New Rector - Milestone for Skoltha

Russian universities fell into a difficult situation. In order to be noticeable on the world map of education and science, it is necessary to play according to international rules. And they are not so easy to observe in the current international situation. How to successfully develop Russian universities in the conditions of sanctions? Olga Orlova asked the new rector of the Skolkovo Institute of Science and Technologies Alexander Alexander Kuleshova in the Hamburg account program on the Russian Facial Television . We publish an edited transcript of the conversation.

Alexander Petrovich Kuleshov is a specialist in the field of information technology and mathematical modeling. From 2006 to 2015, he headed the Institute for the Problems of Information Transfer named after Kharkevich RAS and headed the departments in the MFTs and the Higher School of Economics. In 2011, he was elected academician of the Russian Academy of Sciences. In 2013, he became one of the initiators of the creation of a commission of public control over the reform of science. In 2016, he headed the Skolkovo Institute of Science and Technology as a rector.

-Alexander Petrovich, this year Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev signed a decree on your appointment by the rector of Skoltkh. There were a lot of joked about this purpose: they say, it happened as part of the general direction of import substitution. American Edward Crowley, rector of Skoltha from MIT, was replaced with a proven person from the defense industry and director of the Academic Institute, that is, in all respects of a beneficential person. What does your appointment mean for such a global university as Skoltech, for its orientation to the international market?

- Generally speaking, this is a completely natural rotation. Firstly, Crowley had long said that there is a certain period for which his appointment was designed. Therefore, there are no surprises, everything happened absolutely systematically, gradually. We transferred powers for several months. He still remains a professor in the space center. That is, nothing dramatic for Skolkovo happened. Yes, there was one leader, it became another.

- That is, this does not mean any change in the development vector of Skoltech?

- No, absolutely. And I can say that the idea itself was completely correct. I was sure of this before, so now. And there will be no revolutions. This is evolutionary development.

- Fine. Look, over the past two years, Skoltech has left a number of foreign employees - how are the researchers and administrators. These are several prominent figures at once. At the same time, it was understood that Skoltech was looking for employees and teachers in the international market. But for the past two years, we have, firstly, serious inflation. This is time. This affects salaries. Secondly, the image of Russia in the international arena has changed. We have sanctions. And these factors - how do they affect the personnel policy of Skoltech?

- Yes, some employees left Skoltech. But nothing dramatic happened. Three people quit, but there were various reasons for this, starting from the wife’s illness and ending, indeed, some fundamental issues. But generally speaking, my own calculation is based mainly on the return of the diaspora, that is, those people who have worked for 10–20 years at the best Western universities. In the early 1990s (maybe you remember) there was such a joke, not ours, American: “What is an American university? This is the place where Russian professors teach the Chinese and Hindus. ” And in a sense, it really was. Now this is not at all the case. Nevertheless, a very significant Russian diaspora abroad exists. And I see my task, first of all, to rely on this diaspora. From all points of view, this is much more effective.

- How do you motivate people to go to teach to Skoltech? What are your arguments? How do you convince them - why do you need to work in Skoltekh?

- There is never any general motivation. All people are arranged differently, everyone has different circumstances. I know this perfectly, because I have been doing this for a very long time, I returned people to the Institute for Problems of Information of Information RAS. For example, there is such a trifle at first glance. If the children went to school and have already studied for three years, then it is useless to talk with a person. He can no longer transport children here. They still speak Russian, but they already write badly. This is a giant problem. Either you have to talk with someone who has no children or whose children still did not go to school, or already with the one whose children scattered. These are just life circumstances.

- Is this your personnel experience?

- Certainly. I just know Twerdo who you can talk to, for which strings you need to eat. Yes, this is a really great personnel experience, this is true. For example, now, the new center of promising research was headed by Professor Igor Krichever, who was the dean of the Faculty of Mathematics of Colombian University. This man is really a star in the world of mathematical physics. He has his own thoughts that I just knew. Considerations, perhaps, are wonderful , but really existing. He says: I need to wean my grandchildren in the 57th school, because there is no such school in America. Of course, the universities are wonderful, but there are no such schools that remained in Moscow in America. <...>

- That is, you practice a point approach?

- I have a kind of network around the world: everyone knows about everyone.

- Fine. And if you talk about money, then the situation is now complicated in scientific organizations. For many scientific organizations, budgets were reduced first by 10% last year, now this year again by 10%. This is very significant. What happens to the money in Skoltech and in this regard, respectively, what salaries do you offer on average in the market?

-You know, for many years, Rolls-Royis employees in the column “Power” wrote: “sufficient”. I will answer exactly like this: enough. Our leadership did everything so that I could just answer this question “enough”. Of course, our science is fantastically underfalled compared not only with Western - compared with almost any foreign science. This is an absolute truth. But with Skoltkh for me the main call is to show that it is profitable to invest in science. Obama at one time announced that $ 140 came to every invested dollar in the genome program. (In how this is calculated, I don’t know.) You see, Skolkovo’s task is to prove that this is possible in Russia. And the problem is that if this does not happen, if all this, God forbid, ends with another linden, then the next 30 years it will be scorched land, because everyone will remember: but, yes it was already - all, never again.

- Alexander Petrovich, how can this be shown, if we have Skoltech, is this a unique experiment? In this situation, in such a situation and organizational, financial, and even psychological, perhaps, only Skoltech is now. Previously, somewhere else 5-6 years ago, we had two universities-Rash and HSE, who could afford to hire teachers and professors in the world market at world standards and at world salaries and prices. Then Skoltech appeared, and he was also able to afford it. But Skoltekh still has a very special device, fate and management.

- Understand, I worked in Phystekh and at the Higher School of Economics. I well understand the general situation at universities in both Moscow and Russia as a whole. And I can say: the opinion that our faculty corps completely outlived itself, that he was completely degenerated and is not capable of anything-absolute is not true. Yes, in Skoltekh now a truly unique interdisciplinary small team has been assembled - only about 150 people. In its qualification, in terms of interdisciplinary, it is really unique to Russia. This is true. I know very well that there are magnificent professors at Moscow State University, and MFTs, and so on. <...> It is very difficult to assemble such groups. And with us they gathered from the very beginning. <...>

- You called one of the very serious competitive advantages of Skoltha multidisciplinary content: strong researchers can solve complex complex problems. What are you still seeing the strengths of Skoltha? What is its unique competitive advantages in the educational market?

- Oddly enough, this is English. In Skolkovo, the official language is English. All internal correspondence is in English. Lectures are given in English. Seminars are in English. This is extremely important. Do you know, what is the problem? We have a task set by the president’s decree - about increasing the level of publication activity. But we just do not know how to write articles in English. And you know: you can hire any of the best translator, but he will not translate a professional article to you. She immediately goes to the basket. It is necessary to increase publication activity. But what? For example, in old institutes, such as the institution of information transmission problems, the closest to me - yes, the old ones teach young people there and everything naturally runs away. There are no translators. Everyone writes in English themselves. Clothing training. <...> Scientists must travel, establish their own connections, look for opportunities. No Internet will replace personal communication. No reading of articles will replace immersion and joint work with colleagues in other countries. This is an absolutely necessary component of any scientific work today.

-Alexander Petrovich, a few years ago, very skeptical opinions were expressed in connection with Skoltkh due to the fact that there were no full-fledged laboratories. After all, you can’t even create them in a clean field in a year. What is the situation with the laboratory base in Skoltekh?

- First -class. Just first -class. Today's laboratory base in Skoltekh is simply a first -class.

- In what directions?

- Photonics, materials, robotics - you can’t list everything. Today in Skoltekh absolutely first -class scientific equipment. I know the leading universities in the world firsthand, but I saw a lot. I know perfectly well MIT, Stanford, and USC, and French universities, and German universities. Believe me, today we have a first -class laboratory base. We now have a problem in another. We suffer from a lack of area. We are now renting premises on the territory of Renova. And what does it mean to shoot? In a year there will be a campus. They already removed 1.5 thousand square meters. m, to put petrochemical complex equipment there.

- Both students and graduate students have access to him and can already work, participate in experiments?

- Certainly. We have a student workshop. I saw plots of prototyping both in Russia and in the West a million. But when I first went through the workshop of Skoltech, I even asked the guide: “I was amazingly done. I have never seen it so convenient. Who did it? " It turned out to be a mitoshny project. Here I must say thanks to them. There really is everything that is needed for prototyping. And it works 24 hours a day 7 days a week. There is an American Brenton, a young guy, wildly passionate about all this. Students, graduate students, and a chertov cloud of people with burning eyes are constantly crowded there. Very pleasant atmosphere.

- What would you say to potential applicants or students who enter the magistracy or graduate school, how would you motivate them: why do they need to choose Scoltech?

- The problem is that young people in Moscow and Peter to a very significant extent have lost interest in science for many reasons. And now the main stream of scientific technological leaders comes from the province. These are not old times. But to those who are passionate about science, I would say: “Come to us! We have everyone who will teach you, and we have everything to learn to you. ”

- Fine. But if you are talking about foreign students, why should they choose Skoltech? Why do they go here to you?

- You need to look at the status of the university objectively, and this is very easy. Namely: a list of professors, their CV-list and lists of their publications are taken (this is all on the Skoltha website)-and it becomes clear that this is really first-class faculty personnel. To do this, you do not need to be seven spans in the forehead. This is easy to see by just going to the site. You get a deliberately good education. Second. Laboratory equipment. Plus, they don’t take money from you.

- Why are you teaching foreigners for free?

-When in Soviet times there was the University of Friendship of Peoples, when future leaders of national liberation movements were taught, everything is clear there. We formed a certain intelligent layer that could support us. Why now? It seems to be a completely meaningless story. No, not meaningless. I explain. Because people should learn to international culture. We have students from Europe, from Canada, America, and other countries. Yes, there are few of them. But in general, 20% of foreign students. I don't think this is an eternal story. Skoltech should become a brand. Then we ourselves will take money for this. But, you see, this story with money and universities, generally speaking, is very wrong for us. How much does a year of study cost, for example, in MIT, say, at the Faculty of Engineering?

- 40-50 thousand dollars approximately.

- That's right. Yes. Lawyers and doctors are more expensive, and the engineering school costs about so much.

- And you think, a large percentage of people who pay for their own studies in MIT?

- insignificant. Everyone pays something, but, as a rule, very little. On average, scholarship funds, internal structures of MIT pay for percent Western universities live on enduums. These are fairy tales that they live with students' money. This is wrong. <...>

- Do you hope that Skoltech will also develop according to the enduum model?

- I would like.

- How would you determine the strategic directions of the development of Skoltha? Say <...> in 10-15 years?

-Firstly, I believe that Skoltech should remain a little university. Here he has KPI: 1.2 thousand students and 200 professors. I think that this is the maximum that we may go out in a few years and through which in no case we need to cross. But the university should be elite. Our main mission is to educate a scientific and engineering elite for our country. The elites cannot be much by definition. Our task is to educate the elite. How did phizteh form at one time? There were several smart people who explained to Stalin that it was necessary to educate the engineering, physical, mathematical elite of this country. And Skolteh should be the same right now. This does not interfere with other universities at all - you understand that we are by no means competitors either to physical or Moscow State University. Lord, the more, the better.

- In that case, how do the Relations of the Skoltha with the authorities develop? The current government understands that the elite should be brought up?

- It seems to me that he understands. I am not power. I am quite a long time from this.

“You're just on the other side.”

- In my opinion, they understand everything there. But without an experiment similar to Skoltech, we will never be able to achieve a really tangible result. We must prove that the country needs science not as an attribute of a civilized society, but as an object for investing money by taxpayers, as one of the pillars of the state. We were given this opportunity, and we must use it.