🎉 Skotech's project "Mathematical Walks" published in China shortlisted for the "For Fidelity to Science" Award!

The project "Mathematical Walks" has been nominated for the 11th All-Russian Award "For Fidelity to Science" in the Russian Science for the World category (in honor of Konstantin Ciolkovskij).

The book, created by Skoltech in collaboration with the Paulsen publishing house and the Chinese agency Rightol Media, is a collection of interviews with leading Russian mathematicians. The edition has been translated into Chinese and was presented to a wide audience in China and Southeast Asian countries this year.

The winners and diploma recipients of the Award will be announced on October 24. You can learn more about the award here.

🆕 Skoltech researchers have created a promising catalyst to speed up a chemical reaction producing clean hydrogen fuel from the urea contained in wastewater.

While that process is known to be catalyzed by various forms of nickel, the Skoltech team has now shown nanowires of that metal embedded in purposely defective carbon nanotubes treated by nitrogen plasma to be particularly fit for withstanding the aggressive alkaline environment of the reaction. This makes the new nickel-based catalyst not just effective but long-lasting, which is an important advantage for future electrolyzers producing hydrogen in a clean way, while also removing urea from wastewater. The findings are reported in the journal Small. The study was supported by the Russian Science Foundation.

Aliya Vildanova, the first author of the study and a research intern at the Laboratory of Nanomaterials of Skoltech Photonics and a PhD student in the Institute’s Materials Science and Engineering program: “As humanity phases down fossil fuels, one of the main available ways of storing clean energy is in the form of hydrogen fuel. There are multiple industrially relevant chemical reactions used to produce hydrogen, all of them relying on catalysts. Urea oxidation is a promising approach, because it consumes less energy than other competing processes and because it doubles as a wastewater purification technique. We have optimized the catalyst material, reducing its degradation in the harsh reaction environment. This could later be used in electrolyzers producing hydrogen.”

🥳 Thirty-four researchers from Skoltech have been ranked among the world’s top 2% scientists by Stanford University and Elsevier! The ranking is based on citation metrics and research impact, excluding self-citations.

🔸 Distinguished Professor Artem Abakumov of the Energy Center — inorganic and nuclear chemistry.

🔸 Research Scientist Vladimir Anisimov of the Material Discovery Laboratory — applied physics.

🔸 Professor Evgeniy Antipov of the Energy Center — inorganic and nuclear chemistry.

🔸 Leading Research Scientist Denis Baranov of the Physics Center — nanoscience and nanotechnology.

🔸 Professor Valeriy Bukhtiyarov of the Energy Center — physical chemistry.

🔸 Professor Evgeny Burnaev of the AI Center — artificial intelligence and image processing.

🔸 Professor Dmitriy Chudakov of the Bio Center — immunology.

🔸 Senior Research Scientist Shadfar Davoodi of the AI Center — energy.

🔸 Professor Vasily Fedotov of the Photonics Center — optics.

🔸 Associate Professor Federico Ibanez of the Energy Center — electrical and electronic engineering.

🔸 Research Scientist Igor Ivanov of the Omics Technologies Center — general physics.

🔸 Leading Research Scientist Anatoly Kamchatnov of Krichever School — fluids and plasma.

🔸 Senior Research Scientist Yaroslav Kartashov of the Photonics Center — optics.

🔸 Research Scientist Andrei Katanin of the Material Discovery Laboratory — applied physics.

🔸 Senior Research Scientist Vladimir Kolesnikov of the Materials Center — artificial intelligence and image processing.

🔸 Professor Alexander Korsunsky of the Engineering Center — mechanical engineering and transport.

🔸 Late Professor Igor Krichever of Skoltech — general mathematics.

🔸 Professor Ivan Kulakov of the Petroleum Center — geochemistry and geophysics.

🔸 Distinguished Professor Pavlos Lagoudakis of the Photonics Center — applied physics.

🔸 Research Scientist Ivan Leonov of the Material Discovery Laboratory — applied physics.

🔸 Distinguished Professor Artem R. Oganov of the Material Discovery Laboratory — applied physics.

🔸 Professor Ivan Oseledets of the AI Center — artificial intelligence and image processing.

🔸 Professor Andrei Osiptsov of the Energy Transition Center — energy.

🔸 Associate Professor Alexander Safonov of the Materials Center — materials.

🔸 Principal Research Scientist Alexander Shalin of the Photonics Center — optics.

🔸 Professor Alexander Shapeev of the AI Center — materials.

🔸 Professor Stanislav Smirnov of Krichever School — general mathematics.

🔸 Associate Professor Andrey Somov of the Engineering Center — electrical and electronic engineering.

🔸 Professor Gleb Sukhorukov of the Neuro Center — chemical physics.

🔸 Associate Professor Dzmitry Tsetserukou of the Engineering Center — industrial engineering and automation.

🔸 Professor Dmitry Yarotskiy of the AI Center — networks and telecommunications.

🔸 Assistant Professor Chengdong Yuan of the Petroleum Center — energy.

🔸 Associate Professor Sergey Zagoruyko of the AI Center — artificial intelligence and image processing.

Congratulations to our scientists! 🎉

Six more Skoltech scientists — Physics Center Director Vladimir Drachev, Bio Center Director Mikhail Gelfand, Photonics Center Professor Albert Nasibulin, Omics Technologies Center Director Evgeny Nikolaev, and Materials Center Professors Ghader Rezazadeh and Oleg Vasilyev — were included in the updated ranking for career-long impact (including 2024).

Learn more here.

🧠 The international conference “AI Ethics: The Convergence of Technology and Diverse Moral Traditions” took place in Doha, organized by Hamad Bin Khalifa University with the support of UNESCO, Qatari ministries, Skoltech, and other partners.

The event brought together leading experts, researchers, and policymakers to discuss ethical and regulatory aspects of artificial intelligence — from health care and urban planning to finance and security.

Among the participants was Professor Ivan Tyukin from Skoltech’s AI Center, who took part in the panel discussion “AI and the Changing Face of Care: Empathy, Professional Identity, and Human Connection.” He addressed issues of trust in AI, transparency of performance metrics, and the vulnerability of large models to external manipulations. In the discussion, Tyukin called ethics “nonalgorithmizable” and expressed hope that humanity would strive to use the technology responsibly.

The conference was attended by Her Highness Sheikha Moza bint Nasser, ministers, and leading figures from the academic community.

Skoltech participated as an institutional partner alongside the University of Cambridge, Carnegie Mellon University in Qatar, and other academic organizations committed to shaping a balanced approach to the rapidly evolving field of artificial intelligence.

🆕 Researchers from Skoltech, in collaboration with colleagues from the University of Iceland, the University of Warsaw, and the Institute of Spectroscopy of the Russian Academy of Sciences, have for the first time created a reconfigurable polariton 2D quasicrystal. The breakthrough, published in the prestigious journal Science Advances and supported by Grant from the Russian Science Foundation

They demonstrated that this unique state of matter exhibits long-range order and a novel type of phase synchronization, opening new pathways for research into exotic phenomena such as supersolids and superfluidity in aperiodic settings.

Sergey Alyatkin, the first author of the paper and an assistant professor at the Photonics Center of Skoltech: “We found a complex interference pattern in the plane of the microcavity sample as polaritons from different nodes of the Penrose mosaic ballistically propagate and interact.”

🎉 Skoltech turns 14!

From an ambitious startup in education to a factory of technologies — Skoltech has become a place where ideas, discoveries, and leaders are born, shaping the future of science and industry.

Our greatest strength is our people — professors, researchers, engineers, non-academic staff, students, alumni, and partners who build, drive, and inspire our university every day.

Thank you for being part of this journey.

Happy Birthday, Skoltech! 🧡

President of Skoltech, RAS academician Alexander Kuleshov.

🎉 They say a place becomes special because of its people and their stories. For this birthday, we decided to create a collective portrait of our campus — not through official reports, but through the personal lens of those who study and work at Skoltech.

Looking at these photos, we see the real Skoltech — vibrant, diverse, and full of amazing people. Our campus is not just walls and laboratories, but first and foremost — an atmosphere, a culture, and a community.

You can find all the photos with the personal stories of our participants about why a particular spot became their favorite in our VKontakte album.

Happy Birthday, Skoltech! 🫰🏼

🤩 From an Idea to the Factory of Technology — that is the 14-year story of Skoltech.

📷 For Skoltech's birthday, our photographer Timur Sabirov has prepared a special collection of his work. The lens captures familiar and unfamiliar angles of the campus, showcasing the institute's architecture, atmosphere, and life.