📘 +1 #book for your shelf!

At the Innovation Workshop, we talk a lot about how to create products that people truly need.

Today, Boris Trigub, Head of Skoltech Student Support Center, shares his recommendation:

“Tony Hsieh’s book "Delivering Happiness. A Path to Profits, Passion, and Purpose" is considered a benchmark for building customer relationships. It’s a must-read for anyone interested in success stories of modern companies and the principles of building a business. The book is infused with attention to the end user and their needs, showing that the success of a product is built on exactly that. At the same time, it’s light and engaging to read: plenty of funny stories make it feel somewhat like Richard Feynman’s autobiography.”

A perfect read for those working on their project within Innovation Workshop — and who want to make it not only innovative, but also in demand. 💡

🆕 Skoltech scientists and their colleagues from other Russian medical research centers and mental health institutions have confirmed they can reliably distinguish patients with psychiatric disorders from healthy individuals based on nothing more than a blood sample. The study was published in the journal Biomolecules and was supported by the Russian Science Foundation.

Anna Tkachev, a co-author of the study, Research Scientist of Skoltech Neuro: “We know that serious psychiatric disorders leave molecular traces in the body, yet to this day all mental health diagnoses are made based on symptoms and the evaluation of a patient’s condition by a qualified physician. “As soon as objective biological markers of diseases are introduced, mental health professionals will have an entirely new set of tools to bolster their subjective assessments. Besides that, biomarkers can make a difference for patient screening or differential diagnosis early on, at a point when symptoms are either absent or ambiguous.”

🛰 Celebrating the anniversary of the launch of the first artificial Earth satellite at Skoltech!

On October 4, together with Skoltech scientists, we are hosting a big science festival — “A Day with Satellites.”
The program includes: a lecture about CubeSats, space-themed workshops for children aged 8 and up, a photo exhibition of images from Earth’s orbit, a demo zone with full-scale satellite models, and a small cryo-show.

👉 Bring the whole family to the Skoltech campus. Admission is free, but registration is required.

📣 Skoltech is now a partner of an international AI ethics conference taking place in Qatar.

The conference, “AI Ethics: The Convergence of Technology and Diverse Moral Traditions,” will be held in Al Rayyan at Hamad Bin Khalifa University. It is set to become a key platform for dialogue among the world’s leading experts in technology, philosophy, law, and policy.

The program features a presentation by Professor Ivan Tyukin from Skoltech AI. On September 29, the scientist will contribute to a session noscriptd “AI and the Changing Face of Care: Empathy, Professional Identity, and Human Connection,” where he will join colleagues to discuss how artificial intelligence is transforming the sphere of human care.

📽 Check out our atmospheric video about the final week of the Innovation Workshop! During the last five days, students refined their ideas, prepared for public presentations before mentors, and got ready for the long-awaited final project defense.

It had everything: the tension before stepping on stage, the joy of applause, and the pride in their team. ✨

🆕 Skoltech scientists, together with colleagues from the Institut Pasteur and the University of Lorraine (France), studied the recently discovered bacterial immune system known as PARIS. This system helps microbes defend themselves against viruses, and understanding its mechanisms opens new opportunities for developing phage therapy — an alternative to antibiotics in which bacterial infections are treated with viruses. The research was published in Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B and supported by the Russian Science Foundation.

Svetlana Belukhina, the first author of the study and a PhD student in Skoltech’s Life Sciences program, explained the results:
“In this study, we have refined our understanding of the interaction between phages and the PARIS immune system in multiple ways. First, we have shown that PARIS attacks three tRNAs, not just one. This is consistent with the way certain toxins work. Second, it’s been confirmed that replacing the attacked tRNAs is sufficient for a virus to escape PARIS. Third, we have demonstrated that this protection is merely a matter of several mutations: Even closely related phage strains that are very much alike may or may not carry the necessary ‘replacement tRNAs’ to escape PARIS. You can’t tell in advance by looking at the viral genome.”

The findings will help deepen our understanding of the evolutionary “arms race” between bacteria and viruses and bring us closer to developing more effective methods of phage therapy.

📚 In our #book section by a mentor of the "Innovation Workshop," we have a new recommendation! Today, the book is recommended by Alexey Salimon, Assistant Professor at Skoltech, Center for Digital Engineering:

The book's noscript, "Materials and Design," speaks for itself. It's an excellent introduction to the world of materials science and engineering design. The author shows how the properties of materials are directly linked to the products we can create and how to make choices that are both practical and innovative. Simply a "must-read."

📍 For participants of the Innovation Workshop, this book is a great helper when creating prototypes and selecting materials for their projects. The book pays a lot of attention to the cost of materials and processes, their performance, and will suggest how best to package a product for the end-user, which is critical for any startup.

✨ We can’t believe the Innovation Workshop is already over!

Over the past month, students not only got to know Skoltech, but also found like-minded peers, completed intensives under the guidance of mentors, created their own projects, and learned how to present their ideas in the best possible way.

Let’s relive these moments together — all the photos are now available in our VK album. 📸

💡Last week, Skoltech took part in the Artificial Intelligence Day dedicated to the 15th anniversary of the Skolkovo Innovation Center.

A Skoltech delegation led by President Alexander Kuleshov introduced seven AI-based developments to Dmitry Medvedev, Deputy Chairman of the Security Council of the Russian Federation and Chairman of the Skolkovo Foundation Board of Trustees:

1. Forecasting ice conditions in the Arctic using AI. A system that provides operational three-day forecasts of weather, ocean, and ice conditions along the Northern Sea Route. The service will soon be launched for open access, with subnoscription-based access to real-time forecasts.
2. Software for enhancing the resolution of satellite images and recognizing target objects. The solution is based on generative AI and allows for a four-fold increase in image detail. It is implemented by the Sputniks company.
3. Forecasting the probability of wildfires. Algorithms that forecast fire risks using remote sensing data, meteorological information, and terrain characteristics. The solution is currently undergoing operational use within the framework of the Ministry of Emergency Situations under a special license.
4. Identifying the source of atmospheric emissions. A tool for rapidly identifying sources of emissions, designed for use in environmental monitoring and industrial safety.
5. Detecting AI-generated texts by internal language structure. A multilingual system that distinguishes between human- and AI-written texts by analyzing the internal structure of language. Applicable for checking student work, media materials, and protecting against disinformation.
6. “Aging Clock.” An application for assessing biological age based on clinical and epigenetic data, currently used in clinical practice by the Russian Gerontology Research and Clinical Center.
7. “E-nose.” A sensor device for odor analysis with applications in security, the food industry, and transportation.

The AI Day also featured a strategic dialogue on the future of artificial intelligence in Russia and worldwide, bringing together more than 700 representatives of science, business, and government from leading research centers, major corporations, and state institutions.

💡 Skoltech teams showcased their projects at the Moscow Startup Summit, organized by the Moscow Government in collaboration with Sber.

The summit’s pitch sessions and exhibition featured the following Skoltech-born startups:

🔸 Labadvance — a developer of solutions for using microfluidic chips in the oil and gas industry and medicine.
🔸 NeurOmix — the world’s first omics platform for diagnosing mental and cognitive health.
🔸 Monisensa — a virtual energy audit system designed to improve energy efficiency and reduce the number of meters and sensors in use.
🔸 Digital Materials — a company creating fundamentally new materials and technologies.

Hydrocom delivered a pitch at the Youth Tech Startup Demo Day, where the jury included Viktor Vekselberg, the chairman of Skoltech’s Board of Trustees. Hydrocom is developing an innovative underwater communication system for divers.

Skoltech Professor Alexey Cheremisin from the Petroleum Center joined a public discussion on how to make the journey from researcher to company founder, sharing the story of building Labadvance — from the first ideas to methods of supporting and scaling them.

Watch the recordings of the presentations here: Labadvance, NeurOmix, Monisensa, Digital Materials, and Hydrocom.

⚡️ Wrapping up the InteRussia Fellowship at Skoltech

From September 1st, graduates of leading universities and aspiring researchers from Bahrain, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Brazil, China, India, Mali, Nigeria, Pakistan, Serbia, South Africa, Turkey, and Vietnam undertook training in the intensive "Innovation Workshop" course on technological entrepreneurship.

Over the course of a month, these young specialists from 12 countries went through the full cycle of product development — from the initial idea to a functional prototype. The projects were presented and defended before an expert jury comprising representatives from Skoltech and partner organizations. Several projects with InteRussia fellows were among the winners.

The InteRussia fellowship program for foreign specialists in STEM is implemented by the Mezhdunarodniki Autonomous Non-Profit Organization in cooperation with the Gorchakov Fund, the Skolkovo Institute of Science and Technology, and the Directorate of the World Youth Festival, with support from the ABS Electro Charitable Foundation and the Presidential Grants Foundation.