🆕 Researchers from Skoltech, ITMO University and their colleagues have reported new findings about the behavior of microbubbles exposed to ultrasound. The work was published in the journal Acta Biomaterialia and was supported by grants from the Russian Science Foundation.
Microbubbles are already used in diagnostics, but their potential for therapy is immense. The study's results pave the way for creating safe and stable bubbles for noninvasive therapeutic technologies, such as activating anti-cancer drugs directly inside a tumor and delivering drugs to the brain through the blood-brain barrier.
The research showed that stabilizing additives make the bubbles more resilient and "calm," reducing the intensity of their pulsation by almost half. This transforms the process from chaotic bubbling into controlled pulsation. The shape and mobility of red blood cells were unaffected by the bubbles, so they do not disrupt the normal flow of blood and are potentially safe for administering into the body.
The work demonstrates that understanding the physics of microbubbles is the key to future noninvasive treatment methods where ultrasound becomes a tool for precise and safe interaction with the body.
Microbubbles are already used in diagnostics, but their potential for therapy is immense. The study's results pave the way for creating safe and stable bubbles for noninvasive therapeutic technologies, such as activating anti-cancer drugs directly inside a tumor and delivering drugs to the brain through the blood-brain barrier.
“Rather than work with living tissue, we aimed to figure out the physics of the bubbles,” said the lead author of the paper, Junior Research Scientist Tatiana Estifeeva from Skoltech Photonics. “When we know precisely how the bubbles behave at every stage, we can purposely design stable and safe chemical compositions to keep a handle on everything from the state of the protein molecules in the bubble shell to the effects on blood. In the future, such thoroughly researched bubbles could be used not just for visualization but for therapies that employ ultrasound as a very targeted and mild intervention.”
The research showed that stabilizing additives make the bubbles more resilient and "calm," reducing the intensity of their pulsation by almost half. This transforms the process from chaotic bubbling into controlled pulsation. The shape and mobility of red blood cells were unaffected by the bubbles, so they do not disrupt the normal flow of blood and are potentially safe for administering into the body.
The work demonstrates that understanding the physics of microbubbles is the key to future noninvasive treatment methods where ultrasound becomes a tool for precise and safe interaction with the body.
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🆕 Researchers from Skoltech, the University of Potsdam, and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology have discovered a fundamental physical law that governs the seemingly chaotic motion of chromosomes inside a living cell. The results have been published in the Physical Review Research journal and are supported by grants from the Russian Science Foundation and the German Alexander von Humboldt Foundation.
This discovery helps solve a long-standing biological mystery of how two-meter long DNA molecules, packed into dense chromosomes, remain mobile enough for vital processes such as turning genes on and off.
This discovery helps solve a long-standing biological mystery of how two-meter long DNA molecules, packed into dense chromosomes, remain mobile enough for vital processes such as turning genes on and off.
Kirill Polovnikov, the lead author of the study and an assistant professor at the Skoltech Neuro Center: “We developed a statistical physical model that shows that the motion of chromosome sections, as long polymer chains, obeys a universal physical law independent of the minute details of their structure. The key to the solution lies in considering not the point-like, but the collective motion of entire DNA segments. It turns out that the ability of a gene on a chromosome to shift as a whole (i.e., the diffusion coefficient of its center of mass) is inversely proportional to the number of letters in its nucleotide sequence. This is a universal principle of polymer chains, valid both in thermodynamic equilibrium and under cellular activity conditions, and is fundamentally linked to Newton’s third law.”
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🌎 From Shanghai to Stockholm: Skoltech scientists share cutting-edge research at leading global science forums
📍 China
— In Hangzhou, Associate Professor Dzmitry Tsetserukou, the head of the Engineering Center’s Intelligent Space Robotics Laboratory, and PhD student Artem Lykov (Engineering Systems program), took part in one of the world's premier robotics conferences — the 2025 IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems (IROS 2025). The Skoltech representatives presented talks on swarms of autonomous robots controlled by generative AI and on drone control using language models. Dzmitry also conducted a workshop on multi-agent cooperative systems and robot swarms in the generative AI era. The workshop was organized with the participation of Skoltech PhD student Oleg Sautenkov and representatives from Peking University.
— In Nanjing, Professor Albert Nasibulin from the Photonics Center gave an invited talk at the
2025 Jiangsu International Exchange Week on the Cooperation and Integration of Industry, Education, Research, and Application, where he discussed single-walled carbon nanotubes and their applications in electronics and optoelectronics.
— In Shanghai, Assistant Professor Dmitry Kolomensky, Associate Professor Dmitry Dzhurinskiy from the Materials Center, and Sergei Vasilyev, the deputy head of the Academic Relations Department, took part in the 23rd Conference on International Exchange of Professionals. In Xi'an, Sergei Vasilyev delivered a presentation on transferring laboratory developments to industry. During the visit, they discussed the establishment of a joint laboratory with Northwestern Polytechnical University and cooperation with Tsinghua Shenzhen International Graduate School.
— In Zhengzhou, Assistant Professor Yury Yanovich from the Wireless Center and Research Scientist Yash Madhwal from the center’s 6G Laboratory participated in the 8th IEEE International Conference on Blockchain. They presented research on a novel non-transferable NFT-based access control architecture that enhances scalability and privacy in decentralized systems.
📍 UAE
— In Abu Dhabi, Associate Professor Alexey Zaytsev from the AI Center presented a poster at the Workshop on Rethinking the Role of Bayesianism in the Age of Modern AI hosted by Mohamed bin Zayed University of Artificial Intelligence. He presented a theoretical framework for self-supervised contrastive learning of continuously dependent data.
📍 Turkey
— In Istanbul, Assistant Professor Maxim Sharaev, who co-directs the AI Center’s Skoltech-University of Sharjah BIMAI Lab, and Svetlana Illarionova, who heads a research group at the AI Center, presented two papers at the 14th IEEE International Conference on Image Processing Theory, Tools, and Application. They presented a new method for synthesizing medical images to diagnose complex neurological pathologies and the application of generative AI for virtual staining of biological tissues.
📍 Sweden
— In Stockholm, at the European Space Weather Week, research led by Associate Professor Tatiana Podladchikova, who heads the Engineering Center was recognized as the scientific highlight of the session. It models the "garden hose" effect in the interaction of the solar wind with satellites and paves the way for earlier and more accurate forecasting of space weather to protect orbital and terrestrial infrastructure.
📍 China
— In Hangzhou, Associate Professor Dzmitry Tsetserukou, the head of the Engineering Center’s Intelligent Space Robotics Laboratory, and PhD student Artem Lykov (Engineering Systems program), took part in one of the world's premier robotics conferences — the 2025 IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems (IROS 2025). The Skoltech representatives presented talks on swarms of autonomous robots controlled by generative AI and on drone control using language models. Dzmitry also conducted a workshop on multi-agent cooperative systems and robot swarms in the generative AI era. The workshop was organized with the participation of Skoltech PhD student Oleg Sautenkov and representatives from Peking University.
— In Nanjing, Professor Albert Nasibulin from the Photonics Center gave an invited talk at the
2025 Jiangsu International Exchange Week on the Cooperation and Integration of Industry, Education, Research, and Application, where he discussed single-walled carbon nanotubes and their applications in electronics and optoelectronics.
— In Shanghai, Assistant Professor Dmitry Kolomensky, Associate Professor Dmitry Dzhurinskiy from the Materials Center, and Sergei Vasilyev, the deputy head of the Academic Relations Department, took part in the 23rd Conference on International Exchange of Professionals. In Xi'an, Sergei Vasilyev delivered a presentation on transferring laboratory developments to industry. During the visit, they discussed the establishment of a joint laboratory with Northwestern Polytechnical University and cooperation with Tsinghua Shenzhen International Graduate School.
— In Zhengzhou, Assistant Professor Yury Yanovich from the Wireless Center and Research Scientist Yash Madhwal from the center’s 6G Laboratory participated in the 8th IEEE International Conference on Blockchain. They presented research on a novel non-transferable NFT-based access control architecture that enhances scalability and privacy in decentralized systems.
📍 UAE
— In Abu Dhabi, Associate Professor Alexey Zaytsev from the AI Center presented a poster at the Workshop on Rethinking the Role of Bayesianism in the Age of Modern AI hosted by Mohamed bin Zayed University of Artificial Intelligence. He presented a theoretical framework for self-supervised contrastive learning of continuously dependent data.
📍 Turkey
— In Istanbul, Assistant Professor Maxim Sharaev, who co-directs the AI Center’s Skoltech-University of Sharjah BIMAI Lab, and Svetlana Illarionova, who heads a research group at the AI Center, presented two papers at the 14th IEEE International Conference on Image Processing Theory, Tools, and Application. They presented a new method for synthesizing medical images to diagnose complex neurological pathologies and the application of generative AI for virtual staining of biological tissues.
📍 Sweden
— In Stockholm, at the European Space Weather Week, research led by Associate Professor Tatiana Podladchikova, who heads the Engineering Center was recognized as the scientific highlight of the session. It models the "garden hose" effect in the interaction of the solar wind with satellites and paves the way for earlier and more accurate forecasting of space weather to protect orbital and terrestrial infrastructure.
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🚀 Skoltech has presented its 2030 Strategy
Skoltech enters a new stage of development — the path towards leadership in creating critical technologies for Russia.
The new strategy defines the following goals:
🔹 Unites science, education, and industry.
🔹 Building an ecosystem where ideas turn into solutions and research becomes real technology.
Learn more about our plans on the official Skoltech website.
Skoltech enters a new stage of development — the path towards leadership in creating critical technologies for Russia.
The new strategy defines the following goals:
🔹 Unites science, education, and industry.
🔹 Building an ecosystem where ideas turn into solutions and research becomes real technology.
Learn more about our plans on the official Skoltech website.
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⭐️ Have you ever wondered just how long a single light-day can be?
On November 13, 2025, the Voyager 1 probe, the human-made object that has traveled the farthest from Earth, marks a symbolic anniversary that answers this question perfectly.
After 50 years of continuous flight, it has covered a distance equal to just one light-day. This means a signal from Earth, traveling at the speed of light, would need only a single day to catch up with the spacecraft humanity launched half a century ago.
But any long journey begins with an understanding of one's own home. This is precisely the task being undertaken by a team of scientists from Skoltech, under the scientific leadership of Associate Professor, Head of the Skoltech Engineering Center Tatiana Podladchikova. Her team studies the solar space weather, orbital mechanics, and spacecraft mission design, thereby laying the groundwork for future expeditions. The kind that will one day cover the distances we can only imagine today.
On November 13, 2025, the Voyager 1 probe, the human-made object that has traveled the farthest from Earth, marks a symbolic anniversary that answers this question perfectly.
After 50 years of continuous flight, it has covered a distance equal to just one light-day. This means a signal from Earth, traveling at the speed of light, would need only a single day to catch up with the spacecraft humanity launched half a century ago.
But any long journey begins with an understanding of one's own home. This is precisely the task being undertaken by a team of scientists from Skoltech, under the scientific leadership of Associate Professor, Head of the Skoltech Engineering Center Tatiana Podladchikova. Her team studies the solar space weather, orbital mechanics, and spacecraft mission design, thereby laying the groundwork for future expeditions. The kind that will one day cover the distances we can only imagine today.
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🎉 Time to celebrate!
Milena Gazdieva, a research engineer at the Skoltech Artificial Intelligence Center, has won the Yandex ML Prize award in the category for early-career faculty members!
At Skoltech, Milena teaches a course on generative AI, and her research interests lie in generative models based on optimal transport theory. A project based on one of these models was developed by participants of the 2024 Skoltech SMILES Summer School. The team won the award for best project among online participants.
The course developed with her participation covers both classical topics (Gaussian mixture models, variational autoencoders, etc.) and modern flow-based models — from fundamental principles to current research directions.
The Yandex ML Prize has been awarded annually since 2019 and aims to support teachers and researchers in the field of AI and machine learning. The winners receive monetary awards, grants to use the Yandex Cloud platform, and access to Yandex 360 services.
👏 Congratulations to Milena, and we wish her inspiration for new scientific and educational achievements!
Milena Gazdieva, a research engineer at the Skoltech Artificial Intelligence Center, has won the Yandex ML Prize award in the category for early-career faculty members!
At Skoltech, Milena teaches a course on generative AI, and her research interests lie in generative models based on optimal transport theory. A project based on one of these models was developed by participants of the 2024 Skoltech SMILES Summer School. The team won the award for best project among online participants.
"I am very happy that the award committee valued my teaching activities and my contribution to the development of courses on generative AI so highly. It all started with a mini-course that I helped develop and deliver at the Yandex School of Data Analysis in 2023. Then, in 2024, with my participation, this course was gradually refined and improved: in different versions, it was taught at several institutions and summer schools — for example, at the Skoltech SMILES Machine Learning Summer School. Finally, in the spring of 2025, we developed the course into Skoltech's first large-scale course on generative AI," said Milena.
The course developed with her participation covers both classical topics (Gaussian mixture models, variational autoencoders, etc.) and modern flow-based models — from fundamental principles to current research directions.
The Yandex ML Prize has been awarded annually since 2019 and aims to support teachers and researchers in the field of AI and machine learning. The winners receive monetary awards, grants to use the Yandex Cloud platform, and access to Yandex 360 services.
👏 Congratulations to Milena, and we wish her inspiration for new scientific and educational achievements!
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