a molecule. As a result the energy of molecule is considered as a sum of electronic, vibrational and rotational energy.
Elements of quantum chemistry are considered relying on variational principle. Molecular-orbital (MO) and Valence-bond (VB) methods are applied for description of molecule wave function. Molecular geometry is considered. Properties of quantum states depend on symmetry of molecule. Theory of symmetry (group theory) is presented including theory of group representation. In the second part of this course the structure and symmetry of rotational, vibrational and electronic states of molecules are considered. The spectra of absorption, fluorescence and Raman spectra are considered. The applications of molecular spectroscopy for investigations of physical and technical process are presented. |
Vladimir Mironenko |
61.5 per term
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MA06209 | |
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Non-Equilibrium Processes in Energy Conversion
Classical thermodynamics is useful to describe equilibrium states, while non-equilibrium states and irreversibility characterize real physical processes. If one is interested in actual processes at work during energy conversion, a classical thermodynamic description of equilibrium states is insufficient as it yields very incomplete information on the processes. Irreversible thermodynamics accounts for the rates of physical processes, and provides relationships between "measurable quantities" such as transport coefficients. This graduate course, which constitutes the natural continuation of the course Energy Systems Physics & Engineering, provides the students with basic knowledge of out-of-equilibrium and finite-time thermodynamics, which describe irreversible processes that routinely take place in physical systems and permits a fine understanding of the processes ensuring energy conversion. Thermoelectric generators serve as the main example to illustrate in a simple fashion the out-of-equilibrium formalism, and other systems such as, e.g., solar cells are studied.
Essential notions which are taught include: Onsager’s approach to linear nonequilibrium thermodynamics; coupled transport theory; Boltzmann equation; thermal conductivity; electrical conductivity; electrochemical potential in solid-state systems; force-flux formalism and its application to thermoelectric systems; device optimization modelling accounting for dissipative coupling to heat reservoirs; solar energy conversion. The course is organized around the learning of essential concepts and an awareness development of current energy technologies. It is based both on "teaching with lecture" and "teaching with discussions" methods. In addition to home assignments and project, students will solve problems during tutorials and discuss their solutions. |
Henni Ouerdane | 6 | MA06200 | |
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Numerical Methods in Engineering and Applied Science
The course is intended to provide the understanding and working knowledge of numerical methods used for modeling and simulation of complex phenomena described by differential equations, focusing on fundamentals of the methods. The following topics are covered: finite-difference approximation of derivatives; interpolation; integration; steady state boundary value problems; local and global errors; stability, consistency, and convergence; matrix equations and iterative methods; initial value problems for ordinary differential equations; Runge-Kutta methods; multi-step methods; absolute stability; stiff ODE; parabolic problems; method of lines; von Neumann analysis; hyperbolic problems; upwind methods; Courant-Friedrichs-Levy condition; hyperbolic systems; dissipation and dispersion; operator splitting; introduction to spectral approximation.
The course involves hands-on experience with programming (in Matlab or Python) and solving problems on computers. Solid knowledge of undergraduate mathematics including basic understanding of the theory of ordinary and partial differential equations of physics and engineering as well as basic programming skills are required. |
Aslan Kasimov | 6 | MA06239 | |
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One-Dimensional Quantum Systems (Term 3-4)
In the framework of the course, quantum systems (field-theoretic and discrete) in one spacial dimension, and some their classical statistical mechanics counterparts are discussed. The scope of systems includes sine-Gordon and Thirring model, O(n) sigma model, Heisenberg chain and six-vertex model, Kondo problem. We consider several techniques to obtain exact results for these systems, including operator product expansions, boson-fermion correspondence, Yang-Baxter equation, different versions of Bethe Ansatz.
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Michael Lashkevich |
63 per term
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MA06276 | |
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Optical Communications
Communication is an important part of our daily life. The communication process involves information generation, transmission, reception and interpretation. As needs for various types of communication such as voice, images, video and data communications increase demands for large transmission capacity also increase. This need for large capacity has driven the rapid development light wave technology; a worldwide industry has developed. An optical or light wave communication system is a system that uses light waves as the carrier for transmission. An optical communication system mainly involves three parts: transmitter, receiver and channel. In optical communication transmitters are light sources, receivers are light detectors and the channels are mainly waveguides (e.g. optical fibers) or free space.
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Franko Kueppers, Arkady Shipulin |
6 | MA06157 | |
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Optimization Methods
The course is devoted to optimization methods and optimization problems design with a special attention to those motivated by data science, engineering and industrial applications.
The course starts with a brief reminder of the foundations of convex analysis. Then we discuss zero, first and second order methods with a special focus on their efficient implementation. We distinguish between various problem classes, discuss suitable methods for every class. The problem formulation and its proper reformulation is the critical issue for an optimizer. We’ll learn about optimization models and convex relaxations. Special attention will be addressed to Linear Matrix Inequalities (LMI) that arise in optimization problem formulations. One of the home assignments is devoted to understanding the constraints of performance for different software packages. At the last part of the course we move further to advanced first order optimization methods such as proximal mirror descent and extra gradient methods and discuss how to utilize problem structure (e.g. sparsity and separability) to speed up the methods. Within engineering and practical sections, we show how to use the methods above to crack convex and non-convex problems arises in engineering, energy systems, machine learning and related fields. |
Elena Gryazina | 6 | MA06002 | |
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Organic Materials for Electronics, Photonics, Energy Generation and Storage
The course provides an overview of the latest achievements in the field of material design for electronics, energy conversion and storage.
The main purpose of the course is studying the basic chemical, physical and physicochemical, e.g. surface and structural, aspects of designing novel materials with the desired properties. This course will be focused mainly on organic and hybrid materials as well as on different types of electronic devices made thereof: field-effect transistors and electronic circuits, sensors, memory elements, light emitting diodes, solar cells, photodetectors, lithium and sodium batteries. Using a set of examples it will be shown how the discovery of novel materials results in the development of novel technologies, innovative products and, in some cases, even leads to revolutionary changes in specific fields of science and technology. This course is designed for MS students planning to perform experimental studies in the interdisciplinary fields at the boarder of physics and chemistry with the aim of solving relevant challenges of modern materials science. |
Pavel Troshin | 6 | MA06119 | |
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Pedagogical Experience
The main function of this course is to articulate Skoltech's expectations on PhD students who do their pedagogical TA assignment at Skoltech. The course
describes the intended learning outcomes and how they are assessed. The main bulk of the 81 hours of the course is spent in the actual courses in which Please note that those, who did not pass Pedagogy of Higher Education [PE03025] and are going to be TA in the current term, should register for another course Pedagogical Experience – Pre-requisite [PE03005pre]. |
Dmitry Artamonov | 3 | PE03005 | |
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Perception in Robotics
This course will present the fundamental theory and application of perception techniques. The word perception on the context of this course will refer to the problems of Localization, Mapping and in general State Estimation. Today we are witnessing an explosion on the applications for this technology, originally developed on the robotics field, being outsourced to other domains such as self-driving cars, augmented reality, flying drones, etc. Yet there are many challenges to be solved on a wide variety of research topics. The content of the course will be mainly based on a probabilistic approach to perception problems and will examine a selected set of contemporary algorithms in depth. Topics include Bayesian filtering; algorithms for mapping, localization and simultaneous localization and Mapping (SLAM); Observation and transition functions; Read below about the course policy, final project and other details.
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Gonzalo Ferrer | 6 | MA06283 | |
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Petrophysics and Well Log Interpretation
The course provides both theoretical knowledge in well logging application for reservoir characterization and practical skills in well logging processing and interpretation software.
During the course students will get familiar with the main well logging tools and methods, such as gamma, spontaneous potential, caliper, formation density, neutron, electrical, formation micro-imaging, sonic, magnetic resonance logging and so on. The students will study the well logs application for defining the key reservoir properties, correlation, integration with laboratory core test data. Besides lectures the course includes computer classes where students will gain applied skills in well logging interpretation software (Techlog). During the software practicums the participants will learn the main well logging data handling operations, such as creating a project for a field, import / export, displaying logs, data and variable management, depth referencing, constructing cross-plots, calculating parameters, well correlation. The proportion of lectures and software classes is approximately 50% / 50%. |
Alexei Tchistiakov | 3 | MA03289 | |
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Physics of Colloids and Interfaces
The interface science is the basis for modern nanotechnology. Objects of the microworld are dominated by surface effects rather than gravitation and inertia. The applications of interface science are important for lab-on-chip technologies, microfluids, biochips, tissue engineering, biophotonics, theranostics. The peculiarity of modern interface science is a good example of interdisciplinarity. The interface science has become a really interdisciplinary field of research including physics, biology, chemical engineering, medicine. During this course the students gain not only theoretical knowledge, but also receive practical skills related to: 1) preparation of iron oxide nanoparticles and their characterization by dynamic light scattering method for determination of size and Z-potential of nanoparticles; 2) synthesis of calcium carbonate cores at micro- and submicron size;3) loading of calcium carbonate particles by inorganic nanoparticles and proteins; 4) preparation of microcapsule shell using Layer by Layer assembly method formed on the surface of calcium carbonate microparticles and their characterization by fluorescent microscopy and Raman spectroscopy.They will receive a knowledge that can be used for analysis of phenomena in the microworld from point of view of interface science.
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Dmitry Gorin | 3 | MA03310 | |
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Plant Biotechnology Lab (Term 3-4)
The course provides the opportunity to learn methods of genetic engineering. The course is focused on the processes of transformation, regeneration, and selection of agricultural plant – potato. Students will participate in the process from primary act of transformation with Agrobacterium tumefaciens till screening of selected plants with the method of molecular analysis. Students will trace all stages of calli regeneration, antibiotic selection, transfer to new conditions, clonal propagation, rooting and so on. Finally, students will test selected plants with PCR to prove their genetic modification.
Another goal of the course is demonstration of diversity of the methods. Plants will be transformed with Agrobacterium rhizogenes to obtain free-living roots – hairy root culture. Also, stidents will participate in transformation of plants into liquid suspension of cell culture. Thus, genetic manipulation with plant will be performed in the course at the level of whole organism, of single organ (hairy roots), and of separated cell (suspension culture). |
Denis Belyaev, Anna Stepanova, Maria Titova, Elena Popova, Maria Breygina, Natalya Yuorievna |
63 per term
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MA06331 | |
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Plant Molecular Biology Lab (Term 3-4)
The course is aimed to provide students the opportunity to work with methods widely used in plant biology. The course is focused on chloroplasts. The chloroplast isolation and purification in a density gradient is a start of practice. Then, RNA to be isolated from chloroplasts and analyzed with RT-PCR to distinguish intron containing pre-mRNA from spliced mRNA. Fragments should be eluted from gel and prepared for sequencing. Bioinformatic search let to reveal effectiveness of natural processes of RNA editing. A lecture introduces the principle of pulse amplitude modulation (PAM) technique. Finally, students will apply Dual-PAM-100 device to study activity of photosystem I and photosystem II in control and heat shocked plants. The data obtained should be analyzed and presented in graphical form. The emphasizes will be given for making maximum of probable biological conclusions from any result obtained.
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Eugene Lysenko |
63 per term
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MA06330 | |
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Power Electronics
The course provides an overview of the latest achievements in power electronics. The main purpose of the course is to analyze different circuit topologies, to understand how they work and which are their benefits and limitations. The course starts with reviewing the basics in electric circuit theory, and then, it introduces different kind of semiconductor devices such as diodes, thyristors and transistors. After this, power electronics circuits are presented: rectifiers, DC-DC converters and inverters. The course gives the tools to analyze any kind of power converters, and provides different examples related with microgrids and energy storage applications. It has three parts: lectures, home tasks and experimental activities in the lab. By the end of the course, the students should be able to analyze a power converter, to simulate it and to understand the possible applications.
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Federico Martin Ibanez | 6 | MA06198 | |
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Product Innovation: User-Centered & Iterative Design Process
The course is a practical introduction to the product management and product innovation process. We will deal with the challenge of delivering to market new successful tech-based products/services addressing real need and providing great customer experience. The core of the course is a structured Product Innovation Process featuring user-focused & iterative product design and combining marketing, engineering and business perspectives. The process is universally applicable to the product design in startup or established company, to the offerings targeting consumer segment or a corporate end user, to physical products or digital services.
Within this hands-on immersive course, you are to run a team-based projects. In the projects you will deal with the challenge to discover customer needs, turn them into product concepts, iterate and validate your designs through prototyping and user tests. This will enable you to put into practice the course tools and techniques as well as to create your own “product innovation” professional portfolio. The projects will be done in collaboration with real startups/ventures facing the challenges of a new product design. (If you have your own idea/startup you would like to run as the course project, please contact instructor). The course prepares you to the career of Product Manager in tech company/startup. For this, we will balance key methodologies for the user-centered product design (e.g. Customer Development & Lean Startup, Design Thinking, Business Model Innovation) with the "deep dive" into prospective technologies and markets in the areas of Digital, Internet of Things, New Materials & Manufacturing, etc. |
Alexey Nikolaev | 3 | E&I | MC03012 |
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Protein chemistry and engineering
The course describes basics of protein chemistry and intracellular functioning.
Protein structure: Protein functioning: Cofactors: Posttranslational modifications: Intracellular protein trafficking: Protein degradation: Protein engineering: |
Konstantin Lukyanov | 3 | MA03373 | |
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Quantum Computer Programming
This course introduces the main contemporary topics to program modern quantum computers. This includes the theory of (1) ground state quantum computation (quantum annealing vs adiabatic quantum computation), (2) quantum circuits, (3) tensor networks and (4) various quantum computer algorithms including (5) approaches to quantum enhanced machine learning and (6) quantum simulation. Students will program quantum processors available today. The selection includes D-Wave’s dedicated purpose quantum annealer with 2048 bits and IBM’s ‘quantum cloud experience’ providing free access to a small general purpose (though noisy) quantum information processor – where a paid subscriptions gives access to 50 qubits.
Starting with the theory of ground state quantum computation, the course builds the tools needed to understand modern day quantum simulation algorithms, as executed on quantum computers. The topics covered include: Penalty functions and embedding problems into the ground state of Ising spins |
Jacob Biamonte | 6 | MA06393 | |
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Quantum Field Theory (Term 3-4)
At present time Quantum Field Theory (QFT) is the main theoretical tool used for the description of the phenomena occurring in the microworld. Examples include interactions between elementary particles, hadron structure and so on. At the same time, QFT methods are widely used in all areas of modern theoretical physics such as condensed matter physics, statistical mechanics, turbulence theory and others. Moreover, the creation of QFT has stimulated the development of many modern areas of mathematics.
The course is aimed at the study of the basic ideas and methods of QFT, as well as the discussion of its applications in various areas of modern theoretical and mathematical physics. Topics include quantization of scalar and gauge theories, path integral approach, perturbative expansions and Feynman diagrams, (1+1) dimensional exactly soluble models and some other ideas of modern science. |
Andrei Semenov |
63 per term
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MA06316 | |
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Quantum Integrable Systems (Term 3-4)
The course is devoted to quantum integrable systems. The history of quantum integrable systems starts from 1931 when
H.Bethe managed to construct exact eigenfunctions of the Hamiltonian of the Heisenberg spin chain with the help of a special substitution which became famous since that time (ansatz Bethe). In one or another form this method turns out to be applicable to many spin and field-theoretical integrable models. From the mathematical point of view, Bethe's method is connected to representation theory of quantum algebras (q-deformations of universal enveloping algebras and Yangians). Here is the list of topics which will be discussed in the course. – Coordinate Bethe ansatz on the example of the Heisenberg model and – Bethe ansatz in exactly solvable models of statistical mechanics – Calculation of physical quantities in integrable models in thermodynamic – Bethe equations and the Yang-Yang function, caclulation of norms of Bethe – Quantum inverse scattering method and algebraic Bethe ansatz, quantum R-matrices, – Functional Bethe ansatz and the method of Baxter's Q-operators, functional The knowledge of quantum mechanics and statistical physics for understanding of |
Anton Zabrodin |
63 per term
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MA06315 | |
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Quantum Mesoscopics. Quantum Hall Effect (Term 3-4)
The course of lectures consists of two roughly equal parts. The first part begins with an account of the physics of two-dimensional electrons in a perpendicular magnetic field and attempts to explain the phenomenon of an integer quantum effect for short-range and smooth random potentials. The presentation in this part is supposed to be quite accessible to students familiar with quantum mechanics and diagram technique. In the second part of the course, the fundamentals of the field-theoretical description of the phenomenon of an integer quantum Hall effect in a short-range random potential are presented. To understand the material of the second part, students need to know the methods of functional integration and quantum field theory.
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Igor Burmistrov |
63 per term
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MA06278 | |
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Quantum Theory of Radiation and Quantum Optics (Term 1B-4)
The main goal of the course is to study by students basic physical principles, main quantum electrodynamical (QED) phenomena and mathematical apparatus of quantum electrodynamics and quantum optics. Students must know theory and experimental data on interaction of radiatiation with matter. Particularly will be discussed: quantum theory of electromagnetic field, problem of phase in QED, coherent and squeezed states, relativistic quantum theory of electrons and positrons, Klein paradox, diagram technique,
divergences and renormalization of mass and charge of electron, Lamb shift, cavity quantum electrodynamics (including last achievements), dynamical Casimir effect, basics of united theory of electromagnetic and weak interactions etc. |
Yuri Lozovik |
61.5 per term
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MA06314 | |
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Research Methodology in Engineering Systems (Term 3)
Engineering systems are necessarily of an interdisciplinary nature and specific knowledge and skills are required to successfully complete a PhD degree in the field. The objective of this course is to provide a general introduction to PhD level research and to present some common research methodologies applicable to major types of research topics in Engineering Systems. The course starts with a series of lectures of an introductory nature on the various methodologies including the Design Research Methodology (DRM) and other experimental and simulation based approaches.
Participants will then present their preliminary research ideas and propose research objectives and proper methodology that they will present to their peers and mentors first in a pitch session and also followed by a more detailed plan and seminar. The course can be followed by a subsequent series of seminars in various topics related to Engineering Systems as indicated by the PhD student supervisor. |
Clement Fortin |
33 per term
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PA03102cf | |
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Research Methodology: CDMM Research Seminar (Term 2-4)
This is the main research seminar for the Skoltech Center for Design, Manufacturing and Materials (CDMM). All MSc students either enrolled into the Master Program in Advanced Manufacturing Technologies or PhD students affiliated with CDMM should attend this seminar. The format of the seminar is weekly invited lectures from top scientists in the research fields related to Advanced Manufacturing, Digital Engineering Technologies, and Mechanics and Physics of Advanced Manufacturing will be given.
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Iskander Akhatov |
31 per term
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PA03102dmm | |
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Research Methodology: CHR Seminar (Term 3-4)
This course conducted in a form of seminar, is aimed at hands-on learning of best practices of modern research work in the academic and industrial environments. Students will learn how to formulate research objective(s), search for prior art and monitor publications, frame a research project with proper objectives, resources, timeline, and deliverables, conduct research in communication with peers and with a broader community, and, finally, present the outcomes of the research.
The seminar work constitutes the core of the course, and it will principally focus on topics related to hydrocarbon reservoir characterization, reservoir simulation, and reservoir optimization. Mathematical and numerical methods and tools relevant to this subject will be explored in depth. An equally strong emphasis will be given to geological, petrophysical, and petroleum engineering aspects of the considered models. Students will have an extensive practice in writing reports and publications, as well as in oral presentations. By attending this course, students will get a broader view of the research projects conducted in CHR, as well as a closer scientific communication with their peers and with a larger research community. |
Dimitri Pissarenko, Dmitri Koroteev |
31.5 per term
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PA03102pe | |
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Research Methodology: Computational and Data Science and Engineering (Term 2-3)
A modern researcher needs to have a set of various skills in order to conduct research efficiently. In addition to high level of research skills and understanding of the research environment of one’s particular field, a researcher should be able to manage research-related business processes, be personally effective, have high level of communication and presentation skills, build effective professional relationship with colleagues and effectively manage the career development. The course covers all these topics and implies active interaction between the tutor and students during the classes. In the end of the course each student will be asked to write an essay.
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Maxim Fedorov |
31.5 per term
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PA03102cds | |
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Research Methodology: Space Center Seminar (Term 1-4)
The seminar will cover current topics in the space domain: latest news, discoveries. Also planned that all PhD students and some Master students will present their research. External lecturers will be invited regularly to focus on the main applications of space technologies: science, telecommunication, navigation and remote sensing. Aspects of space technologies will also be discussed: structures, software, attitude determination and control systems, on board computers, communication system power supply systems and others. The seminar will be offered in English.
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Anton Ivanov |
30.75 per term
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PA03102es | |
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Research Seminar "Advanced Materials Science" (Term 2-4)
This is the main research seminar of the Skoltech Center for Electrochemical Energy Storage and Materials Science Education program featuring presentations of young researchers: MSc students, PhD students, postdocs. Every MSc and PhD student of Materials Science program should deliver at least one presentation per two years. The range of topics is broad and includes any aspects of materials science and engineering.
Please see the seminar webpage at http://crei.skoltech.ru/cee/education/wednesday-scientific-seminar/ |
Keith Stevenson |
30.5 per term
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MA03302 | |
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Research seminar "Modern Problems of Mathematical Physics" (Term 1-4)
Course "Modern problems of mathematical physics" is a student seminar, so participants are expected to give talks based on the modern research papers. Current topic of the seminar can vary from time to time: now it is devoted to the study of N=2 supersymmetric gauge theory and its links with random matrix models, ABJM theory, localization, complex curves, and integrable systems. Other topics that were already covered, or can be covered in the future, are: classical integrable equations, complex curves and their theta-functions, quantum integrable models (quantum-mechanical and field-theoretical), models of statistical physics.
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Pavlo Gavrylenko |
61.5 per term
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MA06268 | |
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Research seminar "Modern Problems of Theoretical Physics" (Term 1-4)
Research seminar "Modern Problems of Theoretical Physics" is supposed to teach students to read, understand and represent to the audience recent advances in theoretical physics. Each student is supposed 1) to choose one of recent research papers from the list composed by the instructor in the beginning of each term, 2) read it carefully, 3) present the major results of the paper to his/her colleagues during the seminar talk, 4) answer the questions from the audience about the content of the paper. The papers in the list are selected, normally, from the condensed matter theory and related fields, like: physics quantum computing, statistical physics, etc. The papers to the list are usually chosen from most competitive physics journals, like Nature Physics, Science, Physical Review Letters, Physical Review X and others.
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Mikhail Feigelman, Konstantin Tikhonov |
61.5 per term
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MA06319 | |
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Research seminar 1 "Energy systems and technologies" (Term 2-4)
This research seminar is the general meeting for faculty, researchers and master and PhD students of Energy Systems programs. The seminar takes place every week during Terms 2(6)-3(7)-4(8).
Master students must attend the seminar at least for one academic year but welcome to attend during two years. PhD students are welcome to attend the seminar during all years of studies but can gain no more than 6 credits in total. The seminar consists of faculty lectures, invited lectures of top scientists in their research field as well as students’ reports on their own or examined papers. To PASS the course and gain 3 credits per academic year the student must fulfill all three requirements: 1. Attendance: > 2/3 of seminars. 2. Presentation. Depending on the status: 3. Evaluation. Filling in the Online feedback form. The core of the self-study activity will be preparation to the talk that is comparable to project implementation (a significant part of many regular courses). The students are expected to assign at the beginning of Term 2/6 and may drop the seminar till the beginning of Term 3/7 while credits are provided in Term 4/8. |
Elena Gryazina |
31 per term
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MA03386 | |
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Research seminar 2 "Energy systems and technologies" (Term 2-4)
This research seminar is the general meeting for faculty, researchers and master and PhD students of Energy Systems programs. The seminar takes place every week during Terms 2(6)-3(7)-4(8).
Master students must attend the seminar at least for one academic year but welcome to attend during two years. PhD students are welcome to attend the seminar during all years of studies but can gain no more than 6 credits in total. The seminar consists of faculty lectures, invited lectures of top scientists in their research field as well as students’ reports on their own or examined papers. To PASS the course and gain 3 credits per academic year the student must fulfill all three requirements: 1. Attendance: > 2/3 of seminars. 2. Presentation. Depending on the status: 3. Evaluation. Filling in the Online feedback form. The core of the self-study activity will be preparation to the talk that is comparable to project implementation (a significant part of many regular courses). The students are expected to assign at the beginning of Term 2/6 and may drop the seminar till the beginning of Term 3/7 while credits are provided in Term 4/8. |
Elena Gryazina |
31 per term
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MA03377 | |
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Review of Materials and Devices for Nano- and Optoelectronics
This is the reduced (3 credit) version of the semester course "Materials and Devices for Nano- and Optoelectronics", which assumes consideration of spintronics, terahertz devices, and a number of superconductiong devices. The invited lecturers are active scientists working in corresponding areas. The participants are invited to analyse and present the content of original experimental paper (individual choice) related to the topic of any lecture. First, a brief presentation is discussed, and later the students present the extended improved version.
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Valery Ryazanov | 3 | MA03206 | |
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Selected Topics in Energy: Physical, Chemical and Geophysical Challenges (Term 2-4)
The course provides an introduction to the modern topics related to fundamentals of exploration of energy resources, energy generation, storage, conversion and use. It identifies the corresponding practical challenges to be addressed at the fundamental research level and familiarizes the students with the state-of-the-art approaches, methods and techniques in use in related scientific areas. The course seeks to emphasize and maintain interdisciplinary nature of the energy-related topics, in particular, combination of micro- and macroscopic approaches of geophysics, mechanics and chemistry in hydrocarbon exploration and development, relation between the physical and chemical processes of energy generation and conversion, integration of physical, chemical and mechanical approaches to perspective materials (physical and chemical synthesis, micro- and macroscopic characterization, structure-property relations, etc.) and related theoretical methodologies. These interdisciplinary links are mostly demonstrated by horizontal knowledge exchange among the students reporting and discussing practical examples from their own research field or from modern review or research publications. Topical lectures are included for further exploration of these links. The secondary aim of the course is the development of presentation skills (oral and writing), as well as scientific peer-review experience. The seminar format chosen for most activities allows students free exchange of knowledge and ideas, broader vision of their research projects and methodologies, better assessments of their own research skills and demands for further education.
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Alexei Buchachenko |
62 per term
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PA06106 | |
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Space Center Seminar (Term 1B-4)
The seminar will cover current topics in the space domain: latest news, discoveries. Also planned that all PhD students and some Master students will present their research. External lecturers will be invited regularly to focus on the main applications of space technologies: science, telecommunication, navigation and remote sensing. Aspects of space technologies will also be discussed: structures, software, attitude determination and control systems, on board computers, communication system power supply systems and others. The seminar will be offered in English.
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Anton Ivanov |
10.25 per term
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Extra | MF01005 |
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Spacecraft and Mission Design
The main objective of the course is to introduce the concept of space system design and engineering. The course will describe the various subsystems involved in the design of a satellite. It will also describe the techniques of systems engineering that are used to obtain a coherent satellite design.
This class will focus on concept preparation in the V-diagram logic. Further results can be explored either in the Space Sector course, where commercial aspects of the mission can be considered, as well as in the PLM course, where technical details can be worked out in a systematic fashion. |
Anton Ivanov | 6 | MA06074 | |
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Spectroscopy of Quantum Materials
The term “quantum materials” unites a broad class of very different materials demonstrating genuinely quantum behavior. Quantum materials include superconductors, strongly-correlated systems, systems of massless Dirac electrons such as graphene, topological materials, novel two-dimensional crystals, engineered heterostructures etc. Research of quantum materials is in the vanguard of modern photonics and condensed matter physics. Unique properties of quantum materials have arise due to wave function entanglement, interactions, competing orders, quantum topological effects, quasiparticle dressing and other emergent quantum phenomena.
The goal of this course is to give a broad review of modern photonic and spectroscopic studies of quantum materials. The course requires basic knowledge of quantum mechanics, optics and solid state physics. In the introductory part of the course, the basic classical and quantum models of electromagnetic response are considered, and the most widely used modern methods of spectroscopy are outlined. The rest of the course describes such quantum materials as graphene and graphene-based structures, topological insulators, topological Dirac and Weyl semimetals, high-temperature superconductors, exotic magnetics, two-dimensional transition metal dichalcogenides, oxide interfaces, and novel electromagnetically-engineered quantum materials. The students will be introduced to basic models and to both conventional and ultrafast pump-probe spectroscopy studies of these materials. |
Alexey Sokolik | 3 | MA03162 | |
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Statistical Mechanics (Term 3-4)
This is a course on rigorous results in statistical physics and random fields. Most of it will be dedicated to the theory of phase transitions, uniqueness or non-uniqueness of the lattice Gibbs fields.
The topics will include: grand canonical, canonical and microcanonical ensembles, DLR equation, Thermodynamic limit, Gibbs distributions and phase transitions, one-dimensional models, correlation inequalities ( GKS, GHS, FKG), spontaneous symmetry breaking at low temperatures, uniqueness at high temperatures and in non-zero magnetic field, Non-translation-invariant Gibbs states and interfaces, Dobrushin Uniqueness Theorem Pirogov–Sinai Theory O(N)-symmetric models the Mermin–Wagner Theorem Reflection Positivity and the chessboard estimate infrared bounds |
Semen Shlosman |
63 per term
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MA06387 | |
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Structural bioinformatics (Term 3-4)
The main goal of the Structural bioinformatics course is to introduce students to the main features of protein structures and to the explanations of the observed features.
The Structural bioinformatics course covers the following topics: In a more theoretical part of the course, we will overview (i) protein primary, secondary and tertiary structures, (ii) interactions stabilizing protein native structure (discussing the role of energy and entropy), (iii) statistical patterns observed in protein structures, (iv) protein thermodynamics, (v) protein kinetics, (vi) protein folding problem, and others. We will also discuss the design and the results of the selected experiments in the field. In a more practical part of the course, we will (i) visualize protein three-dimensional structures, (ii) align protein sequences and structures, (iii) predict three-dimensional protein structure from sequence, (iv) predict protein cellular localization and transmembrane topology, (v) predict the impact of a mutation on protein stability, and others. |
Dmitry Ivankov |
63 per term
|
MA06375 | |
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Structure and Properties of Materials
This course is an introductory subject in the field of materials science and crystallography. The goal is to introduce students to basic concepts of structure-property relations for materials at the microscopic level.
Independent student work on discipline includes preparation for lectures, seminars, labs and other learning activities, as well as the implementation of individual tasks / independent works / projects and others. Educational and methodical support of Independent student work presented by topics of all kinds of tasks and guidelines for their implementation. |
Artem Oganov | 6 | MA06075 | |
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Supersymmetric Gauge Theories and Integrable Systems (Term 3-4)
The course will be devoted to the study of N=2 supersymmetric gauge theories and related topics. It turns out that comparing to the N=1 theories, N=2 allows to compute much more quantities. In particular, low-energy effective action can be described in terms of single function, prepotential. Seiberg-Witten solution of the N=2 theory gives explicit description of the prepotential in terms of periods of some meromorphic differentials on algebraic curves. It turns out that this description is deeply related to classical integrable systems.
During the course we will learn basics of the N=2 theories, classical solutions, holomorhy arguments, and so on, study Seiberg-Witten exact solution, and then its underlying integrable systems. We are also going to learn some modern developments of this topic, like Nekrasov instanton computations and AGT relation. |
Pavlo Gavrylenko, Andrey Marshakov |
63 per term
|
MA06382 | |
|
Teachers Toolkit for Higher Education
The course helps TAs and PhD students to understand and try pedagogical tools to get versatile collaborative, inquiring and educational experience. The course interactively leads through basic teacher fundamentals – competences, learning outcomes, and student-centered education and demonstrates teachers’ practices and technologies for organizing group work, problem-based education, project-based learning, case study, etc. The course also covers evaluation and feedback as a part of effective learning.
Modules of the course are supplemented by interactive exercises to engage students in discussion and re-thinking on their experience concepts and technologies. Participants will design their own education event as the final project. Also during the course participants will take several practicums to upgrade presentation skills, skills for keeping education projects on track, skills of curriculum and outcome design. |
Igor Remorenko, Kirill Barannikov , Andrey Ioffe, Igor Shyian |
3 | PE03039 | |
|
Technology Planning and Roadmapping: Foundation
Technology Planning and Roadmapping (TPR) is a key corporate function that companies put in place to understand, manage, and define technology strategy. The main goals of TPR are:
1) to provide understanding on current technology investments in the company (portfolio management); 2) to identify technology investment options for future products and services (landscaping); 3) to benchmark the company’s technology strategy against market competition and accounting for global technology trends (benchmarking); 4) to valuate future financial benefits, risks, and technical feasibility of envisioned technology investments (valuating); 5) to prioritize technology investments by analyzing potential future scenarios while accounting for corporate strategic drivers (prioritizing); and ultimately 6) to formulate recommendations for research and development (R&D) investments based on the definition of a rigorous technology strategy (planning). Technology Planning and Roadmapping: Foundations (TPR:F) covers the theoretical fundamentals of technology planning and roadmapping, including fundamental concepts, an overview of the most common tools and processes used by practitioners in the field, and application examples from companies in different sectors. In short, TPR:F is about building the intellectual foundations that will allow students to collaboratively build a TPR system for an industrial organization. The main deliverable of TPR:F is the development of a technology roadmap for a student startup or reverse-engineering of the roadmap of a company of interest to the student. |
Alessandro Golkar | 3 | E&I | MC03017 |
|
Thermal Fluid Sciences
The course is designed to give an overview of the fluid mechanics, gas dynamics, thermodynamics, and electromagnetic phenomena in fluids and gasses. The following topics are discussed:
1. Kinematics of continuous media 2. Basic concepts and equations of fluid dynamics and thermodynamics 3. Models of fluid and gas media 4. Contact discontinuities in fluids, gases, and plasma 5. Flow of ideal, incompressible fluid 6. Incompressible viscous flow. Boundary layer theory. Turbulence 7. Compressible fluid flow. Gasdynamic 8. Electromagnetic phenomena in fluids Students will have to complete daily homework, theoretical, computer, and design projects, mid-term and final exams. |
Iskander Akhatov | 6 | MA06053 | |
|
Thermal Spray Coating
Thermal spray technology provides a cost-effective functional surface solution for many applications requiring resistance to wear, heat, and corrosion. This practically-oriented course is intended to familiarize graduate students with an understanding of thermal spray processing science and front-line research topics, with attention to latest development and innovations in the field. The second purpose of this interdisciplinary course is to give the students technological/engineering perspectives of thermal spray applications and practice.
Students’ key learning objectives: |
Dmitriy Dzhurinskiy | 3 | MA03356 | |
|
Vertex Operator Algebras (Term 3-4)
Affine Kac-Moody Lie algebras play a prominent role in the theory of infinite-dimensional Lie algebras. The two main reasons are the beauty of the theory and the vast number of applications in various fields of mathematics and mathematical physics such as conformal field theory, algebraic geometry, number theory, combinatorics, statistical mechanics, theta functions. In particular, integrable representations of the affine Kac-Moody algebras form a background of the famous Wess-Zumino-Witten CFT. The course will be devoted to the general questions of the representation theory of affine Kac-Moody Lie algebras and to the study of several special classes of modules, in particualr, integrable modules. We will be mainly interested in algebraic and combinatorial parts of the theory. Time permitting, we will also touch upon some related geometric constructions such as affine Grassmannians.
|
Evgeny Feigin |
63 per term
|
MA06320 | |
|
Virology (Term 3-4)
The course consists of two parts: Molecular Virology (Term 3) and Introduction to the Medical Virology (Term 4). In the first part, the structure of viruses, their genetics as well as replication and transcription strategies will be explained. These aspects are crucial for understanding the second part of the course, which focuses on mechanisms of how viruses act on the whole organism and how organisms react to viral infection. Such topics as an immune response against viruses, types of viral infections, vaccines and antivirals will be covered in the second part of the course. Throughout the whole course, the world's most notorious pathogens such as HIV, Ebola, Zika and Influenza, will be discussed in depth.
Lectures are based on the Virology course led by professor Racaniello at the University of Columbia with his kind permission. Lectures will be combined with seminars at which the papers important in the field will be discussed. After the completion of the course, students will know the history of virology, its current problems as well as directions for further development. |
Maria Sokolova |
63 per term
|
MA06374 |
Term 4
| Course Title | Lead Instructors | ECTS Credits | Stream | Course Code |
|---|---|---|---|---|
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Academic Communication: Preparatory English for Phd Exam (Term 3-4)
Efficient professional communication is the key to Academic success. The course is designed for PhD students who want to maximize their academic potential by boosting their ability to write research papers, present in front of multidisciplinary audiences, participate in scholarly discussions and engage in other forms of academic communication.
The main goal of the course is to enable PhD students to produce clear, correct, concise and coherent texts acceptable for the international professional community. The course is designed for a multi-disciplinary audience. The course serves as a preparation for the qualification language exam, which is a prerequisite for the Thesis defense. |
Elizaveta Tikhomirova |
31.5 per term
|
PE03029 | |
|
Academic Writing Essentials (Term 3-4)
Academic writing skills are necessary for effective research, innovation, and educational activities in a multinational setting. The aim of the course is to provide guidelines and strategies for writing academic texts, focusing on relevant aspects of grammar, vocabulary, and style. The course includes analysis and practice of various forms of scientific and technical writing, and builds writing skills from sentences to paragraph structure, from summary to abstract, and lays the foundations for writing scientific papers and Master Thesis.
Modern science is, for most purposes, a collective collaborative effort, so the course is designed to promote individual and group responsibility by providing mutually related and time-dependent tasks, such as peer review. The course is writing-intensive with ample opportunity to practice editing and peer-reviewing. |
Elizaveta Tikhomirova |
31.5 per term
|
Extra | MF03002 |
|
Advanced Manufacturing of Composite Materials
This course is developed to give students a broad background and hands on experience in manufacturing of advanced composite materials. Both materials and manufacturing methods are discussed. A brief introduction to advanced composite materials and processes is presented. The course is focused on the innovative non-autoclave technologies of thermosetting resin based/fiber reinforced advanced composites. Manufacturing is covered in terms of the major steps required to fabricate laminated composite parts. These will be described and discussed in details and worked out experimentally through conducting a set of lab projects. The following technologies and methods will be covered: Vacuum Infusion, Press Molding, Pultrusion, Filament Winding, and Mechanical Testing. Typical problems of materials, tooling, cure, and technological defects will be discussed.
|
Alexander Safonov | 6 | MA06298 | |
|
Advanced Materials Modeling
The course builds on introductory Computational Chemistry and Materials Modeling course to provide in-depth understanding and advanced-level use of commonly employed modeling methods, as well as teach state of the art methods tailored for modeling of specific classes of materials and physical processes relevant to multiple major industries in the future, including nanotechnology and energy. The emphasis is on practical use of techniques, algorithms and programs to bridge theory and applications, from the discovery of materials to their use in real-world technologies. Personalized advisory of multiple experts in different areas of computational materials science will allow students to accomplish challenging projects related to their MSc/PhD theses or other research in materials science.
|
Alexander Shapeev | 6 | MA06341 | |
| Advanced PLM techniques: Product Prototyping | Ighor Uzhinsky | 6 | MA06253 | |
|
Biomedical Application of Photonics
The overview of current state of photonics application in the biology and medicine will be presented including optical properties of cell, biological tissue, body (absorption, reflection, scattering, fluorescence). Now the photonic tools are used for imaging, diagnostics, manipulation, therapy and surgery at three different levels – cellullar, tissue and body, therefore the course aims to teach students to understand basic principles of the current biomedical applications of photonics tools. The every level is required to apply different approach, for example for cellular level imaging, manipulation, Confocal LS Microscopy (including technology of quotative analysis as FRAP, photoconversion, FLIP, FLAP, FRET, FLIM, FCS, FCCS), dark field microscopy; optical tweezers approach, laser cell poration; for diagnostics – Raman microscopy, CARS, in vitro and in vivo fluorescent flow cytometry, in vivo flow photoacoustic (PA) cytometry; and for therapy – laser induced necrosis and apoptosis; in vivo flow PA setup for theranostics are used. Tissue level requires for imaging, multiphoton microscopy, SHG and THG microscopy, OCT, raster-scan optoacoustic mesoscopy (RSOM); for manipulation – laser 3D printing, laser skin perforation. Body level includes for imaging – OCT, MRI, CT, MRI, fluorescence and optoacoustic imaging, US, PET; for diagnostics – different types of in vivo sensors including implantable medical devices, smart tattoo; for therapy – photodynamic and photothermal therapy; for surgery – photonic approach guided surgery including endoscopy, high speed surgery with the highest resolution. Topics also include description of different types of contrast and optical clearing agents. The course will also offer a practice in operation of imaging systems on the cell, tissue and body level such as fluorescent microscopy, RSOM, fluorescence imaging. Students will have experience related to application the most appropriate photonic tools for their own research projects.
|
Dmitry Gorin | 6 | MA06158 | |
|
Biomedical Imaging and Analytics
This course is designed for Machine Learning and Data-Science students who would like to concentrate their research on the analysis of biomedical images. This cohort of specialists – especially early on in their careers – is known for dismissing both the physical mechanisms of image formation and the very biological rationale behind a given imaging modality. In this course, we will attempt to reunite the three disciplines in order to help students develop systematic analytical expertise and biological intuition.
The course is also aligned with the curriculum of the centers of life sciences and photonics and should be used for enriching those offerings with modern machine learning and image analytics skills. Students will learn what forms the backbone of biomedical imaging, drawing from the mathematical, physical, chemical and biological sciences, including the subjects of: • Light microscopy (live cell imaging, deconvolution and superresolution microscopy, 3D microscopy, Optical Coherence Tomography); • Medical imaging (X-ray, Computed Tomography, Magnetic Resonance Imaging, Ultrasound, Positron Emission Tomography); • Image analytics (filtering and signal processing, machine learning and artificial neural networks, computer vision, image-based biological and physiological modeling). The course is offered primarily for CDISE students who are assumed to know the basics of image processing and machine learning. In addition to the lectures, there will be 6 adapted seminars for those students who encounter the technical aspects of this course for the first time (e.g., Life Sciences students). |
Dmitry Dylov | 6 | MA06305 | |
|
Business Communication
Business Communication is an intensive hands on, practical course, designed to provide Skoltech students with the set of skills needed to effectively communicate with others – their classmates, working teams, professors and any audiences inside and outside of Skoltech. The course learning outcomes correspond directly with the Group 3 of Skoltech learning outcomes – “Relating to Others – Communication and Collaboration”. The course will show students the secrets and technologies to becoming confident when speaking in public – developing the skills they will be able to use throughout their career and their life. In a highly interactive, informative and supportive manner through in-class activities, games and simulations the course will enable students to: Speak with confidence and overcome their nervousness; Establish rapport with any audience; Present their message in a clear, concise, and engaging manner; Successfully manage impression they make onto audience; Create—and repurpose—presentations quickly and efficiently; Make successful and memorable pitch; Sharpen the story they want to tell; Use confidently body language and movement, strengthening their speech; Respond to questions and comments without getting flustered; Gain people’s attention, respect, and cooperation.
|
Maxim Kiselev | 3 | E&I | MC03014 |
|
CDMM Research Seminar (Term 1B-4)
This is the main research seminar of the Skoltech Center for Design, Manufacturing and Materials (CDMM). All MSc students either enrolled into the Masters Program in Advanced Manufacturing Technologies or PhD students affiliated with CDMM should attend this seminar. The format of the seminar is weekly invited lectures from top scientists in the research fields related to Advanced Manufacturing, Digital Engineering Technologies, Computational Engineering, and Mechanics and Physics of Advanced Manufacturing.
|
Iskander Akhatov |
10.25 per term
|
Extra | MF01007 |
|
Cell Biology Lab Course
Lab course in Cell biology provides students an opportunity to explore how the techniques of molecular and cell biology may be used to understand cell function. Laboratory practice in cell biology will provide the experience in genetic manipulations with cell lines, immunostaining and fluorescence or confocal microscopy analysis. The main aspects for FACS-analysis and cell sorting will be introduced. The approaches for gene expression analysis by RT-qPCR, Western blot and differential proteome analysis will be used to understand the influence of genetic manipulation to the cell function. The introduction in powerful approach to understand the protein interaction such as SPR optical biosensor will be provided.
The introduction in high-throughput screening of biologically active compounds will be provided. The course will provide students with a hands-on understanding of modern methods of cellular manipulation and understanding the mechanism of cell functioning. |
Olga Dontsova | 6 | MA06134 | |
|
Comparative Genomics
The course will touch upon both basics and some deeper topics of comparative genomics, including but not limited to homology and its relationship to function, horizontal gene transfer, genome rearrangements, pan-genomes, metagenomes, gene networks, and functional annotation of genes and proteins. The students will get an understanding of molecular evolution at the genome level and be able to apply this understanding to both theoretical and real-life molecular biology problems. “Nothing in Biology Makes Sense except in the Light of Evolution” (Theodosius Dobzhansky).
|
Mikhail Gelfand | 3 | MA03133 | |
|
Computational Materials Science Seminar (Term 1B-4)
This is the main research seminar at Skoltech for Computational Materials scientists. All students of Computational Materials Science subtrack of Materials Science MSc program should attend this seminar. Topics include materials modeling (at atomistic scale), theoretical and computational chemistry, theoretical and computational physics of materials, underlying mathematical methods and algorithms etc. Invited lectures are top scientists in their research field.
Please see the seminar webpage at https://www.skoltech.ru/en/cms/ |
Dmitry Aksenov |
30.75 per term
|
Extra | MF03006 |
|
Condensed Matter Spectroscopy and Physics of Nanostructures (Term 1B-4)
This course presents a modern introduction to the field of optical phenomena in condensed matter and nanostructures. The first part of the course starts from the classical and quantum theory of electromagnetic response, and basics of the condensed matter spectroscopy. Then the major research directions in the modern condensed matter spectroscopy are considered, such as spectroscopy of graphene, topological materials, and two-dimensional transition metal dichalcogenides. The second part of the course is focused on specific optical phenomena in semiconductors, heterostructures, nanostructures and interfaces, such as surface plasmons and polaritons, excitons, spin-orbit coupling effects, Raman scattering and color centers.
|
Alexey Sokolik |
61.5 per term
|
MA06313 | |
|
Data Analysis for Space Weather
The course introduces students to Solar-Terrestrial physics, Space Weather and practically useful approaches of data analysis for study, forecasting, and mitigation of space weather effects. The course provides an overview of Sun-Earth connections, starting from the interior of the Sun and ending in the Earth's magnetosphere. To gain insight into this field, we focus on such topics as: solar interior and solar structure, solar atmosphere, solar wind, solar flares and coronal mass ejections, as well as associated geomagnetic storms and polar auroras. These phenomena drive Space Weather with the implications for space-borne and ground-based technological systems (satellites, human spaceflight, airlines, power systems and pipelines). We also examine the space weather effects on technology and human health, hazard assessment, mitigation and forecasting, space environment data, scientific and service products.
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Tatiana Podladchikova | 6 | MA06309 | |
|
Deep Learning
The course is about Deep Learning, i.e. a new generation of neural network-based methods that have dramatically improved the performance of AI systems in such domains as computer vision, speech recognition, natural language analysis, reinforcement learning, bioinformatics. The course covers the basics of supervised and unsupervised deep learning. It also covers the details of the two most successful classes of models, namely convolutional networks and recurrent networks. In terms of application, the class emphasizes computer vision and natural language analysis tasks. The course involves a significant practical component with a large number of practical assignments.
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Victor Lempitsky | 6 | MA06057 | |
|
Differential Topology (Term 3-4)
We plan to discuss two topics, which are central in topology of smooth manifolds, the h-cobordism theorem and theory of characteristic classes. The h-cobordism theorem proved by S. Smale in 1962 is the main (and almost the only) tool for proving that two smooth manifolds (of dimension greater than or equal to 5) are diffeomorphic. In particular, this theorem implies the high-dimensional Poincare conjecture (for manifolds of dimensions 5 and higher). Characteristic classes, in particular, Pontryagin classes are very natural invariants of smooth manifolds. Computation of characteristic classes can help one to distinguish between non-diffeomorphic manifolds. We plan to finish the course with the theorem by J. Milnor on non-trivial smooth structures on the 7-dimensional sphere. This theorem is based both on methods of Morse theory and theory of characteristic classes
|
Alexander Gaifullin |
63 per term
|
MA06258 | |
|
Electrochemistry: Fundamentals to Applications
This course covers fundamental concepts of electrochemistry: oxidation and reduction processes, types of conductors, electrolytes, classification of electrodes and electrode reactions, Faraday’s Laws, and electroanalytical methods. In addition, some applied aspects of electrochemistry will be covered including industrial electrolytic processes, electrodeposition, and electrochemical power sources (batteries and fuel cells).
The prerequisites are: undergraduate math, chemistry, and physics. |
Keith Stevenson | 6 | MA06127 | |
|
Energy Colloquium
The Energy Colloquium educates the audience in the present-day research and applications within the broader field of Energy Science and Technology. The Colloquium consists of a series of presentations by invited academic and industry speakers. The presentations target a nonspecialist audience.
All Master and Ph.D. students within the Energy Program are encouraged to attend the Energy Colloquium during the entire period of their studies. Students can earn 1 credit, if he/she participates in the Energy Colloquium over the course of any 2 terms of the academic year. Students who passed one round can make next (for credit) over the course of their subsequent studies. |
Alexei Buchachenko | 1 | Extra | MF01092 |
|
English. Candidate Examinations
This is a meta-course which allows PhD students to register for English Qualification Exam for the Russian PhD Degree. There will be no lectures or seminars, only the exam. The preparatory course is also available in course catalog (look for "Academic Communication for PhD students" course).
The Exam has two parts: Part 1 – Pre-exam activities (Assignments 1, 2a, 2b) |
Elizaveta Tikhomirova | 3 | PE03003 | |
| Experimental Optics | Sakellaris Mailis | 6 | MA06336 | |
|
Foundations of Engineering Physics (Term 1B-4)
The course is dedicated to basics of building interfaces ”experiment-computer” in the modern scientific research. In most general configuration such interface comprises three stages:
1) “input” analog front-end feeding the electronic signals from sensors, transducers, 2) analog-to-digit as well as digit-to-analog conversion “bridges” and 3) logical channels conveying the ultimate digital information to a computer. The consideration of the three stages is made with emphases on the principle aspects of scientific measurements rather than detailed schematic/circuitry of the instrumentation. All stages of the measurement systems will be reviewed from the point of view of the fundamental imperatives of signal conditioning like impedance matching, optimal choice of the bandwidth solving the ubiquitous trade-off “precision versus rate” of data acquisition and et al. As well important peculiarities of configuring the elements of the system – such as prefiltering, modulation-demodulation techniques, the choice of the type and bit width of ADCs/DACs – will also be thoroughly discussed. At all stages a short concomitant overview of the modern commercially available electronic equipment will be given in order to improve students’ ability to select a proper set of the electronic devices among a great variety of those available on the market. |
Yuri Romanovskiy |
61.5 per term
|
MA06213 | |
|
Functional Methods in The Theory of Disordered Systems (Term 3-4)
The course provides an extensive overview of contemporary functional methods in the theory of disordered systems. Starting from the theory of random matrices, it covers various aspects of electron motion in disordered media. The concept of the nonlinear supersymmetric sigma model is introduced and used as a unique language to describe such phenomena as energy level statistics, weak localization, renormalization group analysis, nonperturbative solution of the localization problem in quantum wires. Finally, functional integral method is used to address electron-electron interaction in disordered metals and nonequilibrium phenomena in quantum dots.
|
Mikhail Skvortsov |
63 per term
|
MA06262 | |
|
Fundamentals in methodology of scientific research (Term 3-4)
The course can be considered as a tutorial for MS and PhD students performing R&D projects within their educational tracks (e.g. while preparing thesis) and extracurricular activities focused on building scientific or entrepreneur career. In the frame of the course, we will explore the most efficient strategies for performing R&D projects starting from planning the research program and ending up with the dissemination and application of the obtained results, e.g. by filing patents, licensing or making startups. Using a set of examples, we will discuss how to address the most common challenges in scientific research and present the obtained results in a proper way. In particular, students will be actively involved in practical trainings learning how to analyze a potential impact of their results, prepare conference presentations, scientific publications and research projects. This course is designed mainly for MS and PhD students involved in experimental studies in interdisciplinary fields, mainly at the interface of physics and chemistry, aiming to address relevant challenges of modern materials science.
|
Pavel Troshin |
63 per term
|
MA06342 | |
|
Gauge Fields and Complex Geometry (Term 3-4)
1. Self-duality equations, Bogomolny equations.
2. Relation to holomorphic bundles. 3. Relation to holomorphic bundles on twistor space. 4. Conformal symmetry and complex geometry in twistor space. 5. Elements of superfield formulation of SUSY field theories. 6. Chirality type constraints and complex geometry. 7. Some examples of superfield theories which require complex geometry. 8. BPS conditions in SUSY theories and complex geometry. 9. Elements of Hitchin's integrable systems and related complex geometry. |
Alexey Rosly |
63 per term
|
MA06178 | |
|
Geometric Modeling
Classification, principles and techniques of digital modelling of point sets are presented for points, curves, surfaces and solids. Specifically these include methods of modelling of point clouds, depth fields, parametric curves and surfaces, implicit surfaces and solids. Solid modelling includes such representations as Constructive Solid Geometry (CSG), Boundary Representation (BRep) with polygonal meshes and parametric surfaces, sweeping, spatial occupancy enumeration, and Function Representation (FRep).
|
Alexander Pasko | 6 | MA06297 | |
|
Geometrical Methods of Machine Learning
The course is elective for MSc program in Data Science at Skoltech.
Many machine learning problems are fundamentally geometric in nature. The general goal of machine learning is to extract previously unknown information from data, which is reflected in the structure (underlying geometry) of the data. Thus, understanding the shape of the data plays an important role in modern learning theory and data analytics. Real-world data obtained from natural sources are usually non- uniform and concentrate along lower dimensional structures, and geometrical methods allow discovering the shape of these structures from given data. Originally being part of dimensionality reduction research, geometrical methods in machine learning has now become the central methodology for uncovering the semantics of information from the data. The aim of the course is to explain basic ideas and results in using the modern geometrical methods for solving main machine learning problems such as classification, regression, dimensionality reduction, representation learning, clustering, etc. A large part of the course addresses to most popular geometrical model of high-dimensional data called manifold model and introduces modern manifold learning methods. Necessary short information on differential geometry and topology will be given in the course. The course lets students to be involved in meaningful real-life machine learning projects, such as mobile robot navigation, neuroimaging, to cope with challenging problems. |
Alexander Bernstein | 3 | MA03169 | |
|
Geostatistics and Reservoir Simulation
The course includes lectures in reservoir simulation, history matching, and fundamentals of geostatistics.
Reservoir simulation and history matching embrace following: 1) Fundamentals of single phase and multiphase multi-component fluid flow and storage in reservoirs 2) Numerical solution of governing equations using finite difference 3) Introduction to inverse theory and history matching 4) Simulating of laboratory PVT data by Equation Of States (EOS) Fundamentals of geostatistics include following: 1) Stochastic reservoir simulation 2) Statistical measures 3) Univariate and multivariate Statistics 4) Covariance and variograms 5) Sequential Gaussian simulation 6) Uncertainty quantification Finally, reservoir simulation and geostatistical analysis are integrated for risk analysis and economy estimation. Laboratory computational exercises are also included. |
Dmitri Koroteev | 6 | MA06085 | |
|
High Performance Computing and Modern Architectures
High Performance Computing refers to accumulation and usage of computing power well beyond a typical desktop or laptop computer. This is a main course for various aspects of HPC and a further development of the Scientific Computing course. Together with the theoretical part and discussion of basic parallel algorithms, the course will have a practical component aimed at solving different research and industry-related problems on different computing architectures, such as modern CPUs and GPUs. The course will provide sufficient knowledge and experience in using standard parallel libraries (such as OpenMP, MPI and CUDA) as well as visualization software (ParaView, Visit). Students will be given a chance of using Skoltech's world-class HPC facilities to learn typical methods and rules of working on the large-scale collectively used supercomputers. The course is designed in such a way that students who successfully pass the exam will be able to use advanced methods of HPC in their everyday work.
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Sergey Rykovanov | 6 | MA06287 | |
|
Hybrid Photonics Computing
Hybrid Photonics computing is an interdisciplinary subject that takes inspiration from physics, mathematics, computer science, and electronic engineering to design artificial neural systems capable of solving hard optimisation problems. Recently various neural network systems emerged as a promising alternative to universal classical or quantum computing and to quantum simulators/annealers. Their physical implementation is based on dynamics of so-called coherent centers in the network of lasers, optical parametric oscillators, cold atomic gases, exciton-polariton condensates, nanolasers, memristors, VO2 oscillators, fibers, etc. They are expected to serve as fast and accurate accelerators for modern digital computers in the specialized tasks for integer and continuous optimization problems in vastly different areas such as vehicle routing and scheduling problems, dynamic analysis of neural networks and financial markets, prediction of new chemical materials and machine learning. The theoretical framework of hybrid photonics systems was proposed as heuristic algorithms for NP-hard optimization problems and efficient simulators of many-body systems. This course covers fundamental principles, algorithms, and applications, as well as the physical implementation of photonic computing.
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Natalia Berloff | 3 | MA03337 | |
|
Imaging in Biology
Overview of current imaging research techniques in basic biomedical research. Various applications in neurobiology, cancer biology and preclinical studies of novel and emerging advanced microscopy technologies. Analysis of experiments and research described in recent scientific papers. The introduction of the course also includes core mathematics and optics. The course will outline and compare different optical microscopy techniques and super-resolution imaging in biomedical research. Topics also include clearing agents and techniques, optical imaging of brain activity in vivo using genetically encoded probes, immediate early gene mapping, intravital imaging, applications for functional analyses of neuronal circuits. The course aims to teach students to understand basic principles of the current imaging techniques, microscope design, and image formation. The course will also offer laboratory practice in sample preparation, confocal imaging, and image analysis. Students will learn how to choose the most appropriate imaging method for their own research project.
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Dmitry Artamonov | 6 | MA06118 | |
|
Immunology (Term 3-4)
The purpose of this course is to lay the foundation for understanding the principles behind the development, organization and functioning of the immune system. Such basis is necessary for further professional growth either in the field of fundamental immunology or applied research and development in medical immunology and oncology. This course will also be important for those who want to professionalize in medical practice, pharmaceutical industry, epidemiology and health services management, engineering and business in the field of biomedicine.
The course is focused on the human immune system. The main medical aspects related to the functioning of the immune system will be considered, including autoimmune diseases, allergies, tumor-immune system interactions, immunotherapy, vaccinations and transplantation. Particular attention will be paid to the adaptive branch of the immune system, immunogenomics and state-of-art approaches for immune repertoire studies, such as: application of the novel sequencing technologies and corresponding bioinformatic data analysis, novel approaches for the studying of the antibody and T-cell receptor repertoires in health and disease. |
Dmitriy Chudakov |
63 per term
|
MA06172 | |
|
Introduction to Digital Agro
The agriculture and food sector is facing multiple challenges. With the global population projected to grow from 7.6 billion in 2018 to over 9.6 billion in 2050 there will be a significant increase in the demand for food. At the same time, the availability of natural resources such as fresh water and productive arable land is becoming increasingly
constrained. This will require an urgent transformation of the current agrifood system. Digital innovations and technologies may be part of the solution. The so-called ‘Fourth Industrial Revolution’ (Industry 4.0) is seeing several sectors rapidly transformed by ‘disruptive’ digital technologies such as Internet of Things, Artificial Intelligence and Computer Vision. This course will be focused on several milestone problems for Russian Agrifood sector, like: Students will try to improve and solve this issue on a real cases and real BigData. |
Maria Pukalchik | 3 | MA03359 | |
|
Introduction to Quantum Theory (Term 3-4)
One of the most striking breakthrough of the XX century is the creation of the entirely new area of physics named quantum physics. It emerged that the whole world around us obeys the laws of quantum mechanics, while the laws of classical physics that we are familiar with (such as, for example, Newton's equations) describe only macroscopic objects and can be obtained in limiting case. After that a lot of phenomena in different areas of physics found their explanation. Also quantum mechanics had a very significant impact on the development of mathematics and mathematical physics. Today quantum mechanics is one of the keystone parts of theoretical and mathematical physics.
|
Vladimir Losyakov |
63 per term
|
MA06332 | |
|
Large-Scale Optimization and Applications
This MSc level course is an application-oriented introduction to numerical optimization. It will focus on modeling real-world engineering tasks as optimization problems and using state-of-the-art optimization techniques to solve these problems. The course will start with the basics of convex analysis, then we go ahead to iterative optimization algorithms to solve convex optimization problems. The last part of the course focuses on real-world engineering applications and provides a student with the state-of-the-art techniques to solve them.
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Yury Maximov | 6 | MA06123 | |
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Laser Spectroscopy (Term 1B-4)
Spectroscopy is a science of studies of the quantum objects using the light. Before the laser era, its methods were limited to the spectroscopies of emission, absorption, and Raman scattering. The subject of the present course is not so much an improving, using the lasers, performance of the classical approaches (although this also is mentioned) but rather learning the new (more than a dozen) methods that have become possible only due to the appearance of the lasers. The course provides knowledge of the fundamental processes in spectroscopy as well as the methods allowing one to solve the problems that require (i) ultrahigh sensitivity, (ii) ultrahigh selectivity, (iii) ultrahigh spectral resolution, and (iv) ultrahigh temporal resolution. As an elective, the effects of quantum interference are considered such as coherent population trapping, the Autler–Townes effect, electromagnetically induced transparency, lasing without inversion, and more.
|
Alexander Makarov |
61.5 per term
|
MA06212 | |
|
Machine Learning in Chemoinformatics
Deep learning achieves remarkable results in many fields, including life sciences. This course is made for students, that ready to apply their skills to scientific applications, such as molecular design and drug discovery. Molecules play vital roles in our organism, constantly interacting with each other and serving all the functionality, that we have as the human beings. Prediction of molecular properties, as well as design of molecules with target properties, are highly important problems, that still need to be addressed. Complex and rich nature of molecules allow to represent them as sequences, graphs, 3D objects, or high-dimensional descriptors, and to apply numerical methods in order to solve open problems in chemoinformatics. Rapid accumulation of molecular data opened gates for machine learning to be applied for such representations, and to derive powerful prediction models that outperform empirical methods.
During this course students will be introduced with open problems in chemoinformatics and with state-of-the-art machine learning methods attempt to solve these problems. Particularly students will practice deep learning, including 3D convolutional neural networks and generative adversarial networks, for drug discovery and molecular design problems. The course includes three theoretical lectures, that cover basics of molecular structures, such that no prior knowledge of structural chemistry or biology is required. Seminars are python coding sessions, where students apply machine learning pipelines to derive prediction models. The end of the course comprises final project aimed to solve chemoinformatics problem of choice using machine learning. |
Petr Popov | 3 | MA03364 | |
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Master Your Thesis in English 2 (Term 7-8)
Writing is the key priority and the need of utmost importance for all would-be scientists. Science demands good writing, that presupposes the skills to communicate ideas, theories, and findings as efficiently and clearly as possible. Science lives and dies by how it is represented in print and printed material is the final product of scientific endeavour. The primary goal of this course is to prepare master students for wiring, editing, and defending a Master Thesis.
This course is designed to explain how to write chapters of their Thesis through practical examples of good writing taken from the authentic linguistic environment. The course teaches how to overcome certain typical problems in writing a text of a thesis and abounds in useful linguistics assistance on its various parts. Feedback on students’ texts will constitute the major part of the course. |
Anastasiia Sharapkova |
31.5 per term
|
Extra | MF03004ls |
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Master Your Thesis in English 2 (Term 7-8)
The key to efficient professional communication is the ability to convey ideas clearly, coherently and correctly both orally and in writing.
The Course offers concise and practical guidelines for writing and defending a Master Thesis at Skoltech. The course focuses on the main parts of the Thesis in terms of structure, vocabulary and grammar, and their transformations for a presentation with slides. Students will develop a conscious approach to own writing and presentations through thorough analyses of the best authentic examples combined with intensive writing and editing practice. The ‘process-for-product’ approach teaches the students to write – use (peer) reviewer’s advice – revise/edit – repeat, and creates linguistic awareness needed to avoid the typical pitfalls. The Course is offered in two modules which gradually build on the necessary writing and presentation skills. |
Elizaveta Tikhomirova |
31.5 per term
|
Extra | MF03004 |
|
Methods for Enhanced Oil Recovery
Over one-half of the original oil-in-place remains in the reservoirs as primary and secondary recovery techniques have its technological and economic limitations. Major reasons are:
• heterogeneity of the reservoirs; • unfavorable fluid properties; • inefficient nature of the displacement process; economic constraints. A better understanding of the reservoir fundamentals and the important variables that influence the recovery process can enhance oil recovery. This course presents a comprehensive summary of chemical, miscible, and thermal enhanced oil recovery processes. The course presents the subject material with a clear focus on developing and producing the reservoir efficiently, energies available within the reservoir, realizing technical benefits and application limitations of the various enhanced oil recovery methods. |
Alexey Cheremisin | 6 | MA06117 | |
|
Modern Dynamical Systems (Term 3-4)
Dynamical systems in our course will be presented mainly not as an independent branch of mathematics but as a very powerful tool that can be applied in geometry, topology, probability, analysis, number theory and physics. We consciously decided to sacrifice some classical chapters of ergodic theory and to introduce the most important dynamical notions and ideas in the geometric and topological context already intuitively familiar to our audience. As a compensation, we will show applications of dynamics to important problems in other mathematical disciplines. We hope to arrive at the end of the course to the most recent advances in dynamics and geometry and to present (at least informally) some of results of A. Avila, A. Eskin, M. Kontsevich, M. Mirzakhani, G. Margulis.
In accordance with this strategy, the course comprises several blocks closely related to each other. The first three of them (including very short introduction) are mainly mandatory. The decision, which of the topics listed below these three blocks would depend on the background and interests of the audience. |
Alexandra Skripchenko, Sergey Lando |
63 per term
|
MA06257 | |
|
Molecular Spectroscopy (Term 1B-4)
The first part of this course covers the basics of interaction of radiation (light) with molecules: absorption, emission of light, Raman scattering. Born-Oppenheimer approximation is used to separate the electronic motions and nuclear motions in a molecule. As a result the energy of molecule is considered as a sum of electronic, vibrational and rotational energy.
Elements of quantum chemistry are considered relying on variational principle. Molecular-orbital (MO) and Valence-bond (VB) methods are applied for description of molecule wave function. Molecular geometry is considered. Properties of quantum states depend on symmetry of molecule. Theory of symmetry (group theory) is presented including theory of group representation. In the second part of this course the structure and symmetry of rotational, vibrational and electronic states of molecules are considered. The spectra of absorption, fluorescence and Raman spectra are considered. The applications of molecular spectroscopy for investigations of physical and technical process are presented. |
Vladimir Mironenko |
61.5 per term
|
MA06209 | |
|
Nanocomposites
The focus of the course is a special class of composites which include nano-scale reinforcements. Such nano-reinforced materials can be classified in two groups:
1. Nano-composites which have reinforcing phase of nano-dimensions (carbon nanotubes (CNT), graphene and graphene-related materials (graphene oxide etc), nano-clays and some others. For both types of nano-composites the course covers their production, microstructure, micromechanics, functional properties (electrical and thermal conductivity) and applications. There has been immense interest in the use of carbon nanomaterials for reinforcement of plastics and their composites in the recent years. The course provides to Skoltech students an opportunity to catch with this accelerated trend of world-wide research. |
Sergey Abaimov | 6 | MA06329 | |
|
Omics Data Analysis
The advent of high throughput technologies has led to an avalanche of ‘omics data coming from different sources, such as transcriptomics, epigenomics, lipidomics, metabolomics. A thorough analysis of such large-scale biological data sets can lead to the discovery of important biological insights on mechanisms of cell and organ functioning, and to the identification of small subsets of molecules (a ‘molecular signature’) to explain or predict biological conditions.
The course will discuss general concepts of bioinformatics analysis of various types of ‘omics data and will provide examples of their successful application for solving a wide range of biological problems. We will select several state-of-the-art papers, each focused on the analysis of a particular ‘omics data type, and guide students through the data analysis steps in the paper, allowing them to reproduce the key methodological procedures. In doing so, the students will not only learn the best analysis practices suitable for each data type but, importantly, understand why each analysis step is necessary, what is the logic of the whole data analysis concept, which controls are essential, etc. The chapters of the course will include: The course will end with the task (Final Project) on the integration of different data types produced to answer the same biological question. Such integration analysis is at the cutting of bioinformatics and will be of great use to SkolTech students. |
Ekaterina Khrameeva | 6 | MA06061 | |
|
Omics Technologies
Omics technologies include different data intensive disciplines dedicated to the molecular profiling of various natural or biological systems: genomics, transcriptomics, proteomics, metabolomics, lipidomics, petroleomics. This course will be mainly focused on the mass spectrometry based techniques refereeing genomics to the special live science courses: Instrumental methods in Molecular Biology (T. Zatsepin) and Analysis of ‘omics data (E. Khrameeva). The base laboratory of the course is the Omics thechnology and Big Data laboratory (C. Borchers, supported by Megagrant).
The course will cover wide range of mass spectrometry techniques used for ion generation, separation, detection, data processing and interpretation. The course will teach the theoretical fundamentals required for choosing of the instruments and methods for measuring mass spectra of biological samples. The course will cover big data processing and machine learning approaches used for the biomarker discovery and tissue imaging. After successful completion of this class, students will acquire the initial knowledge of the operational principles and design of different mass spectrometers, different method of protein, peptides, lipids and metabolite molecule identification, different fragmentation methods for primary and secondary structure determination, methods of quantitative determination of proteins, lipids, metabolites and small molecule in physiological liquids. |
Evgeny Nikolaev | 6 | MA06360 | |
|
One-Dimensional Quantum Systems (Term 3-4)
In the framework of the course, quantum systems (field-theoretic and discrete) in one spacial dimension, and some their classical statistical mechanics counterparts are discussed. The scope of systems includes sine-Gordon and Thirring model, O(n) sigma model, Heisenberg chain and six-vertex model, Kondo problem. We consider several techniques to obtain exact results for these systems, including operator product expansions, boson-fermion correspondence, Yang-Baxter equation, different versions of Bethe Ansatz.
|
Michael Lashkevich |
63 per term
|
MA06276 | |
|
Pedagogical Experience
The main function of this course is to articulate Skoltech's expectations on PhD students who do their pedagogical TA assignment at Skoltech. The course
describes the intended learning outcomes and how they are assessed. The main bulk of the 81 hours of the course is spent in the actual courses in which Please note that those, who did not pass Pedagogy of Higher Education [PE03025] and are going to be TA in the current term, should register for another course Pedagogical Experience – Pre-requisite [PE03005pre]. |
Dmitry Artamonov | 3 | PE03005 | |
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Plant Biotechnology Lab (Term 3-4)
The course provides the opportunity to learn methods of genetic engineering. The course is focused on the processes of transformation, regeneration, and selection of agricultural plant – potato. Students will participate in the process from primary act of transformation with Agrobacterium tumefaciens till screening of selected plants with the method of molecular analysis. Students will trace all stages of calli regeneration, antibiotic selection, transfer to new conditions, clonal propagation, rooting and so on. Finally, students will test selected plants with PCR to prove their genetic modification.
Another goal of the course is demonstration of diversity of the methods. Plants will be transformed with Agrobacterium rhizogenes to obtain free-living roots – hairy root culture. Also, stidents will participate in transformation of plants into liquid suspension of cell culture. Thus, genetic manipulation with plant will be performed in the course at the level of whole organism, of single organ (hairy roots), and of separated cell (suspension culture). |
Eugene Lysenko |
63 per term
|
MA06331 | |
|
Plant Molecular Biology Lab (Term 3-4)
The course is aimed to provide students the opportunity to work with methods widely used in plant biology. The course is focused on chloroplasts. The chloroplast isolation and purification in a density gradient is a start of practice. Then, RNA to be isolated from chloroplasts and analyzed with RT-PCR to distinguish intron containing pre-mRNA from spliced mRNA. Fragments should be eluted from gel and prepared for sequencing. Bioinformatic search let to reveal effectiveness of natural processes of RNA editing. A lecture introduces the principle of pulse amplitude modulation (PAM) technique. Finally, students will apply Dual-PAM-100 device to study activity of photosystem I and photosystem II in control and heat shocked plants. The data obtained should be analyzed and presented in graphical form. The emphasizes will be given for making maximum of probable biological conclusions from any result obtained.
|
Eugene Lysenko |
63 per term
|
MA06330 | |
|
Power Markets and Regulations
The course will introduce the students to power system economics. After covering the fundamentals of microeconomics, the main types of electricity markets and regulations will be discussed including the Russian market. Economic dispatch and Optimal Power Flow with Locational Marginal Pricing will also be covered. Capacity planning, ancillary services, and risk analysis is also covered.
The lectures will be supplemented by homeworks utilizing PowerWorld simulation package, a laboratory exercises investigating gaming in power markets and group mini-projects. |
Janusz Bialek, David Pozo |
6 | Sector | MB06002 |
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Practicum in Experimental Physics
This course assumes mastering in certain experimental techniques in physics, including a practical work with experimental setups. For each technique, the program includes (i) an introductory lecture and demonstrations (one day totally) and (ii) one day of self-dependent research activities available for beginners. Each student is expected to make a choice of at least 8 of 13 proposed techniques. The final stage in each semester is individual research work (it will take at least two days). It is recommended to choose a combination of physical technique, technology and characterization technique. Students are invited to suggest the topic of individual work related to their future MSc research. Experimental facilities are currently located in the Institute of Solid State Physics RAS (Chernogolovka, Moscow Region). Joint transportation is arranged.
|
Valery Ryazanov | 6 | MA06208 | |
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Quantum Field Theory (Term 3-4)
At present time Quantum Field Theory (QFT) is the main theoretical tool used for the description of the phenomena occurring in the microworld. Examples include interactions between elementary particles, hadron structure and so on. At the same time, QFT methods are widely used in all areas of modern theoretical physics such as condensed matter physics, statistical mechanics, turbulence theory and others. Moreover, the creation of QFT has stimulated the development of many modern areas of mathematics.
The course is aimed at the study of the basic ideas and methods of QFT, as well as the discussion of its applications in various areas of modern theoretical and mathematical physics. Topics include quantization of scalar and gauge theories, path integral approach, perturbative expansions and Feynman diagrams, (1+1) dimensional exactly soluble models and some other ideas of modern science. |
Andrei Semenov |
63 per term
|
MA06316 | |
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Quantum Integrable Systems (Term 3-4)
The course is devoted to quantum integrable systems. The history of quantum integrable systems starts from 1931 when
H.Bethe managed to construct exact eigenfunctions of the Hamiltonian of the Heisenberg spin chain with the help of a special substitution which became famous since that time (ansatz Bethe). In one or another form this method turns out to be applicable to many spin and field-theoretical integrable models. From the mathematical point of view, Bethe's method is connected to representation theory of quantum algebras (q-deformations of universal enveloping algebras and Yangians). Here is the list of topics which will be discussed in the course. – Coordinate Bethe ansatz on the example of the Heisenberg model and – Bethe ansatz in exactly solvable models of statistical mechanics – Calculation of physical quantities in integrable models in thermodynamic – Bethe equations and the Yang-Yang function, caclulation of norms of Bethe – Quantum inverse scattering method and algebraic Bethe ansatz, quantum R-matrices, – Functional Bethe ansatz and the method of Baxter's Q-operators, functional The knowledge of quantum mechanics and statistical physics for understanding of |
Anton Zabrodin |
63 per term
|
MA06315 | |
|
Quantum Mesoscopics. Quantum Hall Effect (Term 3-4)
The course of lectures consists of two roughly equal parts. The first part begins with an account of the physics of two-dimensional electrons in a perpendicular magnetic field and attempts to explain the phenomenon of an integer quantum effect for short-range and smooth random potentials. The presentation in this part is supposed to be quite accessible to students familiar with quantum mechanics and diagram technique. In the second part of the course, the fundamentals of the field-theoretical description of the phenomenon of an integer quantum Hall effect in a short-range random potential are presented. To understand the material of the second part, students need to know the methods of functional integration and quantum field theory.
|
Igor Burmistrov |
63 per term
|
MA06278 | |
|
Quantum Optics
“Quantum optics, the union of quantum field theory and physical optics, is undergoing a time of revolutionary change” [Marlan O. Scully and M. Suhail Zubairy “Quantum Optics”, Cambridge University Press].
Quantum optics studies interactions between matter and the radiation field where quantum effects are important. The fundamental interest in quantum optics is connected with conceptual foundations of quantum mechanics, with non-classical effects such as quantum interference and entanglement, photon antibunching and squeezing, as well as with numerous applications in precise measurements, protected information transfer, etc. This introductory course includes the following topics: quantization of electromagnetic field, Fock (number) states of the field, Lamb shift, Casimir effect, coherent states of the field, interaction of photons with atoms, Rabi and Jaynes – Cummings models. Dressed states. Dicke super- and subradiation, quantum coherence and correlation measurements, quantum-mechanical detector of photons, single-photon interferometer, quantum beam splitter, Young’s type interferometer, Michelson’s stellar interferometer, physics of Hanbury-Brown-Twiss interferometer, non-classical states of light, squeezing in nonlinear optical processes, bunching and antibunching of photons, “Schroedinger’s cat” states. |
Victor Zadkov | 3 | MA03161 | |
|
Quantum Theory of Radiation and Quantum Optics (Term 1B-4)
The main goal of the course is to study by students basic physical principles, main quantum electrodynamical (QED) phenomena and mathematical apparatus of quantum electrodynamics and quantum optics. Students must know theory and experimental data on interaction of radiatiation with matter. Particularly will be discussed: quantum theory of electromagnetic field, problem of phase in QED, coherent and squeezed states, relativistic quantum theory of electrons and positrons, Klein paradox, diagram technique,
divergences and renormalization of mass and charge of electron, Lamb shift, cavity quantum electrodynamics (including last achievements), dynamical Casimir effect, basics of united theory of electromagnetic and weak interactions etc. |
Yuri Lozovik |
61.5 per term
|
MA06314 | |
|
Research Methodology: CDMM Research Seminar (Term 2-4)
This is the main research seminar for the Skoltech Center for Design, Manufacturing and Materials (CDMM). All MSc students either enrolled into the Master Program in Advanced Manufacturing Technologies or PhD students affiliated with CDMM should attend this seminar. The format of the seminar is weekly invited lectures from top scientists in the research fields related to Advanced Manufacturing, Digital Engineering Technologies, and Mechanics and Physics of Advanced Manufacturing will be given.
|
Iskander Akhatov |
31 per term
|
PA03102dmm | |
|
Research Methodology: CHR Seminar (Term 3-4)
This course conducted in a form of seminar, is aimed at hands-on learning of best practices of modern research work in the academic and industrial environments. Students will learn how to formulate research objective(s), search for prior art and monitor publications, frame a research project with proper objectives, resources, timeline, and deliverables, conduct research in communication with peers and with a broader community, and, finally, present the outcomes of the research.
The seminar work constitutes the core of the course, and it will principally focus on topics related to hydrocarbon reservoir characterization, reservoir simulation, and reservoir optimization. Mathematical and numerical methods and tools relevant to this subject will be explored in depth. An equally strong emphasis will be given to geological, petrophysical, and petroleum engineering aspects of the considered models. Students will have an extensive practice in writing reports and publications, as well as in oral presentations. By attending this course, students will get a broader view of the research projects conducted in CHR, as well as a closer scientific communication with their peers and with a larger research community. |
Dimitri Pissarenko, Dmitri Koroteev |
31.5 per term
|
PA03102pe | |
|
Research Methodology: Space Center Seminar (Term 1-4)
The seminar will cover current topics in the space domain: latest news, discoveries. Also planned that all PhD students and some Master students will present their research. External lecturers will be invited regularly to focus on the main applications of space technologies: science, telecommunication, navigation and remote sensing. Aspects of space technologies will also be discussed: structures, software, attitude determination and control systems, on board computers, communication system power supply systems and others. The seminar will be offered in English.
|
Anton Ivanov |
30.75 per term
|
PA03102es | |
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Research Seminar "Advanced Materials Science" (Term 2-4)
This is the main research seminar of the Skoltech Center for Electrochemical Energy Storage and Materials Science Education program featuring presentations of young researchers: MSc students, PhD students, postdocs. Every MSc and PhD student of Materials Science program should deliver at least one presentation per two years. The range of topics is broad and includes any aspects of materials science and engineering.
Please see the seminar webpage at http://crei.skoltech.ru/cee/education/wednesday-scientific-seminar/ |
Keith Stevenson |
30.5 per term
|
MA03302 | |
|
Research seminar "Modern Problems of Mathematical Physics" (Term 1-4)
Course "Modern problems of mathematical physics" is a student seminar, so participants are expected to give talks based on the modern research papers. Current topic of the seminar can vary from time to time: now it is devoted to the study of N=2 supersymmetric gauge theory and its links with random matrix models, ABJM theory, localization, complex curves, and integrable systems. Other topics that were already covered, or can be covered in the future, are: classical integrable equations, complex curves and their theta-functions, quantum integrable models (quantum-mechanical and field-theoretical), models of statistical physics.
|
Pavlo Gavrylenko |
61.5 per term
|
MA06268 | |
|
Research seminar "Modern Problems of Theoretical Physics" (Term 1-4)
Research seminar "Modern Problems of Theoretical Physics" is supposed to teach students to read, understand and represent to the audience recent advances in theoretical physics. Each student is supposed 1) to choose one of recent research papers from the list composed by the instructor in the beginning of each term, 2) read it carefully, 3) present the major results of the paper to his/her colleagues during the seminar talk, 4) answer the questions from the audience about the content of the paper. The papers in the list are selected, normally, from the condensed matter theory and related fields, like: physics quantum computing, statistical physics, etc. The papers to the list are usually chosen from most competitive physics journals, like Nature Physics, Science, Physical Review Letters, Physical Review X and others.
|
Mikhail Feigelman, Konstantin Tikhonov |
61.5 per term
|
MA06319 | |
|
Research seminar 1 "Energy systems and technologies" (Term 2-4)
This research seminar is the general meeting for faculty, researchers and master and PhD students of Energy Systems programs. The seminar takes place every week during Terms 2(6)-3(7)-4(8).
Master students must attend the seminar at least for one academic year but welcome to attend during two years. PhD students are welcome to attend the seminar during all years of studies but can gain no more than 6 credits in total. The seminar consists of faculty lectures, invited lectures of top scientists in their research field as well as students’ reports on their own or examined papers. To PASS the course and gain 3 credits per academic year the student must fulfill all three requirements: 1. Attendance: > 2/3 of seminars. 2. Presentation. Depending on the status: 3. Evaluation. Filling in the Online feedback form. The core of the self-study activity will be preparation to the talk that is comparable to project implementation (a significant part of many regular courses). The students are expected to assign at the beginning of Term 2/6 and may drop the seminar till the beginning of Term 3/7 while credits are provided in Term 4/8. |
Elena Gryazina |
31 per term
|
MA03386 | |
|
Research seminar 2 "Energy systems and technologies" (Term 2-4)
This research seminar is the general meeting for faculty, researchers and master and PhD students of Energy Systems programs. The seminar takes place every week during Terms 2(6)-3(7)-4(8).
Master students must attend the seminar at least for one academic year but welcome to attend during two years. PhD students are welcome to attend the seminar during all years of studies but can gain no more than 6 credits in total. The seminar consists of faculty lectures, invited lectures of top scientists in their research field as well as students’ reports on their own or examined papers. To PASS the course and gain 3 credits per academic year the student must fulfill all three requirements: 1. Attendance: > 2/3 of seminars. 2. Presentation. Depending on the status: 3. Evaluation. Filling in the Online feedback form. The core of the self-study activity will be preparation to the talk that is comparable to project implementation (a significant part of many regular courses). The students are expected to assign at the beginning of Term 2/6 and may drop the seminar till the beginning of Term 3/7 while credits are provided in Term 4/8. |
Elena Gryazina |
31 per term
|
MA03377 | |
|
Review of Materials and Devices for Nano- and Optoelectronics 2
This is the second part of 'Review of materials and devices' started in Term 3. The lectures are presented by the scientists working actively in various directions of nanoelectronics and optoelectronics in Russia and abroad. Seminars assume the discussion of recent original papers in the area, as well as the classical papers presenting a physical basis for devices operation. Any student can take part 1 (Term 3) or part 2 (Term 4) separately, with one presentation of paper. Students taking both parts are assumed to present two papers.
|
Valery Ryazanov | 3 | MA03334 | |
|
Seismic Processing and Imaging
The course will provide a graduate level overview of processing of seismic data processing and imaging for hydrocarbon (HC) exploration; including surface seismic acquisition systems (land, marine and borehole), fundamental signal processing of seismic data, velocity model building and different techniques for seismic imaging (migration).
Physical principles of seismic propagation and mathematical principles of signal processing will be reviewed. All processing steps will be thoroughly covered: starting from raw seismic data visualization to the construction of a seismic image of the subsurface. Application of these techniques will be performed on synthetic and real data. |
Marwan Charara | 3 | MA03350 | |
|
Selected Topics in Energy: Physical, Chemical and Geophysical Challenges (Term 2-4)
The course provides an introduction to the modern topics related to fundamentals of exploration of energy resources, energy generation, storage, conversion and use. It identifies the corresponding practical challenges to be addressed at the fundamental research level and familiarizes the students with the state-of-the-art approaches, methods and techniques in use in related scientific areas. The course seeks to emphasize and maintain interdisciplinary nature of the energy-related topics, in particular, combination of micro- and macroscopic approaches of geophysics, mechanics and chemistry in hydrocarbon exploration and development, relation between the physical and chemical processes of energy generation and conversion, integration of physical, chemical and mechanical approaches to perspective materials (physical and chemical synthesis, micro- and macroscopic characterization, structure-property relations, etc.) and related theoretical methodologies. These interdisciplinary links are mostly demonstrated by horizontal knowledge exchange among the students reporting and discussing practical examples from their own research field or from modern review or research publications. Topical lectures are included for further exploration of these links. The secondary aim of the course is the development of presentation skills (oral and writing), as well as scientific peer-review experience. The seminar format chosen for most activities allows students free exchange of knowledge and ideas, broader vision of their research projects and methodologies, better assessments of their own research skills and demands for further education.
|
Alexei Buchachenko |
62 per term
|
PA06106 | |
|
Sensors and Embedded Systems for Iot
This module will give a wide-ranging introduction to sensors and embedded systems in the scope of Internet of Things (IoT) paradigm. The module aims at providing full support to the non-engineering students with a series of carefully constructed concepts and exercises. It starts with setting the whole picture of IoT and its requirements for sensors and embedded systems. Then it introduces basic principles and simple projects, and moves towards more advanced IoT system design. Finally, the module will make overview of targeted applications including Smart-X, Oil & Gas industry, wearables and medical applications.
|
Andrey Somov | 6 | MA06235 | |
|
Smart Grids
Power systems around the world are undergoing a period of unprecedented change. A typical 20th Century power system was characterized by unidirectional flow of power from a limited number of large controllable power stations to a highly predictable demand. There was no energy storage so that at any time generation had to be equal to demand and the infrastructure utilization rates were low (about 55% for generation, 30% for transmission and even lower for distribution). Generally planning and controlling such a system was relatively straightforward as it was based around principles of deterministic hierarchical control, usually based on (N-1) reliability criterion.
On the other hand the emerging 21st Century power system is characterized by bidirectional flows between a very large number of uncontrollable and stochastic generators (usually, but not always, renewable ones such as wind or solar) and stochastic and often poorly-predictable demand. Demand ceases to be predictable as it consists of consumers equipped with smart meters and wind/solar generators hence possibly becoming net generators – so-called prosumers. Increased penetration of energy storage, both stationary and mobile due to a take-up of electric vehicles, offers buffering possibilities in dispatch (generation does not have to be equal to demand at any time). Controlling such a power system is the main research challenge in power systems and it is made possible by latest advances in ICT (Information and Control Technology), communication networks, Internet, GPS, sensors, etc. However it requires new tools and methodologies, the Smartgrid course will give the basis of this new grid scenario. |
Federico Martin Ibanez | 6 | MA06056 | |
|
Space Center Seminar (Term 1B-4)
The seminar will cover current topics in the space domain: latest news, discoveries. Also planned that all PhD students and some Master students will present their research. External lecturers will be invited regularly to focus on the main applications of space technologies: science, telecommunication, navigation and remote sensing. Aspects of space technologies will also be discussed: structures, software, attitude determination and control systems, on board computers, communication system power supply systems and others. The seminar will be offered in English.
|
Anton Ivanov |
10.25 per term
|
Extra | MF01005 |
|
Statistical Mechanics (Term 3-4)
This is a course on rigorous results in statistical physics and random fields. Most of it will be dedicated to the theory of phase transitions, uniqueness or non-uniqueness of the lattice Gibbs fields.
The topics will include: grand canonical, canonical and microcanonical ensembles, DLR equation, Thermodynamic limit, Gibbs distributions and phase transitions, one-dimensional models, correlation inequalities ( GKS, GHS, FKG), spontaneous symmetry breaking at low temperatures, uniqueness at high temperatures and in non-zero magnetic field, Non-translation-invariant Gibbs states and interfaces, Dobrushin Uniqueness Theorem Pirogov–Sinai Theory O(N)-symmetric models the Mermin–Wagner Theorem Reflection Positivity and the chessboard estimate infrared bounds |
Semen Shlosman |
63 per term
|
MA06387 | |
|
Statistical Natural Language Processing
This course gives introductionary insights into statistical methods that are used in natural language processing systems. The goal of this course:
= understand statistical methods for language processing in detail = feeling for language tech applications, avoiding pitfalls = ability to plan technology requirements for a language tech project = analyze and evaluate the use of NLP in applications = see the beauty of language technology, be ready to write your thesis in language tech. This is an introductory NLP course dedicated to classic algorithms based on the Jurafsky and Martin textbook. Later, we will offer also an additional course covering neural methods for NLP based on the Goldberg textbook. |
Alexander Panchenko | 3 | MA03131 | |
|
Stochastic Methods in Mathematical Modelling
Stochastic processes play an important role in natural sciences, computational theory as well as sampling and synthetic data generation for machine learning. The course aims to cover basic methods of stochastic modelling, such as: Monte-Carlo methods, the modelling of scale-free phenomena as well as stochastic optimisation approaches.
The first part of the course provides an introduction to the methods of description, types and generation of randomness. The main idea is to establish a firm ground for more advanced topics as well as to help students feel comfortable with advanced machine learning courses. A special emphasis is put on the widespread scale-free and non-gaussian stochastic processes also known as anomalous diffusion. Different causes of these processes will be considered with examples and a consideration of the partically important class of first-passage problems. The second half of the course will deal with Monte-Carlo algorithms, inference and learning, classical random network theory, Markov decision processes and stochastic optimal control. |
Vladimir Palyulin | 6 | MA03363 | |
|
Structural bioinformatics (Term 3-4)
The main goal of the Structural bioinformatics course is to introduce students to the main features of protein structures and to the explanations of the observed features.
The Structural bioinformatics course covers the following topics: In a more theoretical part of the course, we will overview (i) protein primary, secondary and tertiary structures, (ii) interactions stabilizing protein native structure (discussing the role of energy and entropy), (iii) statistical patterns observed in protein structures, (iv) protein thermodynamics, (v) protein kinetics, (vi) protein folding problem, and others. We will also discuss the design and the results of the selected experiments in the field. In a more practical part of the course, we will (i) visualize protein three-dimensional structures, (ii) align protein sequences and structures, (iii) predict three-dimensional protein structure from sequence, (iv) predict protein cellular localization and transmembrane topology, (v) predict the impact of a mutation on protein stability, and others. |
Dmitry Ivankov |
63 per term
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MA06375 | |
| Superconducting Quantum Technologies | Oleg Astafiev | 6 | MA06340 | |
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Supersymmetric Gauge Theories and Integrable Systems (Term 3-4)
The course will be devoted to the study of N=2 supersymmetric gauge theories and related topics. It turns out that comparing to the N=1 theories, N=2 allows to compute much more quantities. In particular, low-energy effective action can be described in terms of single function, prepotential. Seiberg-Witten solution of the N=2 theory gives explicit description of the prepotential in terms of periods of some meromorphic differentials on algebraic curves. It turns out that this description is deeply related to classical integrable systems.
During the course we will learn basics of the N=2 theories, classical solutions, holomorhy arguments, and so on, study Seiberg-Witten exact solution, and then its underlying integrable systems. We are also going to learn some modern developments of this topic, like Nekrasov instanton computations and AGT relation. |
Pavlo Gavrylenko, Andrey Marshakov |
63 per term
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MA06382 | |
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Technological Innovations: from Research Results to Commercial Product
The course is about managing applied Research and Development, critical analysis of new emerging technologies, transferring research results and discoveries into successful products.
Research and development process in a company or in a technical university is usually application and product oriented. There are usually no universal rules on how to distinguish a commercially perspective research result / technology from many others; neither there are standard paths for commercializing scientific results. Intuition and skills come with practice. So, in this course, practical skills and experience will be developed. Students will go through multiple real cases of successful commercialization of research results in various technological fields – materials science, nanotechnology, photonics, space, chemistry, data science, energy etc. They will see and practice in how a research result from a laboratory can be transferred into a product, find its customer and market and, finally, become commercially successful. Opposite situations (that are, in fact, more common) will be studied equally carefully: when originally promising technologies did not make its way into a product – due to multiple reasons that will be analyzed. The lecturers will be balanced with practical work. The real-life conditions will be modelled as much as possible – aimed to develop hands-on skills and experience in critical evaluation of new technologies, comparing them to existing alternative solutions, finding a proper product realization and a market niche. Students are expected to go through technological innovation process themselves and then to compare, when possible, their results to the real stories of successes and failures. Students will apply their learnings to their current research – considering their own results and/or results of their colleagues and collaborators from the point of view of commercialization potential, finding right target market, realizing a competitive product. |
Pavel Dorozhkin | 3 | E&I | MC03016 |
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Technology Entrepreneurship: Advanced
The course expands “Technology Entrepreneurship: Foundation” class towards the topics related to primary market research and customer discovery, product prototyping and testing with users, marketing, business modeling, investments for startups, etc. It is designed to help students to master practical skills of entrepreneurship and transfer their own early stage projects/ideas into viable business concepts, validated prototypes/products, and, finally, fundable companies. This is an active learning course. It deals with the first-hand experience of all the pressure and demands of the real world in an early stage technological startup. Students will work as a team and deal with market/technology uncertainty. They will get out of the classroom to learn from the marketplace and to check if anyone would use/pay for their product. Finally, based on market feedback students will rapidly iterate their products into something customers would really use and buy. As a framework for the course we use the “battle proven” approaches as “Disciplined Entrepreneurship” (Bill Aulet, MIT) and “Customer Development” (Steve Blank, UC Berkeley & Stanford).
Course benefits: |
Alexey Nikolaev | 3 | E&I | MC03015 |
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Technology Planning and Roadmapping: Advanced
• Technology Planning and Roadmapping: Advanced (TPR:A): this course represents the practical application of the tools taught in TPR:F. It provides students the opportunity to practice hands on the real issues that arise in implementing a TPR system in industrial organizations, and to develop an actual technology roadmap in class team-work. The best technology roadmaps coming from different class editions may be published online or in international peer-reviewed venues, with students as lead authors (Scopus-indexed conferences or journals). TPR:A is about using the TPR system to explore a cutting-edge technology area of choice of the class, among those aligned with major trends occurring worldwide across different technology sectors of relevance to Skoltech (Biomed, Energy, IT, and Space). The main deliverable of TPR:A is a group-based technology roadmap report. Students will develop in teams a sector-wide technology roadmap, to be later presented as a report.
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Alessandro Golkar | 3 | E&I | MC03018 |
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Technology of Thin Films Deposition
This course presents the principle scientific aspects of technologies widely used to fabricate thin films and two-dimensional heterostructures, as well as the engineering aspects (including specific vacuum devices). The requirements to supports for epitaxial and non-epitaxial films are addressed. The problems of adhesion and the most important features of the support/film interfaces are considered. The technologies based on physics are accented, and some aspects of chemical vapor deposition are also discussed.
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Sergey Dorozhkin | 3 | MA03216 | |
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Theoretical Foundations of Data Science
In this course we introduce the forefront of modern research in data science, and familiarize PhD students with state of the art in those areas. In particular, we introduce cornerstone subjects that are not commonly discussed in undergraduate or graduate Machine Learning classes. This course explores extensively three novel areas in Machine Learning, namely Causality, Topological Data Analysis, Graph neural networks, Optimal Transport and Deep Learning Theory.
Over multiple weeks, we will investigate how these methods and algorithms can be used for analyzing scientific data, social networks or time series data, creating recommender systems, mining sequences, carrying out text/web analysis, topic modeling, and pattern mining. We explore how these concepts are applied for dimensionality reduction and manifold learning, combinatorial optimization, relational and structured learning, classification and regression methods, semi-supervised learning, unsupervised learning including anomaly detection and clustering, kernel methods, compressed sensing and sparse modeling, Bayesian methods, deep learning, hyper-parameter and model selection. The course aims to bring all students on the same page regarding the nature and orientation of state-of-the-art work in their field, so that they acquire both depth and breadth of knowledge. |
Evgeny Burnaev | 6 | PA06140 | |
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Thermodynamics and Transport at Nanoscale
The course introduces students to basic principles of thermodynamics and transport in “small systems, that is, the system whose size is comparable to the size of its major elements (be those molecules, micelles, polymer coils, etc). It covers small droplets, bubbles and crystals, stability of thin films, adsorption and deformation in nanoporous materials, stability of nanocolloids and nanocomposites, as well as transport and flows in micro-and nano- porous networks. In the process of studies, the students will also learn/reiterate the basics of interfacial thermodynamics, adsorption, wettability, spreading as well as the basics of transport of ionic and nonionic compounds in confined media. The lectures, seminars, homeworks and the final project will give practical example of calculations for all major classes of nanomaterials: nanoparticles and nanocomposites, microporous crystals, ordered and disordered mesoporous solids, and, finally nanostructured polymeric materials.
The course will be useful to all students willing to improve their understanding of natural (e.g. mineral oil) and man-made colloids, such as suspensions, emulsions and foams, as well as natural and synthetic porous materials. "Lectures" in the schedule refer to approximately 3h "windows" they will are not necessary scheduled as such, but will spread out and intermitted by seminars / recitations / HW and project discussions |
Alexey Vishnyakov | 3 | MA03288 | |
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Unconventional Hydrocarbons
The course provides an introduction to unconventional (shale) hydrocarbons as a perspective source of oil and gas. It consists of several parts describing existing oil and gas shale formations in a world and in Russia (Bazhenov, Domanik, Khadum formations), detailed data on lithology, petrophysics, geochemistry and geomechanics of shale rock and modern methods for prospecting, exploration and production of unconventional hydrocarbons. The course includes lectures, seminars and laboratory works. During the course students work individually and in teams compiling a comprehensive data set, analyzing of research results and developing of technological strategy on prospecting, exploration and production of shale hydrocarbons.
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Mikhail Spasennykh, Alexei Tchistiakov |
6 | MA06189 | |
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Vertex Operator Algebras (Term 3-4)
Affine Kac-Moody Lie algebras play a prominent role in the theory of infinite-dimensional Lie algebras. The two main reasons are the beauty of the theory and the vast number of applications in various fields of mathematics and mathematical physics such as conformal field theory, algebraic geometry, number theory, combinatorics, statistical mechanics, theta functions. In particular, integrable representations of the affine Kac-Moody algebras form a background of the famous Wess-Zumino-Witten CFT. The course will be devoted to the general questions of the representation theory of affine Kac-Moody Lie algebras and to the study of several special classes of modules, in particualr, integrable modules. We will be mainly interested in algebraic and combinatorial parts of the theory. Time permitting, we will also touch upon some related geometric constructions such as affine Grassmannians.
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Evgeny Feigin |
63 per term
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MA06320 | |
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Virology (Term 3-4)
The course consists of two parts: Molecular Virology (Term 3) and Introduction to the Medical Virology (Term 4). In the first part, the structure of viruses, their genetics as well as replication and transcription strategies will be explained. These aspects are crucial for understanding the second part of the course, which focuses on mechanisms of how viruses act on the whole organism and how organisms react to viral infection. Such topics as an immune response against viruses, types of viral infections, vaccines and antivirals will be covered in the second part of the course. Throughout the whole course, the world's most notorious pathogens such as HIV, Ebola, Zika and Influenza, will be discussed in depth.
Lectures are based on the Virology course led by professor Racaniello at the University of Columbia with his kind permission. Lectures will be combined with seminars at which the papers important in the field will be discussed. After the completion of the course, students will know the history of virology, its current problems as well as directions for further development. |
Maria Sokolova |
63 per term
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MA06374 |
Summer
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Industrial Immersion
The goal of Industrial Immersion is to provide for Skoltech students real hands-on work experience in industrial sector and develop the knowledge and skills for making impact through engineering and innovation. The Industrial immersion is performed in a company and it implies that internships at academic or research institutions (like universities etc.) are excluded. Duration of Industrial Immersion is 8 weeks. Project focuses on short-term development, manufacturing or operations challenges rather than long-term research problems and is co-supervised by the company and Skoltech. The internship is cooperatively planned: project assignment is provided by the company and subject for approval of the Industrial Immersion Program Coordinator (I.I.P.C.).
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12 | Sector | MB12005 | |
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Pedagogy of Higher Education
The course offers an introduction to facilitating learning in higher education for PhD students who are asked to act as teaching assistants or supervisors. The course content focuses on aligning learning outcomes with learning activities and assessment strategies. Constructive alignment in the course is defined at high resolution such that learning outcomes for a course are elaborated into separate activities and assignments for students. In other words, learning outcomes need to be articulated at every level of learning activities from course to assignment.
The course also rests on the approach that learning is promoted by feedback. The assessment design that participants in the course design will therefore be required to reflect significant and effective use of continuous formative assessment. Such formative assessment requires strategic learning activities and assignments, and the course therefore comes with an emphasis on communication-to-learn activities including peer learning. Skoltech is an English medium instruction environment, and the course contains discussion topics to highlight ways of addressing the potential effects of language and culture barriers for high quality student learning. All topics in the course are applied by participants on their own teaching and learning experiences and are meant to be used as they prepare and plan for their teaching assistantships or their supervisory activities to come. All participants will have a task to produce a reflection on their future actions to evolve as facilitators and meet the requirements of the scholarship of teaching and learning. |
Magnus Gustafsson | 3 | PE03025 | |
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Research Immersion
Research Immersion will take place in Skoltech and Dubna as a part of Skoltech International Summer School on Mathematical Physics.
The program of the school includes modern topics of mathematical physics such as Topological strings, integrability, Schur-Weyl duality, Ising model, sigma models, Affine Grassmannian, Stochastic vertex models. Discussion of each topic will be divided into talks of participants. Preparation of the reviews of the subject of the talk, discussion of them with experts is an essential part of the school's work. After school, the participants will prepare a report based on the talk and further study. The main goal of the Research Immersion is an expansion of the professional knowledge gained by students and developing practical skills for conducting independent scientific work. Students gain experience in the study of an actual scientific problem, as well as the selection of the necessary materials for the performance of qualifying work – the master's thesis. |
Mikhail Bershtein | 12 | Sector | MB12006m |
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Research Immersion
The goal of Research Immersion in Theoretical Physics is to familiarize students with current research directions and trends in modern theoretical physics. The specific tasks to be implemented regarding the above goal are two-fold: i) immersion into environment of the international conference on condensed matter theory, and ii) formation of skills for independent research work. Therefore it involves two types of activities: (1) participation in one of top-rank international conferences/workshops in theoretical physics resulting in a 5-pages report on modern trends in theoretical physics, and (2) implementation of a proposed research projects suggested by the course instructor. The location of the second type of activity is person-specific for each of the students (Skoltech, Landau Institute, Google Corp.)
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Mikhail Skvortsov | 12 | Sector | MB12006p |