Skoltech has formulated its educational programs to foster students’ interdisciplinary understanding and ability to solve open-ended problems. Unfettered by departmental barriers, students continually cross disciplinary boundaries during applied learning experiences. In team environments and project-based learning activities, they also build communication skills, learn how to work in teams and attain the confidence necessary to take risks and innovate. International experience is also a central part of a Skoltech education.

Academic Year Structure

The academic year at Skoltech is divided into four 8-week academic terms. There are two terms in fall and two terms in spring. In addition, there is an 8-week summer term between Year 1 and Year 2. The summer term is reserved for industrial immersion projects and there are no MSc courses offered. In addition, there is a 2-3 week Independent Studies Period (ISP) in January, beginning just after the January break.

Innovation Workshop

Innovation Workshop (IW) is a unique course that unites the entire Skoltech incoming class with Skoltech faculty and esteemed invited mentors to create a foundational experience in Entrepreneurship and Innovation (E&I) for all, as well as to instill a positive “can-do” teamwork attitude in the culture of the student cohort. Students engage in experiential project-based and inquiry-based learning to live through the entire technology innovation cycle, progressing from idea to product along the three pillars of innovation: (i) Impact (a.k.a. End User Need), (ii) Embedded Technology Prototype (provided and validated by good science), and (iii) End User Delivery (a.k.a. Business Model). This work is performed in cross-disciplinary teams that create real life experience of complex innovation project.The course is less about knowledge and more about developing skills and attitudes necessary to lead successful life in innovation.

Innovation Workshop is not a business accelerator or a business plan competition. Some student projects may remain very early-stage and even immature. The other student projects may become developed enough to be continued beyond IW into the student Skoltech tenure. In both cases, the success of the IW project is measured not in quantitative terms of raising financing or starting operations, but in academic terms of diligently developing the projects along the three pillars of innovation.

The only way to fail in Innovation Workshop is to give up or to free ride. Any other route along the three pillars is success: students are encouraged to reshape and even restart their projects as they find appropriate. There are no project failures in IW, only character and experience failures. We learn to be productively wrong and strikingly right.

ISP – Independent Studies Period

ISP is a three week-long period in January (starts after New Year holidays) and is a time of flexible teaching and learning experiences, research, and independent study, which serves the Skoltech’s mission to raise the next generation of science, technology and business leaders.

Students often have diverse passions but no means to explore them, especially if it is not related to their specialisation. The Independent Studies Period offers them a world of opportunities to explore their passions and go beyond their main educational field, making their academic learning truly interdisciplinary and allowing them to gain experience in creation of innovative projects.

Basically, ISP courses focus on professional hard skills training, Entrepreneurship and Innovation (E&I) courses, soft skills workshops and enjoyable active learning.

Skoltech students had a chance to try on the role of real pilots, to design and control aircrafts, to participate in VR-marathons, as well as to deepen their language and public speaking skills, explore Russian culture, to create artworks based on the knowledge received from the course on contemporary art and very much more.

We strive to offer courses that combine practical skills, theoretical knowledge and to pursue studies in exciting and very new fields.

The following formats of participation are available for students:

• Course lead of ISP activities: students can lead their own courses, such as pilot school, aircraft manufacturing, software master classes, personal interest, and/or soft skills related
• ISP activities participant. Most students will participate in ISP activities proposed by Skoltech faculty, researchers, students and invited lecturers.
• Independent short-term projects. Students can propose credit-bearing or non-credit-bearing independent projects (research/E&I).

REQUIREMENTS

Skoltech MSc students must participate in the ISP actively and be engaged full-time during January period, in order to maintain good standing and receive the scholarship.

You can find general requirements here. The detailed requirements are announced by the Education Office in November.

WHAT TYPES OF ACTIVITIES CAN I PARTICIPATE IN

• List of all ISP-2018 activities can be found in SIS
• You are welcome to fill in this short survey and share your ideas for us to develop and support proposals satisfying your needs.
• See some photos, interviews with course instructors and participants to get inspiration of the most creative and diverse period of the Academic Year :
  • ISP-2018
  • ISP-2016
  • ISP-2015

CONTACTS

In case of any questions related to ISP, contact:
Anastasia Zueva, Specialist for Education
Department of Education
, tel.: +7 (495) 280 14 81 (ext.: 3440)

MSc Thesis Research

Skoltech students start exploring their potential areas of interest in research already during Terms 3 and 4 of the first academic year. These early research projects are of an exploratory nature mainly helping students to identify possible themes for further development into final thesis projects. First year MSc students have their Early Research Project as a compulsory graded 6 credit educational component developing over Terms 3 and 4. Term 3 Early Research Project is graded Pass/Fail (an interim measure); Term 4 Early Research Project is graded A – F (final grade).

Second year students start their formal thesis development process with a thesis proposal submission at the beginning of the final year. In a course of the second year MSc students undergo a number of stages in their final thesis preparation culminating in final MSc thesis submission and defense in June, following the end of Term 8. The two key milestones of this process are MSc Thesis Status Review in January of the second year and MSc Thesis Pre-defense in May. Both checkpoints require students to summarise their research achievements and present their research findings to the evaluation committee. Thesis research workload is standardized at 24 credits distributed evenly across the four terms (Term 5 – Term 8) of the second academic year – 6 credits per term. Final MSc thesis defenses contribute additional 6 credits in Term 8 thus making a total of 36 credits for the overall thesis work to comply with degree requirements.

To summarise, the basic thesis research timeline comprises the following stages:

YEAR 1 (6 credits)

Term 3: Early Research Project

Term 4: Early Research Project

YEAR 2 (36 credits)

Term 5: Thesis proposal submission

Term 6: Research in progress

January: MSc Thesis Status Review

Term 7: Research in progress

Term 8: MSc Thesis Pre-defense

June: Final MSc Thesis submission and defense

Academic Term Structure

The standard 8-week academic term is intensive by nature. Although the structure described is not prescriptive, most courses will organise themselves around these principles. The term is typically divided into an instruction period ending with an assessment of student learning, followed by an application period.

Teaching and learning activities are concentrated in Weeks 1 – 6. This will include activities for assessment and feedback (e.g. homework, assignments, etc.). Some courses are also designed to be practical and applied throughout, so will have group (or individual) projects from the first week.

The formal summative assessment typically takes place in Week 7. The aim is to assess the factual understanding of the subject matter, as well as to assess conceptual understanding. These assessments can be written, oral, project-based or some combination.

The application period typically begins already at the end of Week 7 and continues through the entire Week 8. The goal of the application period is apply practically and experientially the knowledge gained in the previous weeks. In the majority of courses, there will be a group project with final presentations.

Overall Degree Requirements

For the Masters of Science degree, students must satisfy the following broad degree requirements totaling 120 ECTS over the two (2) years of study:

1. Coursework (36 ECTS). Educational programs include a combination of core (mandatory) courses for all students, as well as a series of recommended elective courses, which are discussed and decided upon in consultation with the research advisor;
2. Sector (12 ECTS). Students use the summer term in between the first and second academic years to engage in an industrial immersion project;
3. Entrepreneurship and Innovation (E&I) (12 ECTS). Starting with the Innovation Workshop, the E&I courses help instil a culture of innovation, fostering a link to E&I and commercialization;
4. Research and MSc Thesis Project (36 ECTS). Beginning with early research in the spring terms of the first year, students work with a research advisor to develop and perform high quality research in the area of most relevance to a student’s future career;
5. Options (24 ECTS) allow students the ability to take additional recommended elective courses and/or courses from other programs and/or early/short-term research/E&I projects.

Students can access the curriculum plan of his/her particular educational program in SIS (the Student Information System).

Skoltech students who successfully satisfy the degree requirements will receive two separate degrees upon graduation: a Russian state degree and state diploma supplement (in Russian), as well as a Skoltech diploma and European diploma supplement (in English).

ECTS credit system requirements

Skoltech follows the European Credit Transfer System (ECTS). The ECTS system utilizes a credit concept to compare courses by average workload for a typical student. At Skoltech, one (1) ECTS is calculated as being the equivalent of 27 hours (astronomical) of workload, both contact and non-contact hours. Most courses and projects are based on 3 credits (81 total hours) or 6 credits (162 total hours).

At Skoltech, students are expected to be engaged in their studies full-time, which according to the ECTS system, translates as a minimum (and standard) workload of at least 12 ECTS per term. (This is the equivalent of 324 hours or, divided by the 8-week term, approximately 40 hours per week.) While 12 hours is the minimum (and standard) workload, students can take up to 18 credits per term, as long as they are in good academic standing and have no academic performance issues.

Students are encouraged to be proactive in learning more about Education at Skoltech. This means accessing and reviewing information, which can primarily be found in the Student Information System (SIS). SIS is used for term registration and shows the annual course catalog. Students can also access their course history and grades. For general information, forms and templates, look under the Resources link. You can also reference the Policies links. Information can also be found in the relevant section of the Skoltech website. If something is not found or not clear, students are expected to email the Education Office (education@skoltech.ru) or stop by during business hours for clarification.

To access SIS, students will need their Skoltech email credentials, so first locate the relevant email from IT Helpdesk with alias and password (all systems use LDAP, so the same alias and password work across all systems, including SIS).

Follow the link to http://sis.skoltech.ru Insert your username (email alias) and password:

Course Catalog

All courses are available through Course Catalog accessible via (SIS) and are organized in an alphabetical order, as well as within individual educational programs. To access Skoltech Course Catalog, please, follow the link: https://sis.skoltech.ru/skpages/learning/CourseActual.aspx

For an overview of the courses relevant to your program you can also browse the public Course Catalog on the web-site: https://skoltech.ru/en/education/course-catalog (filter by your program).

Registration for Courses

In principle, you can take any Skoltech courses. However, keep in mind the formal requirements:

• you must earn from 12 to 18 credits per term;
• you must take any compulsory (core) courses (for a list of compulsory courses see curriculum for you educational program);
• you must discuss your plans with your research advisor (who you will work to identify in the first fall terms);

Registration for courses happens via the online Student Information System (SIS) sis.skoltech.ru.

Please refer to Course Syllabus for a detailed description of the course. The same course syllabi available in both: sis and web-site. Syllabi show the structure and grading system of the courses for your information.

To enroll the course, you have to find it in Course Catalog and press “Enroll” button. Note that some courses may require advisor, supervisor or instructor approval. If this is a case you should see a “Pending” enrollment status while not approved.

Skoltech has a one-week drop/add period. You can drop courses, but you must keep in mind the formal requirements mentioned above. To drop the course you need to find that course under “My courses” in SIS and press on “Drop the course”. It is also possible to add a new course (with the course instructor’s approval). You are fully responsible for all course demands, even from the first day of classes.

Specific Policies and Request Forms

Specific policies and request forms on personal matters are also available on SIS: https://sis.skoltech.ru/_layouts/15/start.aspx#/Resources/Forms/AllItems.aspx

Additional guidelines, tricks and deadlines can also be found in SIS.

Canvas is Skoltech’s Learning Management System. A welcome guide can be found in SIS Resources, but the strength of Canvas is its simple and intuitive navigation and features. In addition, Canvas has a very active user community and a vast array of online resources.

To access Canvas, follow the link to http://skoltech.instructure.com, using your same Skoltech email alias and password to access.

You will only have access to active term courses and only after registration results are synced (from SIS). This happens no later than the first day of the term and courses are archived soon after the end of the term.

Students are expected to perform at the best of their abilities and have a full-time commitment to educational activities at Skoltech.

Full-time Status and Attendance Policy

In order to maintain a full-time status students are required to obtain at least 12 credits per each term and a total of 60 credits per academic year. If a student is enrolled in a class, he/she is expected to attend all scheduled in-class activities (including the application period). Exact requirements per course are outlined in each course syllabus. It is the responsibility of the student to understand and follow the expectations outlined by the course instructor. In case of sickness and absence for medical reasons, the student is required to officially inform Education office by email of absence from studies as soon as possible and simultaneously inform relevant course instructors to confirm absence from classes. As a next step the student needs to submit the official medical lists in original hardcopy to Education in person as justification for absence from studies for medical reasons.

Regulations on Skoltech students attendance and full-time status requirements can be found at SIS:

https://sis.skoltech.ru/Resources/Policies and Guidelines/REGULATIONS ON SKOLTECH STUDENT ATTENDANCE AND FULL-TIME STATUS REQUIREMENT.pdf

Academic Performance and Implications

Skoltech expects students to perform to the best of their abilities at or above a “B” average each term.

For detailed regulations on academic performance of Skoltech students, please, refer to SIS: https://sis.skoltech.ru/Resources/Policies and Guidelines/REGULATIONS ON ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE.pdf

If a student fails to fulfill this requirement, he/she will be put on academic probation for the following term and will receive a notification from the Education office accordingly which may lead to disciplinary procedures and affect a student’s scholarship:
https://sis.skoltech.ru/Resources/Policies and Guidelines/DISCIPLINARY BOARD POLICY.pdf
https://sis.skoltech.ru/Resources/Policies and Guidelines/SCHOLARSHIPS _POLICY ON STUDENT 2016.pdf

Communication with Education Office

In order to expedite responses to your email inquiries to the Education Office, it is important to follow some basic guidelines. Students who follow these simple rules can expect a response within 1-3 business days.

Subject of email: should follow the format – “TOPIC – YOUR FIRST and LAST NAME – LEVEL – PROGRAM” For example, “Transcript – Ivan Ivanov – MSc – Data Science” or “Scholarship – Sasha Ivanova – MSc – Life Sciences”

The text of the email should clearly indicate what exactly you are requesting or what your question is, along with other clear relevant details (e.g. name of advisor/supervisor, applicable deadlines, justification/reason, etc.). It should basically always answer the basic questions: who, what, where, when, how and why.

While the proportion of independent study during Skoltech education programs is substantial (up to 70%), there is a number of academic resources and facilities that students may use at Skoltech to boost their academic achievements, including a library, laboratories and workshops, short-term and long-term academic mobility.

Library

Skoltech’s library is temporary located in room 409, on the fourth floor of the blue building, Nobelya, 3. The move to the new Skoltech campus is planned for 2018/2019 academic year.

Skoltech faculty, researchers, students and employees have direct access to the following:

• Textbooks and e-books;
• Full text journal databases;
• Bibliographic databases;
• Patent databases and more.

Users can access the databases from campus and remotely.

For more information go to the library’s page at Skoltech’s official web-site https://www.skoltech.ru/en/education/library/, to the library page at your Student information system https://sis.skoltech.ru/skpages/learning/Library.aspx or contact the librarian at library@skoltech.ru.

The Library has limited opening hours – Monday-Friday, 9:00-12:00 – but the librarian Ivan Smagin is always accessible for enquiries by email or by phone +7-916-555-0927.

Masterskaya

Skoltech FabLab is a space for materialization of our dreams: user-friendly areas of 3D-printing, laser cutting, machining, electronics, numerous DIY and design. The place where any innovation idea can be tested immediately and manufactured on the precise machines the day after. We think that consulting is more than giving an advice – you can become a true part of the creative engineering community.

Academic Mobility (academic trips)

Skoltech is pleased to support and enable opportunities for the best performing students, who are in good academic standing, to participate in academic mobility from short-term programs such as international conferences or summer schools to long-term visits to partner host universities to conduct research or take courses as a part of students’ educational program.

Academic mobility aims to immerse you into a global international ecosystem of science, research and innovations during your study at Skoltech. Student mobility provides a unique opportunity for its participant to gain invaluable field experience and a broader professional network, to develop interpersonal skills in a new and culturally diverse environment, to open new career prospects.

On a competitive basis, Skoltech selects students proposals and provides support to the approved academic trips from the perspective of its motivation and justification on how this proposed opportunity specifically contributes to the student’s overall educational experience and path, as well as how this will enable students to complete their degree at Skoltech and achieve their career goals post-graduation.

Skoltech academic mobility program is one of the instruments to improve the quality of education, to improve the professional, cultural and educational level of students, to establish strong collaboration links, to strengthen prestige and to perform the mission of Skoltech.

WHO CAN APPLY

• Short-term academic trips: MS students who have passed Term 1, Term 2 and are in good academic standing (better than “B” average)
• Long-term academic mobility proposals can be accepted for trips starting in Fall of the 2^nd year of the MSc program (and later*).

*NOTE: Regardless of the start date, all students must return to Skoltech by the end of April of the final term.

HOW TO APPLY

The selection process for this opportunity is competitive and the number of slots is limited. The Education Office will process and make final determinations on approval, in consultation with program coordinators and research advisors.

• Guidelines and instructions for submitting applications for different types of academic trips are located here
• Policies to be reviewed before application are located here
  1. Policy On Students Academic Trips
  2. Scholarship Policy
  3. Skoltech Student Attendance And Full-time Status Requirement
• Q&A file answering the most popular questions is located here
• Guidelines for reporting after the academic trip are located here

HOW TO SUCCEED IN THE SELECTION PROCESS

• Academic performance
• Comprehensive justification and motivation describing institutional and educational impact, contribution to the educational plan and Skoltech MSc degree completion, contribution to future scientific and career goals.
• Level of scientific event and/or collaboration with the hosting institution.
• Language
• Recommendations

CONTACTS

In case of any questions related to the Skoltech academic mobility program, contact Anastasia Zueva, Specialist for Education, Department of Education, , tel.: +7 (495) 280 14 81 (ext.: 3440)

Students’ Certificates

During your study period at Skoltech, it may become necessary for you to receive students’ documents for different purposes from confirmation of your student status to letters for visa application and transcripts of academic records.

Please, follow the following Guidelines in SIS to request the necessary document and allow a minimum of 3 working days for processing.

In order to obtain a visa, your International passport should be valid at least 1.5 years after requested visa expire date. It must also contain 3-4 blank pages for visa extensions and stamps on the border.

Before your entry to Russia with education purpose, please check with if you need a STUDENT visa. If you don’t need a Student visa, please skip directly to the REGISTRATION PROCEDURE IN RUSSIA section below. If you do need a visa, please keep reading this section. 

To come to Russia, you received a Student visa (see example below) with “EDUCATION” as the purpose of visit, and with “Skolkovo Institute of Science and Technology” as the inviting organization.

Visa example. Click to enlarge.

This means that you can enter Russia based on this visa to perform your education (Master’s or PHD) activities at SKOLTECH. The visa you have received at the Russian Consulate in the country of your residence, is of SINGLE entry and valid for 3 months. To be able to get multiple entry visa and extend it for a longer period, you need to submit hard copies of your passport, migration card, registration (see below) and a photo of you in a passport format (3×4 cm) to HR Department no later than 25 working days before your single-entry visa’s expiration date. Your visa can be extended by Migration Authority for the period of maximum 1 year with following prolongation based on your EDU contract. The extension process takes 21 working days. By getting multiple entry 1-year visa, you are extending your stay in Russia for a long-term period.

After getting multiple visa, you will be able to travel abroad and in Russia within the visa validity period.

Please note that if you provide the documents less than 25 working days before your current visa expiration date, the Migration Authority may refuse to accept the documents for extension, and you will have to initiate the letter of invitation process again for new single-entry visa, to be obtained at a Russian consulate abroad.

Every time upon entering Russia with the purpose of EDUCATION, you need to follow up these instructions:

Migration card

This small form (see example below) has to be completed in duplicate before you go through Russian passport control. Some airlines hand out migration cards before landing. If you are entering Russia by train, then you will be provided with a migration card by the conductor before you reach the border. Otherwise, you will be able to find migration cards in the waiting halls for passport control at border points. Depending on your country of origin, you may get the migration card already filled-out at the passport control booth (typically, that is the common practice for all in Moscow’s airports).

How to fill in the migration card:

• The “Name of host person or company, locality” in migration card is SKOLTECH.
• Please note you need to underline « УЧЁБА/Education» in the «purpose of travel» section (highlighted in the example).
• Migration card should be stamped at Russian border control by the migration officer. One side of the migration card will be returned to you with the border-passing stamp. You must hold the original of the migration card during the whole time of your stay in the Russian Federation and return it back on the passport control upon leaving the country.
• In case you lose your migration card in the territory of Russian Federation, it should be restored upon your personal request to Migration Authority with obligatory fingerprinting procedure.

Immigration card example. Click to enlarge.

Registration

You can stay in Moscow or other region of Russian Federation without the registration during:

• 7 working days from the date of entry to the country OR to the region. If your stay in Russian Federation OR in the region of RF is more than 7 working days you must be registered within the first seven (7) business days of your stay; The 7 working days period is counted from the beginning of each entry to the Russian Federation OR to the region of Russian Federation.;  
• You need to register each time upon return from travel within Russian Federation (if the period of travel is more than 7 working days).
• If you are from Eurasian Union country (Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan) your registration period is 30 calendar days.

Procedure

If you stay at your landlord’s apartment – please provide the copy of migration to Landlord and to every time after you crossed Russian Migration border or returned back from other region of Russia within first date of arrival. If you stay in a hotel or in a dormitory, the hotel/dormitory will be responsible for your registration.

Risks

In case the registration was not obtained in 7 working days after 7 working days OR 30 calendar days of your arrival the Landlord is required to pay the penalty in the Police. Failure to fulfill the requirement may result in imposing a fine or preventing from getting permission to enter Russia;

!Please note if you will plan to travel within Russian Federation it is necessary to be registered in Moscow first even if your stay in the country is less than 7 working days /30 calendar days as the regional hotels often require the previous registration in the region you arrived from before, to arrange for you the new one.

Foreign nationals can be registered by:

• OWNER OF APARTMENT WHERE YOU STAY
• HOTEL
• DORMITORY

Once you are registered, you should get a registration document that looks like this:

Registration document example. Click to enlarge.