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

Tag Archives: Skolkovo Institute of Science and Technology

Seminar: Protecting Market Options Through Integrated IP Strategy: The Role of Strategic Disclosure

When: 07-07-2015 13:30

Where: Room TBD, TROC-3

We are glad to invite you to a seminar by Dr. Jana Thiel, Maastricht University, Netherlands, titled “Protecting Market Options Through Integrated IP Strategy: The Role of Strategic Disclosure”.

When: July 7, 2015, 13.30 – 15.00

Where: Room TBD, TROC-3

SEMINAR ABSTRACT:

In this seminar I will look at technology-market-linking as a core activity in technology ventures.

I will highlight key avenues of research and will then zoom into the specific challenges that emerge for technology entrepreneurs when managing intellectual property to protect multiple market linkages and commercialization routes. I will present recent research with colleagues on the role of strategic (or voluntary) disclosure when designing efficient IP strategies in entrepreneurial ventures.

We suggest that, in particular for smaller actors and globally operating firms, strategic disclosure offers solutions to specific needs in the commercialization strategy, which are unaddressed by the current patenting system.

This seminar will provide a brief review along with case-based evidence on how firms integrate patent and non-patent-based disclosure and will then discuss more recent findings from a unique data set of 484 surveyed companies in which we find that with greater market diversity a firm’s tendency to strategically disclose increases.

The seminar will conclude with a discussion of the implications for further research and practice.

Jana Thiel, Maastricht University, is our guest speaker at the Skoltech seminar.

Dr. Jana Thiel
Maastricht University, Netherlands

Jana Thiel is currently an assistant professor at the Maastricht Centre for Entrepreneurship at Maastricht University.

She obtained her PhD in Entrepreneurship from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne (EPFL) and prior to her appointment at Maastricht University she spent two years as a post-doctoral fellow at ESADE Business School in Barcelona. Jana’s research is situated at the intersection of entrepreneurship, technology management, and strategy. Her specific interests focus on providing new insight into what constitutes core entrepreneurial actions and how strategic behaviors impact entrepreneurial outcomes.

While being interested in all forms of entrepreneurial activity, Jana gets most excited about studying and mentoring entrepreneurs in implementing new-to-the-world science-based venture ideas.

From Facial Recognition to DNA Editor, Researchers File New Patents

01/07/2015

Face recognition and gaze correction are growing fields in IT. Image courtesy of Fraunhofer Face Finder, Flickr

Prof. Lempitsky’s patent refers to face recognition and gaze correction are growing fields in IT. Image courtesy of Fraunhofer Face Finder, Flickr

Researchers at Skoltech filed three new patent applications in Russia and internationally through the university’s Knowledge Transfer Office (KTO). The technologies and methods developed relate to fields as diverse as computer vision, DNA editing and calibration systems. The applications reflect the university’s multidisciplinary and cross-cutting nature and its core mission: produce innovative science that impacts society and the economy.

Text: Ilan Goren

The first application relates to a gaze correction method and machine learning. It was filed in March as a national Russian patent application by Prof Victor Lempitsky, who heads the institute’s computer vision group, and Daniil Kononenko, a PhD student.

Their method addresses the well-known “gaze” problem in videoconferencing. The problem results from the disparity between a user’s own web camera and the on-screen image of the other person. When you are video-chatting with somebody, you might choose to look straight into the webcam to make an impression of looking into the other person’s eyes, but then you would miss everything that is happening on screen. On the other hand, you can watch the screen, but then the other side experiences the deeply unnatural feeling of talking to a person who is looking elsewhere.

To address the problem, Lempitsky and Kononenko developed a method that edits webcam images in real-time, ‘redirecting’ the gaze and reestablishing eye-to-eye contact. The method is applicable to previously unseen people and can run on a standard laptop with a standard web camera.

Lempitsky explains that “many people perceive the inability to look ‘eye-to-eye’ during video conferences as a big drawback. For those users, this patent application and subsequent commercialization will make videoconferencing more similar to real offline conversation.”

CRISPR, also known as the DNA editor, attracts the attention of many researchers, including Skoltech’s Konstantin Severinov. Image courtesy of Wikipedia, under Creative COmmons license

More recently, Prof Konstantin Severinov of Skoltech’s Data-Intensive Biomedicine and Biotechnology research center and biomed student Sergey Shmakov filed, jointly with MIT professor Feng Zhang, a patent application for a Class 2 CRISPR-Cas system. This work on the so called DNA editor, dubbed ‘the biggest biotech discovery of the century’ by publications such as Quanta Magazine and MIT Technology Review, is a collaboration between Skoltech, MIT, and the US National Institutes of Health (NIH).

Severinov explains that “the CRISPR-Cas9 technology is revolutionizing life sciences and has created a field of genomic editing and engineering. Sergey Shmakov, a graduate student jointly supervised by Eugene Koonin at NIH and myself, has predicted several completely new CRISPR-Cas systems whose biotechnological potential is currently being evaluated in the Zhang lab. Stay tuned for exciting results in the near future!”

Thirdly, a team led by Dmitry Kirsanov (ITMO) and supported by Skoltech’s Translational Research and Innovation Program submitted an international patent application (under PCT) for a calibration system and method. The project involved the development of a multi-sensor device and software for instrumental toxicity assessment in environmental monitoring.

Patent applications are crucial building blocks in Skoltech’s effort to “develop its IP portfolio, attract research sponsorships and become one of the most impactful universities in the world”, says the KTO’s manager Sergey Ulyakhin. “The ultimate goal is to bring more benefit for the general public through licensing the technologies to companies, either startups or industry leaders, for commercialization.”

A group led by Dmitry Kirsanov (left) and supported by the Skoltech Translational Research and Innovation Program submitted a PCT patent application titled Calibration system and method.

Skoltech Researcher: Statistical Physics can help Predict Market Crashes and Solve Traffic Jams

25/06/2015

Sergey Abaimov’s book “Statistical Physics of Non-Thermal Phase Transitions” addresses the question how we can build analogies between statistical physics and such phenomena as earthquakes, snow-avalanches and landslides, failure of engineering structures, and economical crises. Understanding of this question might allow us to develop techniques to prevent these catastrophes

A new monograph authored by Skoltech Senior Researcher Sergey Abaimov (Center for Design, Manufacturing and Materials) addresses the question of applicability of statistical physics to non-thermal complex systems and phenomena.

Statistical physics describes a wide variety of phenomena and systems when interaction forces may have different natures: mechanical, electromagnetic, strong nuclear, etc. The commonality that unites all these systems is that their belonging to statistical physics requires the presence of thermal fluctuations. In this sense these phenomena necessarily include the thermodynamic aspect.

Meanwhile, the second half of the last century may be named the time of the discovery of the so-called complex systems. These systems belong to mechanics of materials, chemistry, biology, ecology, geology, economics, social sciences, etc. and are generally united by the absence of concepts such as temperature or energy. Instead, their behavior is governed by stochastic laws of non-thermodynamic nature; and these systems can be called non-thermal. Nevertheless, in spite of this principal difference with statistical physics, it was discovered that behaviors of complex systems, such as stock-market crashes, revolutions in society and in science, fractures in engineered materials and in the Earth’s crust, catastrophes, traffic jams, self-organized criticality, and many others, resemble the behavior of thermodynamic systems. In particular, many of these systems possess a phase transition identical to critical or spinodal phenomena of statistical physics.

The application of the well-developed formalism of statistical physics to non-thermal complex systems may help to explain phenomena such as petroleum clusters, polymerization, DNA mechanism, informational processes, traffic jams, cellular automata, etc. Or, better, scientists might be able to predict and prevent catastrophes such as earthquakes, snow-avalanches and landslides, failure of engineering structures, economical crises, etc.

The monograph is devoted to the comparison of thermal and non-thermal systems. As an example of a thermodynamic system an Ising model is generally discussed while the considered non-thermal systems are represented by percolation and damage phenomena. Step-by-step, from the equation of state to the free energy potential, from correlations to the susceptibility, from the mean-field approach to the renormalization group, these systems are compared and it is found that not only are the rules of behavior similar but also, what is even more important, the methods of solution. The Reader will see that, developing the concept of susceptibility or building the renormalization group, although each time one begins with a particular system considered, the foundation of an approach is always based on the formalism of statistical physics and is, therefore, system independent.

The monograph is the product of 10 years of research conducted by the author at the Skolkovo Institute of Science and Technology, Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology, Penn State University, and University of California (Davis) as well as of 5 years of teaching the courses of lectures at the Skolkovo Institute of Science and Technology and at the Department of Theoretical Physics of Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology. These courses are the parts of the PhD Educational Programs of these Universities

Our First Graduates: “We Are Ready to Impact the World”

23/06/2015

Skoltech graduate Anna Dubovik: “I want to prove that a Skoltech alumna is a person ready to impact the world”.

When Anna Dubovik got on stage to deliver an address on behalf of fellow students at Skoltech’s first graduation ceremony, those who knew her – and many in the 300-strong audience did – expected smiles. The affable go-getter certainly did beam with her by-now-trademark good vibes.

But then the IT program graduate proceeded to reminisce about how before joining Skoltech, her mother had worried whether the young student-to-be should bet on the nascent university. “My mom was a little skeptical. Eventually she only asked that whatever I choose, I should be resolute in seeing it through, be a fighter”, Dubovik took a breath.

”Well, I did exactly that. And it was worth it: I got my degree, and I got to learn from and work with outstanding researchers, I got some amazing friends. But most of all,” tearing up, she looked around at the crowd gathered at the inner courtyard of Skoltech’s new building, “the strong, smart women that I discovered at Skoltech inspired me to challenge myself every day.”

Echoing this emotion, the university’s president, Prof Ed Crawley, quoted a fellow researcher from MIT and stressed the importance of what he called “heart”. Emotional drive and passion, said Crawley, are the forces that make or break a young research institute. Judging science and innovation by numbers only is not enough.

Winners of the “Outstanding Thesis Awards” on stage with Russian first deputy Prime Minister Arkady Dvorkovich.

Having said that, guests at the commencement ceremony – such as Russian first deputy Prime Minister Arkady Dvorkovich who serves as the institute’s Chairman of the Board of Trustees – as well as the university’s leadership, know that key stats and KPIs do play an important role.

Startup Culture

Fifty two master’s students in IT, Energy, Space, and Advanced Manufacturing are expected to graduate from Skoltech by the end of 2015. The inaugural group of students, some of whom joined the innovation-focused university as early as 2012, hails from 15 countries. Thirty five percent of all graduates are women, and almost half of the graduating students were actively involved in startup projects or established their own companies during their time with Skoltech. A majority studied and worked at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), honing their skills as researchers and entrepreneurs – and their English.

And now, having celebrated their achievements with the likes of Russian PM Dmitry Medvedev, students and staff feel it is time to give back to the organization. Dmitry Smirnov, one of six students who collected “Outstanding Thesis Awards” for scientific excellence, announced the establishment of an Alumni Association tasked with administering a student Startup Project Challenge and a million ruble award . A third of the sum was collected by Smirnov and his colleagues. Skoltech leadership raised a further four million rubles for a student grant scheme and, closing the ceremony, Prof Crawley announced the establishment of a ‘best teacher award’ in honor and memory of his father.

President Crawley: the importance of “heart”

Smirnov believes that “the one big advantage we Skoltech students had over anyone studying in traditional Russian universities is that we worked on our projects in flexible teams. The other is that the curriculum and internships constantly pushed us to embrace a simple truth about applied research – it has to provide value, to produce a high return on investment.”

Equipped with this ambitious-yet-realistic approach he now hopes to become a serial entrepreneur in the up and coming field of “Internet of Energy”. Smirnov will stay on in Skoltech as a PhD student with Prof Alessandro Golkar of the Strategic Innovation Research Group (SIRG.)

Start a Future

While some graduates envision an academic career combining entrepreneurship and research, others plan to join established companies (Intel and Cisco are two coveted destinations) or work with public organizations. Dubovik, along with two other IT grads is starting to work at the Data Analysis Laboratory recently launched by Moscow City’s departments of Healthcare and Information Technology.

“Our main aim is to apply data analysis to provide government officials with insights leading to decisions that improve life in Moscow”, she says, “I want to prove that a Skoltech alumna is a person ready to impact the world in the long run”.

Andrii Omelianovych: "I want this university to be proud of me”

Andrii Omelianovych (center): “I want this university to be proud of me”

Then there are those who dream to build the next unicorn startup. Enter Andrii Omelianovych, another Outstanding Thesis Awards’ laureate, plans to stay on at Skoltech as a PhD student with the institute’s Electrochemical Energy Storage research center. These days Omelianovych is launching a shared ride startup called Sharxi, along with fellow graduate Boris Urman.

“Skoltech brought to my life a culture of perseverance and encouragement”, he explains. “Trials, errors, failures are all learning experiences. Then you start all over again until you achieve something real. Now I am going through a similar process, but in the real world. I want my startup to optimize transportation in Moscow”.

That sounds like a big load on your plate.

“Yes. But having big ambitions is something I learned at Skoltech. I want this university to be proud of me”.

Text: Ilan Goren. Photos: Vitaly Shustikov and Ilan Goren

Skoltech’s graduating Class of 2015

“Viva Skoltech!” Russian PM Medvedev Celebrates with First Graduating Students

03/06/2015

Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev poses for a ‘selfie’ photo with graduating Skoltech students at a ceremony held at the Startup Village conference. The innovation based university graduates 53 master’s students in IT. Energy, Space and Advanced Manufacturing. Image: Nikita Rodichneko

The first group of Skoltech students celebrated the end of their studies in a ceremony with Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev at Startup Village.

Text: Ilan Goren

Accompanied by cheers of “Viva Skoltech” and thunderous applause from the 2,000 the 53 master’s students threw their Graduation Caps – and posed for a selfie with the top politician.

Earlier, Medvedev congratulated the graduating students and awarded the first diplomas to students Dmitry Smirnov and Anna Dubovik. “I remember flying above this area west of Moscow a few years ago”, said the Russian PM, “I was being told that things will be built and happen here. Now the promises have turned into reality.”

The graduates, completed the innovation university’s programs in Information Technology, Energy, Space and Advanced Manufacturing after enrolling in 2012-13, the institute’s first year of operations in collaboration with MIT (the Massachusetts Institute of technology).

“You took a huge risk by joining us”, said the university’s president, Prof Ed Crawley, “at the time we barely had more than a website. Now we are a thriving community of researchers, innovators and entrepreneurs, working with Russian and international universities. And almost half of you have established your own startup companies or projects. I’m proud of you.”

All graduates are scheduled to attend a ceremony in the Russian traditional “last bell” style on June 17 at the Skolkovo Innovation Center.
“We are proud to show off our graduates to the Skolkovo community, to participants and guests of the Startup Village, and to investors,” said the innovation university’s vice president Alexei Sitnikov.

Every year, Skoltech takes an active part at Startup Village, the biggest conference of its kind in Eastern Europe. This year’s presentations by leading researchers, included Prof Dzmitry Tsetserukou (head of the Space Robotics Lab), and Prof Alessandro Golkar, Director of the Strategic Innovation Research Group (SIRG). The event also featured a working session of IPOCA – International Proof of Concept Centers Association.

Skoltech is a core ingredient of the Skolkovo ecosystem, supplying the brain power to create innovations that will be commercialized further down the road. More than half of the university’s current intake already have innovations that are either on the market or soon to be available.

“The most important thing for us as producers of talent inside the innovation center, is that many of the guys already have their own companies and startups, and intend to develop them further after graduating from Skoltech,” Sitnikov said.

The official “last bell” graduation ceremony will take place on June 17 at Skoltech.

Skoltech Energy student Dmitry Smirnov celebrates with Skoltech classmates at Startup Village 2015

Skoltech and IIT Delhi Sign Collaboration Agreement

08/05/2015

Prof Edward F. Crawley, Skoltech’s President and Prof. R.K. Shevgaonkar, the IIT’s director, signed a MoU during a round table discussion attended by Russian and Indian higher education leaders at the Moscow State University.

Prof Edward Crawley, Skoltech’s President and Prof. R.K. Shevgaonkar, the IIT’s director, signed a MoU during a round table discussion attended by Russian and Indian higher education leaders at the Moscow State University.

Skoltech and the Indian Institute of Technology Delhi (IITD) signed today a Memorandum of Understanding aimed to forge links between the two technological and innovation institutes.

The new partners agreed to develop a program for academic and research cooperation in areas of mutual interest and facilitate faculty and student exchanges. Prof Edward Crawley, Skoltech’s President and Prof. R.K. Shevgaonkar, the IIT’s director, signed the MoU during a round table discussion attended by Russian and Indian higher education leaders at the Moscow State University. The signing took place in the presence of Pranab Mukherjee, the President of India and Dmitry Livanov, Minister of Education and Science of Russia. India and Russia signed today a series of 11 MoUs to establish a network of higher education institutes and for cooperation in the areas of mathematics, physics, chemistry and computer sciences.

Established in 1961, The Indian Institute of Technology Delhi is one of the country’s top public research universities. It was declared to be Institute of National Importance by the Government of India. Skoltech (the Skolkovo Institute of Science and Technology) is an innovation focused university, established in 2011 as a collaboration between the Skolkovo Foundation and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). Twenty percent of all master’s and PhD students at Skoltech are international.

The MoU between the two institutes comes on the heels of a broader association agreement between Russia and India. The countries plan to expand innovation education collaboration, as Skoltech’s president Edward Crawley explained in an interview he gave during a recent visit to Delhi.

The purpose of the bilateral MoI is to establish a network that will work towards the consolidation of Russian and Indian research and educational institution’s efforts in training of high skilled specialists for the innovation economy, promotion of teachers and students academic exchange program.

The network’s overall goal is to serve as a unified scientific and educational space for the implementation of cooperation in the sphere of education, science and R&D. It aims to create a platform for joint research, educational and institutional programs; develop outsourcing of external financing from government bodies, public organizations, and private companies; and facilitate information exchange and the process of mutual recognition of diplomas and educational standards. The sides also agreed to organize and hold joint international scientific and methodological conferences, workshops, and tele-bridges.

Special Guest Lecture: Humanoid Robots Creator Hiroshi Ishiguro

When: 14-05-2015 14:00

Where: Beijing Auditorium, MSM

Prof Hiroshi Ishiguro, a visionary who made a copy of himself and heads the Intelligent Robotics Laboratory at Osaka University will give two guest lectures at Skoltech.

Actroid. Telenoid. Gemenoid. These are only three of the many android brainchildren of Prof Hiroshi Ishiguro.

Renowned worldwide for his humanoid robots, the Japanese visionary who made a copy of himself and heads the Intelligent Robotics Laboratory at Osaka University – is coming to Skoltech.

Hosted by Prof Dzmitry Tsetserukou, head of Skoltech’s Space Lab, Ishiguro will give two guest lectures at the Beijing auditorium (Moscow School of Management).

May 14, 14:00-15:30 Androids and Our Future Life

May 15 12:00-14:00 Adaptation to Tele-operated Anthropomorphic Robots

Registration (in Russian): https://skoltech-2015.timepad.ru/event/206268/notify=new_event/

Lectures’ abstract:

Personal computers and smartphones have changed our lifestyle. After the rise of information media, the next generation of technology, i.e. interactive robots that provide various communication services, may change our life again. In the near future we may live in the robot society.

Prof. Ishiguro, one of the pioneers of interactive robot research and the creator of the very first humanlike androids, will talk about the possibility of a ‘robot society’ and introduce various androids that are can and will be integrated into our daily life.

Industrial 3D Printing Research Project Awarded Prestigious RSF Grant

05/05/2015

Researchers propose to utilize industrial scale 3-D printing (also called additive manufacturing) in various areas of applicable research such as engineering and biomedicine technology. Photo: Ilan Goren

Skoltech CDISE researchers propose to utilize industrial scale 3-D printing (also called additive manufacturing) in various areas of applicable research such as engineering and biomedicine technology. Photo: Ilan Goren

A proposal for a large scale 3D printing project submitted by researchers at Skoltech’s Center for Data Intensive Science (CDISE) was selected by the Russian Science Foundation (RSF).

Text: Ilan Goren

The proposal, titled “Efficient Methods for Design of Engineering Structures, Products and Meta-Materials“, has been submitted by the Scientific Computing group led by Prof. Ivan Oseledets of CDISE.

The researchers propose to develop new computational techniques and software that can significantly improve industrial scale 3-D printing (also called additive manufacturing). It is the first time that scientists from the Moscow-based technological and innovation university are awarded funding through this mechanism. Although industrial scale 3D printing is still widely regarded as a novelty, Prof Oseledets believes the technology has the potential revolutionize many more areas of applicable research such as engineering and biomedicine technology.

Prof. Ivan Oseleders, heads the Scientific Computing Group at Skoltech and is one of the researchers that won the Russian Science Foundation grant

Prof. Ivan Oseleders heads the Scientific Computing Group at Skoltech and is one of the CDISE researchers that won the Russian Science Foundation grant

“Domains that could benefit include customized wearable devices, prostheses and scaffolds for implants” commented Prof Oseledets, “as well as material science, for example functional micro-structured materials, and civil engineering applications like freestanding structures.

The RSF competition is designed to provide support for top-priority research areas. Thousands of proposals were submitted to the competition thie year, with a total of 197 projects winning grants. Funding will amount to six million rubles a year (almost $116 thousand USD) over a period of three years.

The Skoltech CDISE project annotation emphasizes that “one of the key advantages of additive manufacturing, compared to conventional methods, is that cost is mostly unrelated to the complexity of the objects. This enables development of novel structures and meta-materials (materials with properties determined by their mesoscale structure) with unique properties.

“Developing such complex structures requires a new generation of computational tools building on the theoretical foundation of topology and shape optimization developed in the past, while integrating new efficient approaches for solving large-scale problems and the practical constraints resulting from requirements of specific manufacturing processes.”

“The project we propose will lead to the development of novel computational techniques and software that has a significant potential to impact additive manufacturing both for engineering and biomedical applications.”