Skoltech Newsletter March 2015 (Eng)

2015March

WWW.SKOLTECH.RU

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Address@Skoltech ............................ 1

News@Skoltech ............................ 2-3

ISP@Skoltech ................................ 4-5

MIT-Skoltech Initiative@Skoltech . 6-7

Art Project@Skoltech .................... 8-9

Research@Skoltech ........................ 10

Biomedicine@Skoltech ..............11-13

Viewpoint@Skoltech ...................14-17

Research@Skoltech ...................18-19

Infographics@Skoltech ....................20

Students@Skoltech ......................... 21

Poster@Skoltech ........................22-23

Dear Friends!

The first few months of 2015 turned to be incredibly eventful!

In January we launched the new 2-year MSc in Product Design and Advanced Manufacturing pro-gramme. 17 students from all over the world are listed on this programme. They will spend one year in Skoltech and one year in MIT.

Skoltech students took part in the university's most creative project: Independent Studies Period (ISP). For three weeks in January, our students had an opportunity to teach and learn from each other. They organised over 20 courses and workshops, ranging from robotics to brain-machine interface development and stock trading. You can read about their achievements and impressions in our special report on ISP.

Skoltech welcomes several new professors. Sergei Krikalev, an outstanding astronaut and space scientist, who spent more time in space than any person on the planet, joined Skoltech in January 2015. He was appointed Professor of Practice at Skoltech Space Center.

In the course of 2014 Skoltech researchers and professors published more than 120 articles in the international peer-reviewed journals. The average impact factor of the journals equalled 6.9, which is an astonishing result for the professors at the university, which only recently celebrated its third birthday.

Skoltech's research in the biomedical field is gaining traction. The university's professors and re-searcher will talk about their research, goals and dreams in an in-depth interview. Skoltech will host the second round of Skoltech Sci Talks 2.1 in March 2015, where our biologists with unique international work experience will talk about their research, about modern and sought-after tech-nology, as well as organisation of biomedical research both in terms of science and industry.

2015 is not going to be an easy year, but at Skoltech we not only open doors for the future leaders, we do train people who are going to change the world. I wish you every success and a lot of deter-mination!

Yours sincerely,

Edward Crawley, Skoltech President

Edward Crawley, Skoltech President

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March 2015NEWSLETTEr SkoLTEch SkoLkoVo, ruSSia

News@Skoltech

Sergei Krikalev appointed professor at Skoltech

An outstanding astranaut and space scientist Sergei Krikalev, who spent more time in space than anyone else, was appointed Professor of Practice at the Skoltech Space Center in January 2015. Krikalev has already substan-tially contributed to the development of the Skoltech's Space program, which was opened to the MSc students in the 2014 fall semester. He will also help develop new courses and re-search programmes for the students and re-searchers at the university.

“Sergey Krikalev is one of the most distin-guished explorers of space in our history, and by virtue of his leadership at the Yuri Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center, one of the most experienced engineers, educators and plan-ners in space. He will take up the position of professor of the practice of human spaceflight at Skoltech, so that a distinguished practition-er can work closely with our scientists, stu-dents and innovators”, - said Edward Crawley, Skoltech President.

New master’s degreeThe new MSc in Product Design and Advanced Manufacturing was launched at Skoltech in 2015. The following units are offered as part of the programme: Industrial Processes Control, Modelling Optimisation, Additive Manufacturing and others.

At the moment there are 17 students from all over the world studying for this degree. The par-

ticipants benefit from a student exchange pro-gramme - they spend at least one semester in the universities abroad to share knowledge and experience. In 2015 the students of the Industrial Processes Control, Modelling Optimisation, Ad-ditive Manufacturing programme would head to MIT, the leading research institution in the US, which has consistently been named one of the top 10 universities in the world. Students will have an opportunity to continue their research at MIT labs and work with the best professors in their field.

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March 2015 WWW.SKOLTEch.rU

News@Skoltech

Skoltech continues to expand its academic col-laboration programme and is becoming more active on the global arena. On 9-12 Febru-ary Edward Crawley, Skoltech President, and Mikhail Myagkov, Vice-President for Academic Affairs and International Relations, undertook a working visit to Japan and attended the lead-ing Japanese universities.

Edward Crawley met with the heads of Japan's leading universities, including Osaka University, Tokyo Institute of Technology, Hokkaido Univer-sity, Institute of Fluid Science and Institute for

Materials Research at Tohoku University and others. The agreement on academic exchange and collaboration with Japan's most advanced research centers is just the beginning of con-siderable research effort in both countries.

“At Skoltech we are expanding our outreach in Japan, seeking to build long-term mutu-ally beneficial partnerships with science and technology based universities. We have much to learn from the highly advanced model of re-search and education in Japan. The interaction of universities is a central way to build bridg-es among Nations", - said Edward Crawley, Skoltech President.

Japan - a new direction for academic collaboration

Osaka University. Edward Crawley, Skoltech President, and Mikhail Myagkov, Vice-President for Academic Affairs and International Relations (on the left) with their colleagues from Osaka University

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Students@Skoltech

The most creative period of the academic year at Skoltech kicked off on January 12, as students ditched the textbooks (but not their laptops) to teach and learn from each other – everything from Skateboarding through Brain-Computer Interface Design to Stock Trading.

Dubbed Independent Studies Period (or ISP) is a unique time for Skoltech and its stu-dents. It lasts only three weeks in January, but this is the time to put into practice the boldest and the most original ideas. Students can try their hand at teaching a program-ming or robotics class, or broaden their ho-rizon through art, music, cooking and sports classes. This is also an excellent opportunity to get to know each other better and to dis-cover each other's hidden talents.

Skoltech is a non-governmental education-al and research institution, which is the key component in Skolkovo's ecosystem. Skoltech focuses on educating the future internation-al innovation leaders, promoting scientific knowledge and creating new technologies that would help solve the most pressing prob-lems both in Russia and across the world. By using international education and research models, the university integrates the best Russian research traditions, as well as the entrepreneurial spirit and innovation of the 21st century.

According to the estimates of Skoltech's Cent-er for Entrepreneurship and Innovation about 60% of all students take an active part in start-up projects or have their own business.

Students teach and learn from each other

When Steve Jobs delivered a commencement address to Stanford graduates in 2005, the great guru of innovation explained why taking calligraphy classes as a young student had changed his life. It made the Macintosh computer’s beautiful typography possible. It made Apple possible. Jobs implored his listen-ers to follow their inner passions. “You can’t connect the dots if you’re looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards’, he said. “The only way to do great work is to love what you are doing.” It seems that this message correlates well with the thinking of Skoltech students.

Madina Tyuryaeva, ISP CoordinatorIt was an amazing time - full of discoveries and premieres! For instance, during the last ISP we uncovered a real chess genius Almir Djumaev, who effortlessly won a blindfold chess match against eight (!) strong players. Alexander Ivanov presented himself as a trading guru. His course was extremely popular and he made a recording for those students who could not be present in class. Skoltech profes-sor Alessandro Golkar taught the students how to fly a plane. For now, they used a simulator, but once the weather improves, the most tal-ented students will get a chance to fly a real plane. Dmitri Zubkov and Stas Shpanin (who made it to the Guinness record book as the youngest profes-sional artist) helped their fellow students improve their creativity through a series of classes focusing on modern art, poetry, history of musicals and documentaries.

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Students@Skoltech

Some outcomes of the ISP 2015:

Robotics hardcore marathon: students assembled a 4-axis CNC hot wire cutter for polystyrene. It doesn't work yet, but it looks amazing.

C++: Students created a Spellchecker. How is it different from a regular spellchecker? It's been programmed with a lot of love.

Science and cooking: Students cooked 2 kilos of ice-cream, mixed 3 litres of lemonade, made successful 40 cakes and 20 that were less successful, 15 juicy steaks and 4 types of sauces to go with them, riccotta cheese, caramel with gum paste and 3 large saucepans of pelmeni.

Programming Interviews: Students solved over 80 problems and con-tests in algorithms and data structure.

Musical engineering: Students recorded 3 rock songs, of which 2 are listenable

Yoga: 108 sun salutation cycles, Sarvangasana, Janusirsasana, Kapalbhati Pranayama. Peacefulness.

Mechanical Engineering 101:Students disassembled and assembled many white goods. Now they know how to improve their design and manufacturing process.

3D-printed prototypes for real world projects: Students made 16 useful and printable 3D models: from phone cases and wristbands to nuclear reactor parts

Video recording 3 videos: about ISP, the legendary trading course and international environment in Skoltech based on friendship and understanding

Snowboarding: Students identified the most fun (though not the safest) way of group snowboarding (and a group fall on a snowboard).

Swimming: 15 participants, 4 styles, 6000 metres total distance

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MIT-Skoltech Initiative

On the third anniversary of the MIT-Skoltech Initiative, in December 2014, the Russian and Ameri-can scientists met to discuss the latest achievements in biomedicine, energy, computer science, engineering, as well as the trends in other areas. The Russian-American Research Symposium, which took place in Moscow at Digital October, gathered over 40 speakers and several hundred scientists and students.

«MIT-Skoltech Initiative is now more important than ever»

These were the closing words of Jeffrey Sexton, Public Affairs Counselor at the US Embassy in Russia, at the Russian-American Research Sym-posium, which was attended by several dozen famous scientists from Russia and the US.

«In the modern world no country can survive on its own, and the new measure for success could be the degree to which it can collaborate with other countries in business, science, education

and culture. This has already benefited the US, and the bilateral relations with Russia continue to strengthen. Indeed, such programmes as the MIT-Skoltech Initiative in science are now more important than ever».Jeffrey Sexton, Public Affairs Counselor at the US Embassy in Russia, at the Russian-American Research Symposium, 15 December 2014, Mos-cow.

Skoltech and MIT continue working together on education, research and enterprise programs.

Edward Crawley, Skoltech President and Jeffrey Sexton, Public Affairs Counselor at the US Embassy in Russia

Janusz Bialek, Professor, Director, Skoltech Center for Energy SystemsAnton Berns, Director, Skoltech Center for Stem Cell Research and Peter So, MIT

Skoltech Igor Seleznev, CEI Director of Research, Skoltech and Michael J Cima, MIT

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MIT-Skoltech Initiative

Zafer Gürdal, Professor, Director, Skoltech Center for Advanced Structures, Processes and Engineered Materials

An interview for Russia 24 TV channel, Edward Crawley, Skoltech President and Polina Pavlova

Victor Kotelianski, Professor, Director, Skoltech Center for Infectious Diseases and Functional Genomics

Alexander Ivanov, IT MSc student, Skoltech

Skoltech students and faculty members at Closing Ceremony, Digital October, Moscow

Alessandro Golkar, Assistant Professor, Skoltech

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АРТ ПРОЕКТ

Art Project@Skoltech

All through January Skoltech stu-dents were demonstrating their best skills in all types of things and occupations, and taught each other. From snowboarding, to chess, to modern arts and science - it was a true period to learn from each other. An Independent Stud-ies Period, or the ISP. Illustrator Miguel portrayed this bold initia-tive in colours, taking an imagina-tive approach

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АРТ ПРОЕКТ

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Articles by Skoltech professors published in the best international journalsIn the course of 2014 Skoltech researchers and professors published more than 120 articles in the international peer-reviewed journals with an average impact factor of 6.9.

This is an impressive result for the professors at the university that celebrated its obly third birthday in October 2014. The most influential journals include Nature Nanotechnology (IF 33,27), Nature Biotechnol-ogy (IF 39,08), Nature (IF 42,35), Autophagy (IF 11,42), Journal of the American Chemical So-ciety (IF 11,44), Genes and Development (IF 12,64), Nano Letters (IF 12,94), Gut (IF 13,32),

Nature Communications (IF 10,74), Journal of Clinical Investigation (IF 13,77), Cell Stem Cell (IF 22,15), Cell (IF 33,12). «Such a high level of these journals proves yet again that Skoltech has a high-calibre faculty,’ says Alexei Sit-nikov, Vice-President for Institutional and Resource Development. 'The find-ings of our professors are of great interest to the scientists all over the world».

The articles published by Skoltech professors cover a wide range of educational and research areas: from energy to space technology. Pro-fessor Yuri Spritz published over 10 articles, including 'Circulation of Heavy Ions and Their Dynamical Effects in the Magnetosphere: Re-cent Observations and Models' in Space Sci-ence Reviews. As part of a group of research-ers Albert Nasibulin published several articles for the leading physics and chemistry journals (e.g. 'Aerosol feeding of catalyst precursor for CNT synthesis and highly conductive and transparent film fabrication' for Chemical En-gineering Journal and 'Hybrid carbon source for single-walled carbon nanotube synthesis by aerosol CVD method' for Carbon). Professor Natalia Berloff published an article 'Oscillato-ry solitons and time-resolved phase locking of two polariton condensates' for New Journal of Physics as part of a group of authors in 2014. In addition, an article on an international research project, in which professor Victor Kotelianski, Director of the Skoltech Center for Infectious Diseases and Functional Genomics, took part, was in the Top 100 articles in Discover journal in 2014. The findings of this research project will have a considerable influence on the devel-opment of genetic surgery.

Research@Skoltech

The impact factor (IF) of an aca-demic journal is a measure re-flecting the average number of citations to recent articles pub-lished in that journal, which is determined by Thomson, Thom-son Scientific and is published in Journal Citation Report on an annual basis. The IF helps to as-sess the quality of the academic journals and articles, distribute financial support and evaluate ap-plicants for research positions.

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BIOMEDICINE AT SKOLTECH STORIES. PEOPLE. SCIENCE.

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«IF PEOPLE COULD TREAT CANCER...»

People would be able to live much longer once cancer becomes treatable. Cancer generally occurs in older people, and if people live longer, the whole structure of the society will change: our working lives will be proportionally longer too. As far as the impact on science is concerned, I don't remember who said this, but I heard that 'we don't know how many people were saved by cancer research, but we know exactly how many people live off this research'. Today cancer research is one of the most well financed areas in science.

Biomedicine@Skoltech

We are doing research on the biological fluid dy-namics. This is a fairly new area, which focuses on the physical description of the processes that oc-cur in biological systems. More specifically, we are focusing on sperm motility and the link between motility and the genetic material they carry. We are trying to find out whether the sperm cells that make it to the egg first and manage to fertilize it, beating hundreds of billions of other sperm cells, have anything special about them or not. For now, we do not know. There is a general understand-

ing that those sperm cells that are motile (in fact, only a small percentage of them are) have a more compact chromatin architecture and are capable of producing an embryo. That is why reproductive health experts pick and choose the most motile sperm cells. However, even amongst the motile sperm not all of them can successfully fertilize an egg. We are trying to explore how specific proper-ties of sperm motility correlate with the quality of chromatin and other genetic attributes.

I HAVE A DREAM...

My dream is to find a universal and effective approach to the treat-ment of cancer.

Our research group is looking into the role of a cell's proteolytic system in the context of morphosis and pathology. We are developing new methods that would help regulate cell death and, as a result, suppress growth and spread of cancer cells.

IF THERE WERE NO TERMINAL ILLNESSES...

If this was the case, biomedical science would fo-cus on treating and preventing chronic illnesses associated with ageing. Humans would always be the major focus of research and science.

I HAVE A DREAM...I do not know if it qualifies as a dream, but I have this drive to move forward all the time. I want to explore new areas, learn and contribute something new. For me it is im-portant to continue to be active in science.

Vasily Kantsler, Professor, Skoltech

Konstantin Piatkov, Assistant Professor, Skoltech

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Biomedicine@Skoltech Biomedicine@Skoltech

I am currently working on two projects. The first project focuses on developing a mysterious antibi-otic that would attack Erwinia amylovora bacteria, which cause bacterial blight in apple trees. This would help more effectively eradicate the pathogen that causes a great damage to agriculture all over the world.

As part of the second project, we study the struc-ture and functions of the new class of bacterial protease enzyme.

My students, including Yulia Piskunova, a student at Skoltech, also work on a range of other tasks: some of them are trying to decode phage toxin mechanisms that kills Pseudomons aeuruginosa, while others study the distribution of an important target of antibiotics - DNA gyrase - in a bacterial chromosome.

«IF NEXT GENERATION ANTIBIOTICS WERE ALREADY AVAILABLE...…»

We would have had another chance in the 'arms race' against microbes, which are always one step ahead of us. According to the laws of evo-lution, we simply cannot produce drugs to which we would never develop resistance. However, we can develop drugs, resistance to which resistance would take decades to build up.

I HAVE A DREAM...

My dream is to create a new race of immortal humans

with a superbrainI am currently researching the differences in the molecular structure of human brain and brains of other species

«IF HUMAN BRAIN COULD BE CONTROLLED

BY OTHER HUMANS...»

We already have methods of controlling brain activ-ity in people against their will. However, on a global scale, it would depend on who is doing it, right?

I HAVE A DREAM...It is a difficult question. Now I simply want to suc-cessfully wrap up the pro-jects that I have already started - this is constantly on my mind. Discovering and studying new sub-stances, identifying their structure and mecha-nisms is a very exciting process and I never get bored. However, the older we become the more am-bitious tasks we set for ourselves: I think that I would like to go into syn-thetic biology - creating microorganisms that can synthesize substances that we need to maintain our health, as well as the substances that could be used for environmental or geological purposes. There are certain ideas about terraforming Mars by populating it with mi-croorganisms. I think that we as people need to think more about our place in the universe and our fu-ture than about consump-tion and arms race.

Dmitry Ghilarov, Research assistant, Skoltech

Philipp Khaitovich, Professor, Skoltech

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Viewpoint@Skoltech

Konstantin Severinov , 47Skoltech professor; professor at the molecular biology and biochemistry department at Rutgers University (USA), and a head of laboratory at the Waksman Institute for Microbiology. He also heads a laboratory of genetic regulation of prokaryotic mobile genetic elements at the Institute of Molecular Genetics at the Russian Academy of Sciences and a laboratory of molecular genet-ics of microorganisms at the Institute of Gene Biology at the Russian Academy of Sciences

I returned to Russia in 2004 after my daughter was born because I wanted her to go to school in Russia…

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Viewpoint@Skoltech Viewpoint@Skoltech

As for the Russian academia, I was amazed at how little it has changed in the last 15 years, while I was away. Back in the Soviet times, we often went on archaeology field trips to Khwarezm, an ancient region in Central Asia, which lies on the Silk Road. The journey from Moscow to Karakalpakia was like a time machine: once you arrived it felt like you were in the 50s or even the 30s. I had a very similar feeling about the Russian academia in the noughties.

My two sons now live in the States. My elder son is in college, but he is mostly interested in hip-hop and rap music. My younger son, who is 15, is good at maths and drawing. He lives in Michigan, in a biological research station, surrounded by forest and fields. He has been hunting deer with a huge crossbow, but he has not killed any yet. When he does, he’ll become a true redneck.

Sport is my favourite hobby at the moment. When I was a student I used to think that there were two types of people: those who do sport and those who think. I despised the sporty types. However, when I lived in the States – where I played tennis and did a lot of skating – I realised that sport makes your life more structured and helps you think.

What is the attitude to Russian scientists in other countries? Very positive. This is all down due to the Sputnik, I think. After the Russians launched sputnik, the Americans became really concerned and Kennedy initiated some important changes in the curriculum and the approach to teaching science at the school, college and university level.

Russian scientists are a brand, and maybe a better one than Coca-Cola. I have am also a professor at the Rutgers University as well, and many older professors ‘speak Russian’, which is their way of saying that they know a few phrases. They chose to study Russian at school or in college in the early 60s. This can probably be attributed to the leftists and communist ideas, which were popular at the time, but I tend to think that this is down to the Russian scientists. This also explains why Chinese is a popular choice at many American schools today.

I like the film My Dinner with Andre, which is about two people who haven't seen each another in five years and agree to meet at a café in New York. It seems like they talk about nothing in particular, but it is very true to lifewhile in fact they talk about the meaning and true values of life.

I spent most of my time – and it was the best time – in Manhattan borough of New York. There is a very distinct group of funny Woody Allen kind of characters – Jewish intelligentsia of sorts. They might not be actual Jews, but if you live in Manhattan you turn into one, you kind of ‘get into character’. They have a very peculiar attitude to life, which manifests itself in their incessant self-admiration and self-flagellation. You mostlyoften come across these people in academia and, I guess, they are the closest you get to the Soviet intelligentsia, just much better off.

I like jazz. I was born in St. Petersburg, grew up in Tallinn, and both cities had some amazing jazz festivals.

My first love was a young girl from The Gnesins Russian Academy of Music, she played violin in Viktor Tretiakov’s orchestra. That’s how I acquired a taste for classical music. I love opera and I often listen to old tenors, such as Erico Caruso and Ivan Kozlovsky. I like Britten and Purcell. I used to listen to the music of Vivaldi, Bach – the usual, but now I just can’t listen tohear it anymore – it is so precise and mathematical that it hardly has any feelings left.

I live in a block of flats where Alfred Schnittke used to live, and rumour has it that his widow is still around. When I was a student at MSU, I also lived nearby. It is a very weird feeling of living so close to where some amazing and immortal music was being composed.

Life expectancy has never been as high as it is now. It started to rising rise in the early 20th century and it was mostly down to the introduction of sanitation in cities. Plumbing, toilets, water purification… these are fairly

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obvious reasons. The cars were actually a blessing, because horses – who contributed a lot to the spread of tuberculosis – were no longer needed in such quantities, and with them the streets were a complete mess. And, last but not least, antibiotics were discovered.

Why do men die earlier? Because they are more prone to danger at all stages of their life – you can see this even in young boys. I believe it is not only the upbringing and the society that play a role, but also genetics.

I like Saltykov-Shchedrin a lot. The Golovlyov Family is an extraordinary book, whwn you read it as a grown up and not as part of mandatory reading in junior highprovided that you don’t read it at school… Towards the end, the main character drives everyone around him to grave and then dies on his mother’s grave himself. Then it transpires that he is not a mean bloodsucker, but almost Christ-like figure, at least God seems to welcomes him with open arms.

Before the crisis struck everyone travelled abroad, to Switzerland and what not, threw their money about, while the local ‘gnomes’ worked from dawn till dusk wearing their forced smiles. Shchedrin’s novel Abroad describes the same situation, but in the 19th century: Russians behaved in exactly the same way when in Europe and the Europeans treated them in the same way.

If all the world population huddles together, we would take just a small proportion of its total surface area – about 5100 square kilometres. The impact we make is tremendous, but our biomass is totally insignificant. There is much more bacteria on the planet by sheer numbers and by total weight. They were there before we arrived and they will still be here long after we are gone.

People want to have children. Unfortunately, not all couples manage to conceive and there are many conditions that might cause a problem. The first IVF children were born in the

70s and hundreds of thousandsseveral millions of people simply would not have been around if it wasn’t for the IVF method. These children now have their own children… Again, none of them would have been here if we were still debating whether it is a good or a bad thing.

Three-parent babies, a method that is widely discussed today, is also a way to help people with certain conditions have healthy children. Apart from the genes that we inherit from our mother and our father (they are located in our chromosomes), there is a small number of genes found in mitochondria, or ‘an energy powerhouse of the cell’, as the Soviet biology textbooks referred to them. Mitochondria used to be bacteria a long time ago but itand has kept some of the ‘bacterial’ genes. We inherit mitochondrial DNA from our mother only and in some women these genes are become faulty, which means that they would definitely pass on their condition – which can be extremely severe and debilitating – to a child.

The new technology would help us get a fertilized egg whose chromosomal genes will be inherited 50/50 from the father and the mother, while the mitochondrial genes will be from another woman. What is wrong with that? People want to have children, so let them have healthy children.

These days we can genetically test the remains of our ancestors. Provided that the bones are fairly clean and have been properly preserved, we can look 50-70 thousand years back.

Today you can tell exactly which agent caused plague in the 13th century; or which specific mutation people died of during thecaused the appearance of Spanish influenza flu virus, which caused – a pandemic which that spread towards the end of the World War I; or identify the mutation responsible for Tsarevich Alexei’s haemophilia. The technology is not overly complicated, you just need to have samples, which makes me think that soon geneticists would be flooding the natural history museums to get some.collect samples for analysis.

Viewpoint@Skoltech

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Viewpoint@Skoltech Viewpoint@Skoltech

When I was working on my PhD, Alexander Goldfarb was my scientific advisor. He was also in charge of Soros' International Science Foundation, which donated several hundred million dollars of Soros’ personal funds to help former Soviet scientists survive the hardships of the economic shock therapy at the times when science funding was non-existent in Russia… It has to be said, though, that Soros had to goet this money from the British taxpayers first.

I spend most of my time thinking how and where to get the money – not for myself, but for my team and our research projects. Sometimes I wake up at night and start reproaching myself for this – I would be better off going for a run or a swim or playing with my daughter. The grant system is not unlike democracy – it is not the best option, but we don’t have any better alternatives.

European grants compared to the American seem to be overly bureaucratic and somewhat laborious. American projects are much bolder and they feature a more detailed description of research plans and ideas.

Three most valuable things that Russia acquired in the last 20 years: openness, increased number of foreigners working here and the private sector. The latter is a truly great thing: clean toilets are already a fact in McDonalds, but universities and research institutes are still a long way off…

Russian science has shrivelled and has become a tiny part of the world science. One of the reasons lies in the total lack of competition for grants during the Soviet times. They did not need to explain anything or report on how they spent the grant moneyir research funds. They would just sit and wait for the money,and sometimes then they’d go about their business and do some research – or not. As a result, many scientists lost their qualification and skills.

Good scientists are egotists. The primary concern of any scientist is satisfying their his or her interests. A wife spouse of any scientist will have a lot to say on the subject.

In biology there is a concept of neoteny – this is when children develop and become adults and have their own children, but they retain the features of the young. Scientists are a good example of neoteny.

Unlike my children, at the age of 6 I knew exactly what I wanted to do, but I clearly was an idiot – I would have done it differently if I got a second chance…

When I was a child Alexei Turovski, the chief parasitologist at the Tallinn Zoo, was a family friend. He still presents radio programmes for children, he aslo compiled a biological encyclopaedia for children and is a great animalist artisthe has a real talent for drawing. I have the fondest memories of his visits and outings with him. He took us me to museums, to the woods or to the zoo and he was always telling us exciting stories. He had a huge impact on my career choice.

As any scientist, I sometimes worry that I will have more grants and money than ideas. This is not the case yet, though.

You want a paradox? Here’s one: the number of girls who study biology in college is greater than the number of boys, but among professors there are 9 times more men than women. Women disappear somewhere along the way (of course, we know where), which means that talents are lost and certain opportunities are never used, which is a shame.

I have an account on Facebook just to track down my team memberssons in the States – sometimes they go in hiding.

If the rouble falls any lower I’ll just go skiing in Sochi – doing research will become impossible.

I don’t have a TV, but it’s not because I dislike Soviet or Russian TV. I never had one in the US either. First, I don’t have time and second, I don’t like being brainwashed.

Interviewed by Alexander Zolotarev

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In 1987 when a group of Japanese scientists headed by Professor Ishino Yoshizumi attempted to sequence the genome of the bacterium E. coli, they discovered unusual DNA loci that contained multiple identical repeated sequences. The repeats were separated by non-identical unique segments that were named spacers. Researchers immediately began asking themselves about the functions of these repeats. It is difficult to believe that bacteria need them just 'for appearance's sake' because the bacterial genome is rather small and compact due to the small size of the cell and there simply isn't room for anything with no clear function.

Later it transpired that such loci (scientists called them CRISPR - Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats) are very widespread in bacteria. Almost all the repeats in CRISPR are completely identical. However, spacers are different from each other. In addition, repeat-spacer arrays are unique to different strains of one bacterial species.

At some point scientists realised that nucleotide sequences of some CRISPR spacers all too often turn out to be completely identical to sequences of fragments of genomes of viruses that attack bacteria that contain these spacers. This made Eugene Koonin from the National Center for Biotechnology Information in Bethesda (US) and his colleagues to propose that CRISPRs serve as a bacterial immune defence mechanism. It was demonstrated that short non-coding RNA, which are called crRNA, are generated from CRISPR loci. Each of these molecules consists of a spacer surrounded by two repeats. If a bacterial cell is infected with a virus, whose DNA sequence is identical to that of a spacer in one of the crRNA, the microorganism will survive the infection.

How do these crRNA work? Its spacer part, with the help of special Cas proteins (the genes that code them are located close to CRISPR loci) attaches to a matching segment of viral DNA – a protospacer, after which foreign DNA is split in the location where recognition occurs, inactivating the virus.

In addition to discovering a new bacterial immunity mechanism, scientists acquired a great new instrument for 'editing' segments of any DNA sequence, including those in the cells of higher organisms and humans. In 2013 a group of scientists managed to introduce a crRNA with a spacer matching a DNA segment of a mammal, and a Cas protein, into a nucleus of a mammalian cell. The outcome exceeded all possible expectations of the researchers - the Cas-protein and crRNA together split mammalian cell DNA at exactly the spot defined by the crRNA's spacer. The introduction of such a precise break enabled the scientists to replace the split site with a different DNA fragment. Similarly then, if a fragment targeted by crRNA corresponds to

Research@Skoltech

During the last several years biologists in several countries have been closely studying the mechanisms of CRISPR (clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats) - highly unusual DNA loci found in many bacteria. According to one of the theories, they help microorganisms resist the attacks of bacteriophages - viruses that infect bacteria. However, Skoltech professor Konstantin Severinov suggests that the scientists don't know everything about these repeats and their true functions. He assumes that protection of a cell from viruses might not be the major function of these wide-spread genetic loci.

Konstantin Severinov: «CRISPRs might have a much wider range of functions than just fighting bacterial viruses»

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mutated DNA, that is a cause of disease, it can be substituted by a healthy fragment, repairing the genome and removing the genetic cause of disease.

Accumulation of spacers in CRISPR loci in bacteria occurs with the help of additional Cas-proteins. When infected with a bacteriophage, they can excise certain viral DNA fragments and insert them into the CRISPRs as new spacers. An infected cell that acquired such spacers survives and the new spacers are passed on to the next generation, which are going to be protected against viral attacks. So this can be regarded as snapshots of bacterial past Since new spacers can be obtained only during an infection, CRISPR immunity appears to arise due to a Lamarckian (inheritance of acquired characteristics) rather than Darwinian mechanism, which is an absolutely unique feature.

Have all CRISPR's mysteries been already unveiled? Far from it, believes professor at the Rutgers University (US) and Skoltech, Konstantin Severinov. Of course he has certain evidence to support his assumption - together with his colleagues he created a huge database of E. coli CRISPR spacers. It turned out that amongst tens of thousands of different spacers there were only a few that matched the DNA of modern viruses that infect this microorganism. This is highly surprising, for we likely know most of E. coli viruses, as this microbe has been a real 'workhorse' of microbiologists for decades. Of

course, one can assume that modern spacers match the DNA of viruses that became extinct due to CRISPR immunity. However, an analysis of ancient samples of bacterial DNA found in permafrost, carried out by Severinov and his team, showed that the spacers of E. coli that existed tens of thousands years ago are not different from modern-day spacers. So the paradox of why E. coli maintains an enormous variety of spacers that appear to have no function and do not change with time remains.

It is possible that these ubiquitous systems are used by microorganisms for other purposes. For instance, spacers in CRISPR loci could act as a kind of a genetic bar code, which helps microorganisms of the same strain recognize each other. This could help them establish partnership and/or reject non-matching partners. He goes on to add that if scientists gain a better understanding of how CRISPR works in nature, they will have even more opportunities for using this unique system in genetic engineering. Recent experiments showed that some bacteria can use CRISPR to shut down some of their own genes, for instance, those that code proteins on the surface of microbial cells. Since immune systems of higher organisms and humans are tuned to identify these proteins, CRISPR could help bacteria disguise themselves to trick the immunity of a host.

Research@Skoltech

«We cannot rule out,» says Severinov, «that immunity is not the only and, perhaps, even not the most important function of CRISPR systems»

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Canada (1)

Armenia (1)

Austria (1)

Bangladesh (2)

Belarus (1)

India (3)

Italy (3)

USA (2)

Russia (179)

Kazakhstan (7)

Kyrgyzstan (1)

Nigeria (2)Pakistan (3)

Serbia (3)

Spain (1)Vietnam (1)

Thailand (1)

Turkey (1)

Ukraine (5)

Total number of students: 219

OUR STUDENTS REPRESENT 19 COUNTRIES

February 2015

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I started my education in Tomsk

When I decided to apply to Skoltech, I was in my first year of a Masters degree at the Institute of Cybernetics at the Tomsk Polytechnic University (TPU). At that time I was already a student at the Open University Skolkovo and a mentor at the Mi-crosoft Student Partners programme (with a fo-cus on Imagine Cup and Kinect) in Russia. I took part in many conferences and summer school and by the time I started my Masters I had already developed a scoring system for HR firms special-ising in recruiting IT professionals. In addition, to-gether with a team at TPU and TSU (Tomsk State University) we came third in Russia's Microsoft

Imagine Cup competition We focused our project on using Kinect for teaching children and we were discussing ways to commercialize our project. One of the most compelling arguments in favour of moving to Moscow was a close contact with Skolkovo experts and Moscow businesses that I would benefit from.

I moved to Moscow in 2013 and became a stu-dent of the first intake at Skoltech. The learning process at the university is quite interesting and fairly unusual. We have a lot of meetings, lectures and workshops with visiting professors from the world-famous research institutions, as well as fa-mous business people and government officials. Academic exchange opportunities are manifold. During my time at Skoltech I visited MIT twice: I attended Innovation Workshop and spent the au-tumn semester of 2014-15 there. I also went to an entrepreneurship and innovation training at HKUST (Hong Kong). To sum it up, it is all very dynamic and I am constantly moving forward!

Commercialization of new research is of particu-lar importance in Skolkovo. Students who work on innovative projects get a lot of support from Skoltech's Center for Entrepreneurship and Inno-vation (CEI). CEI helps us build relationships with the business community and provides mentor and consulting support. This ensures that every student has an opportunity to build a successful business, which, at the end of the day, is going to have a positive social and economic impact on our society.

Students@Skoltech

Andrey KolchanovMSc student (Information technology)Born in: Tashtagol, Kemerovo region

A Video Report about Russian

Startup Tour 2015 in Tomsk

Tomsk Polytechnic University

March 2015NEWSLETTER SkoLTEch SkoLkoVo, RuSSia

Poster@Skoltech

Dzmitry Tsetserukou, Assistant Professor, Skoltech

Smart Robotic Interfaces: Designing the Future of Human

The round table on Smart Robotic Interfaces is a vibrant forum where scientists, psychophysi-cists, engineers, and designers participate. Their joint aim is to share advances, spark new collaborations, and envision a future in neuro-science, robotics, and artificial intelligence. It is a rapidly developing field integrating robots (e.g. assistive arm, prosthetics, and wearable robot), sensors that read valuable information, and the human. Such technologies augment human compat-ibilities and immerse people into the world of

machines. The applications of Smart Robotic Interfaces include exoskeletons for restoration of motor and sensory functions, control of ro-bots, human computer interaction, VR and AR reality, telepresence, haptics, and more.

Maxim Kiselev, Director of Leadership Programs, Skoltech

Robot: WHAT is it/WHO is it? The moral portrait of anthropomorphic machines

Experts are ceaselessly debating the thin line which separates «human» from «mechanical» robots.Now more than ever, with the rise of ultramodern very “smart” anthropomorphic robots, the question arises: where does technical end and human begin? Can a robot have free will, and do we want IT to have one? Moral Machines: Contradiction in terms or abdication of human responsibility? Can a machine be moral or emotional? And where does all that progress – real or imagined – lead humanity to? Should a mankind stop at some point in improving robots’ abilities, and if so, how to do it?

We solicit submissions describing advances in • BMI (Brain machine interface), EMG sensors, eye tracking, motion capture• Exoskeletons and Robotic prosthetics • Internet of things and affective computing• Affective Haptics and Tactile displays • VR and AR systems • Computational neuroscience• Swarm and cognitive robotics• Wearable technologies • Advanced electronics and sensors• Telepresence, Teleoperation and Telexistence• Control of space and underwater robots• Bio-inspired Robotics

More info www.skoltech.ru

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Poster@Skoltech Poster@Skoltech

March 2015

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Skoltech in social networks:

For more information aboutSkoltech visit our website:http://www.skoltech.ru/about/press/

Academic Partners

Italian Institute of Technology (IIT)

Genova, Italy

14

Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne (EPFL)

Lausanne, Switzerland

12

St. Petersburg State University (SPbU)

Saint Petersburg Institute of Information Technologies, Mechanics and Optics (ITMO)

Saint Petersburg State Polytechnic University (SPbPU)

St.Petersburg Academic University

St. Petersburg, Russia

1

2

3

4

Nizhny Novgorod State University (NNSU)

Nizhny Novgorod, Russia

8

Novosibirsk State University

Novosibirsk, Russia

9

North Eastern Federal University (NEFU)

Yakutsk, Russia

7

Far Eastern Federal University

Vladivostok, Russia

11

Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology (MIPT)

Moscow, Russia

5

Deshpande center (MIT)

Cambridge, MA, USA

13

Masdar Institute of Science and Technology

Masdar City, Abu Dhabi, UAE

15

Petrozavodsk State University (PetrSU)

Petrozavodsk, Russia

6

Tomsk Polytechnic University (TPU)

Tomsk, Russia

10

Skoltech Academic Outreach Department is building sustainable mutually beneficial academic partnerships with leading Russian and international universities, and is bringing and adapting best international practices in Russian academic community.

The Skolkovo Institute of Science and Technology (Skoltech) is a private graduate research university in Skolkovo, Russia, a suburb of Moscow. Established in 2011 in collaboration with The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Skoltech will educate global leaders in innovation, advance scientific knowledge, and foster new technologies to address critical issues facing Russia and the world. Applying international research and educational models, the university integrates the best Russian scientific traditions with twenty-first century entrepreneurship and innovation.

Joint research projects in math and pharmacology

IPOCA* member, distance education partner

Dual degree program(at the planning stage)

1

2

3

MoU signed (dual degree program with nsu at the planning stage)

Dual degree program, distance education partner

CDIO** participant

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5

6

CDIO participant

IPOCA member

MoU signed (dual degree program with nsu at the planning stage)

7

8

9

CDIO partner

MoU signed

Students’ exchange program (at the planning stage)

10

11

12

IPOCA member

MoU signed

IPOCA member

13

14

15

*IPOCA – International Proof-of-Concept Centers Association http://www.techopedia.com/definition/4066/proof-of-concept-poc

**CDIO – Conceive Design Implement Operate http://www.cdio.org

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Skoltech Newsletter March 2015 (Eng)

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