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Albert Nasibulin
Full Professor
Skoltech turns 15 — a milestone
that would not have been
possible without the people
who have shaped the Institute
over the years.
Celebrate Skoltech! Behind every project, breakthrough, and new chapter in Skoltech’s history are the people who have contributed their knowledge, ideas, energy, and time. Many members of our community have been with us for 10 years or more, growing alongside the Institute and helping make it what it is today.
We are all Skoltech!
On this page, we have collected memories, interviews, and quotes from members of our community who were there at the very beginning, and who have dedicated ten, or even almost fifteen, years to Skoltech. Every word is priceless, and every moment is unique.
The people of Skoltech
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Anna Gogareva
Head of the Department
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Vladimir Pogosian
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Evgeny Nikolaev
Full Professor
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Rodion Gorbunov
Senior Procurement Specialist
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Yury Kostyukevich
Associate Professor
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Zhanna Saenko
Head of Treasury
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Nikolay Gorchakov
Head of Technosphere Safety
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Alina Sazonova
Manager
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Yury Popov
Expert
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Dmitry Tyagusov
Industry Project Manager
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Ivan Bogdanov
Deputy Head of Professional Training Programs
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Mariya Petrova
Recruitment Manager
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Vladimir Stukachev
Senior Research Engineer
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Aleksei Kulikovskii
1. Over the 10-plus years you have worked at Skoltech, what is the most vivid event you can recall?
Over the years I have spent at Skoltech, there have been many vivid events, and each of them reflects the Institute’s path and our team’s journey in its own way. I remember my first working day at the Hypercube very well: at that moment I felt especially strongly the energy of a new place, the scale of the ambition, and the openness to the boldest ideas. It felt as though I was not simply starting to work at a new university but taking part in creating a new academic and scientific environment — modern, international, and focused on solving real technological problems.
A particularly important milestone was the start of my teaching at Skoltech — launching the Carbon Nanomaterials course for students. I especially remember the off-site laboratory sessions at Aalto University: students had the opportunity to work with state-of-the-art equipment, see how leading research laboratories operate, and feel the close connection between fundamental science, engineering, and international collaboration.
Another important stage was the opening of our laboratory in 2020. It was a difficult period, but also a time when the team’s cohesion, willingness to take responsibility, and determination to move forward despite external circumstances became especially clear. In the years that followed, our team became one of the leading innovation and technology laboratories working in advanced materials and nanotechnology, with notable recognition both in Russia and internationally.
An important part of the laboratory’s life has also been our weekly floorball games. This is more than a sports tradition: staff, students, and doctoral researchers meet on the court, and playing together helps people get to know one another better, switch off after intense work, and strengthen team spirit. Such informal moments create an atmosphere of trust and mutual support that then naturally carries over into the laboratory and joint research projects.
And, of course, a very warm and meaningful event was recognition from students — receiving the “Professor of the Year” awards. For a professor, this is perhaps one of the most valuable awards: it means not only recognition of professional knowledge but also the trust of students, their interest in the subject, and the feeling that your work genuinely helps them grow and find their own path in science and technology.
2. If you were asked to thank one person, department, or unit, to whom would you address your gratitude? Who makes your working life better?
First of all, I would like to thank my colleagues — the staff, students, doctoral researchers, and researchers with whom we have worked and continue to work. Scientific results, new courses, and projects do not appear through one person’s efforts alone: behind them there is always a team with mutual respect, a willingness to support one another, and a commitment to doing work at a high professional level.
I would like to express particular gratitude to the students. Their questions, critical thinking, enthusiasm, and sometimes completely unexpected perspective on familiar scientific problems make teaching truly interesting. It is the students who constantly remind us that education is not a one-way transfer of knowledge but a joint search, discussion, and development.
I am also grateful to colleagues in Skoltech’s administrative units. Behind every course, project, piece of equipment purchased, trip, event, or laboratory experiment is a great deal of work by many people, often unnoticed. The support of these teams allows researchers and professors to focus on what matters most — science, education, and working with students.
3. Describe Skoltech in one sentence.
Skoltech is a place where ambitious scientific ideas come together with talented and strong people, an international culture, and the opportunity to turn research into technologies that benefit society and industry.
1. Over the 10-plus years you have worked at Skoltech, what is the most vivid event you can recall?
June 3, 2015, was a landmark and vivid event not only for me but for all of Skoltech. On the summer stage at Startup Village, our first graduates were ceremoniously presented with diploma number one by Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev. For us — the team that built Skoltech from scratch — the very first graduating class was our diploma number one: at that moment it was absolutely clear that everything had worked out, and our work had produced a result we could be proud of. And the selfie of the graduates with Dmitry Anatolyevich remains, to this day, the most emotional photograph in Skoltech’s history.
2. If you were asked to thank one person, department, or unit, to whom would you address your gratitude? Who makes your working life better?
I address my gratitude to the team with whom I have worked and continue to work for 14 years. These are my leaders, and I thank them for ambitious tasks and trust. This is the Institutional Development Department — an outstanding team in every respect — my colleagues in other departments, and, of course, the professors and directors. Without their support, many results in the Strategy and Development area would have been impossible.
3. Describe Skoltech in one sentence.
Skoltech is a task for those who aim higher — exciting and motivating.
1. Over the 10-plus years you have worked at Skoltech, what is the most vivid event you can recall?
Over my 10 years at Skoltech, some of the most vivid events have been the move to the campus, the improvement of the chemical reagent warehouse building entrusted to me, and the organization of workflows related to developing the Institute’s infrastructure and adapting work processes to new tasks and goals.
2. If you were asked to thank one person, department, or unit, to whom would you address your gratitude? Who makes your working life better?
Over the considerable period of working together at Skoltech, I would like to thank my direct supervisor, Andrey Studenikin, because I know I could always turn to him and he would always find time to discuss and resolve the issues and tasks.
3. Describe Skoltech in one sentence.
Looking back at the past and analyzing the present, I can say that Skoltech has become part of my life; Skoltech is a family.
1. Over the 10-plus years you have worked at Skoltech, what is the most vivid event you can recall?
The events I remember most vividly are those related to collaboration with MIT. Thanks to the efforts of Skoltech’s leadership and personally Alexander Kuleshov, a program of joint work with MIT units was organized, and my laboratory took part in it. In this project we demonstrated that Skoltech can conduct research at the highest international level.
2. If you were asked to thank one person, department, or unit, to whom would you address your gratitude? Who makes your working life better?
I cannot limit myself to one person or unit. Among Skoltech’s back office, I must single out the HR Department (and personally Elena Kosacheva) for their efficiency and exceptional friendliness in communication. Next on the list is the unit headed by Daria Romanova, and our PR group (Oksana Kurilova and Olga Ustinova).
3. Describe Skoltech in one sentence.
A wide and bright window into the international scientific and educational community.
1. Over the 10-plus years you have worked at Skoltech, what is the most vivid event you can recall?
The most vivid event was the long-awaited move to the new campus building on Bolshoy Boulevard.
2. If you were asked to thank one person, department, or unit, to whom would you address your gratitude? Who makes your working life better?
It would be my own Procurement Department, with which the most memorable moments are associated.
3. Describe Skoltech in one sentence.
Per aspera ad astra.
1. Over the 10-plus years you have worked at Skoltech, what is the most vivid event you can recall?
I can’t single out the most vivid event, because life and work at Skoltech are one big vivid event in themselves. Events that would be striking for any other organization are simply a usual thing at Skoltech. And work consists of a series of vivid events. Some you create yourself, others you take part in. I could more readily name periods without vivid events.
2. If you were asked to thank one person, department, or unit, to whom would you address your gratitude? Who makes your working life better?
I am grateful to Alexander Kuleshov, Oksana Kurilova, Olga Ustinova, Maxim Fedorov, Alexey Ponomarev, and Grigory Kabatiansky. At various times they played key roles in my work and career, and I am sincerely grateful to all of them. And, of course, to all the members of my research group, especially Sergey Osipenko.
3. Describe Skoltech in one sentence.
Skoltech is a special world, a slice of the future in the present.
1. Over the 10-plus years you have worked at Skoltech, what is the most vivid event you can recall?
Each successfully closed financial year is the main indicator of stability: behind millions of reconciled transactions and figures lies the continuous support of the life of the entire scientific organism.
2. If you were asked to thank one person, department, or unit, to whom would you address your gratitude? Who makes your working life better?
To the professionals — people for whom responsibility and team cohesion are the absolute standard. The stability of Skoltech’s processes rests on like-minded colleagues within, whose reliability has been tested over years and by complex tasks. It is this very attitude that enables us to move forward. Special thanks to my colleagues in technical support for their prompt support of banking processes.
3. Describe Skoltech in one sentence.
Skoltech is a place where the ambitions of big science are always backed by the internal stability of the system.
1. Over the 10-plus years you have worked at Skoltech, what is the most vivid event you can recall?
In my view, the most vivid event was organizing the fan zones for the 2018 FIFA World Cup at the campus at 3 Nobelya Street.
2. If you were asked to thank one person, department, or unit, to whom would you address your gratitude? Who makes your working life better?
Andrey Simonov — for his deep understanding of processes and comprehensive support in all professional matters.
3. Describe Skoltech in one sentence.
Developing and preserving Skoltech requires courage, fresh thinking, new ideas, a search for and understanding of society’s needs, and the right to make mistakes.
1. Over the 10-plus years you have worked at Skoltech, what is the most vivid event you can recall?
Over the years I have worked at Skoltech, many vivid events have taken place, and choosing just one is simply impossible. My very first strong impression came on my first working day. I was introduced to Elizaveta Tikhomirova, the author of the textbook I had used for five years to study legal English at HSE University. At that moment I immediately understood that working here would be truly interesting. The best time was when we worked with MIT and the main workday began after 4 p.m., when colleagues at the other end of the globe arrived at work. Together with Alexey Sitnikov, I twice organized Skoltech Board of Trustees meetings in Boston. It was a unique opportunity to hold a high-level event in a completely different corporate environment. And, perhaps, the most vivid memories of Skoltech for everyone who joined in 2012 will remain tied to our office at the Moscow School of Management, where every Friday we gathered in the kitchen, talked, and simply spent time together. Back then there were no boundaries between management, administrative staff, and students — it felt as though we were all one big family. We organized all the holidays ourselves: New Year, International Women’s Day, Cosmonautics Day, and others. Edward Crawley never stayed on the sidelines. He always supported our initiatives, gladly took part in them, came by to chat, asked how things were going, and personally praised each person for their successes and achievements. That is exactly what created a particularly warm, heartfelt atmosphere and a desire to keep moving forward and do better.
2. If you were asked to thank one person, department, or unit, to whom would you address your gratitude? Who makes your working life better?
Of course, it is Alexey Sitnikov. It was thanks to him that I came to Skoltech, where I met my husband, gained enormous professional experience, and met many wonderful people with whom I continue to socialize outside of work. Together with Alexey Yuryevich, we carried out an incredible number of interesting projects, in addition to the Board of Trustees — there was a great deal of interesting work on fundraising, on Skoltech’s International Advisory Council, and on launching engagement with the alumni community. He also supported my move into marketing: I mastered a completely new field, trained as an online marketer, carried out a virtual tour project, and grew substantially as a professional overall.
3. Describe Skoltech in one sentence.
Skoltech is a unique international project and idea that was unlucky with political events, but that will forever remain in our hearts.
1. Over the 10-plus years you have worked at Skoltech, what is the most vivid event you can recall?
Each of the dozens of projects implemented at Skoltech in cooperation with leading universities and research centers in Russia and worldwide, and above all in cooperation with companies such as Gazprom Neft, Lukoil, Rosneft, Novatek, Zarubezhneft, and others, as well as with the Rosatom State Corporation, was a very vivid event. But I remember that in 2024, together with my Skoltech colleagues R. A. Romushkevich, E. Yu. Popov, E. M. Chekhonin, and M. Yu. Spasennykh, we published the monograph “New Methods of Experimental Geothermics and Results of Their Application.” It summarizes the results of our many years of work in the field of studying the thermal regime of the Earth’s interior and the thermophysical properties of the Earth’s crust. It covers the periods of our work in this field under the ultra-deep and parametric drilling program in the USSR/Russia (1983–2010), the International Continental Scientific Drilling Program ICDP (1984–2007), and cooperation with the international oil and gas company Schlumberger (1998–2014). Starting in 2014, Skoltech has been purposefully further developing this scientific direction, which is important for fundamental studies of the continental and oceanic crust and plays a significant role in the search, exploration, and development of hydrocarbon fields, geothermal fields, the creation of safe deep disposal sites for radioactive waste, and civil engineering. The result of this work has been conceptual changes in geothermic research methods, based on the broad international adoption of the technologies we developed for measuring the thermal properties of rocks and the methodology for recording vertical variations in heat flow, which has led to fundamental changes in ideas about the thermal regime of the Earth’s interior. Based on the results of this work, in the period after 2014 alone, about 40 articles were published in leading scientific journals, and technical solutions were protected by 10 Russian patents. The material in the published monograph reflects Skoltech’s leading role in this area of world science.
2. If you were asked to thank one person, department, or unit, to whom would you address your gratitude? Who makes your working life better?
The most important role throughout all my years at Skoltech has been and continues to be played by the special ability of the leadership of the Center for Petroleum Science and Engineering to organize effective, mutually beneficial cooperation with major Russian and international industrial and scientific partners. This deserves particular gratitude in light of Skoltech’s special role and tasks.
3. Describe Skoltech in one sentence.
Skoltech is an organization that must meet, and genuinely does meet, three requirements: (1) conducting scientific research and education at a level above the world standard, (2) focusing its work on solving major national economic problems, and (3) ensuring the interest of major domestic and international industrial and scientific organizations, companies, and corporations in active cooperation with Skoltech for the fastest possible implementation of its scientific achievements.
1. Over the 10-plus years you have worked at Skoltech, what is the most vivid event you can recall?
Even though we plunged into bureaucracy, turning the solving of problems that need not have been created into a daily routine, life at Skoltech quite often throws up memorable moments. It is hard to pick just one. I remember how Edward Crawley could casually sit down at your table in the cafe at the Moscow School of Management over lunch and strike up an interesting conversation on a non-work topic; the return of the first students from MIT; the launch of educational activities in the Hypercube; and a theatrical production staged by Skoltech staff on stage. Of course, warm feelings also arise from memories of preparing collective greetings from the men for International Women’s Day for the lovely ladies, the general gathering and celebration of the end of the world according to the Mayan calendar in the kitchen on the 7th floor at the Moscow School of Management, and taking part in competitions as a member of Skoltech’s futsal team. The commissioning of the campus, and then finally moving into it after so many years of waiting, will also remain in my memory forever. And that is only what comes to mind right away; if you dig deeper, you can recall much more.
2. If you were asked to thank one person, department, or unit, to whom would you address your gratitude? Who makes your working life better?
That is a good question, but it is hard to answer in a single word. Working life becomes better not thanks to some one person (unless, of course, you were hired “as a favor”) or department, but thanks to the way different people and units interact with you in solving various problems or tasks. So my gratitude goes to the entire team — the current staff and those who have already left Skoltech.
3. Describe Skoltech in one sentence.
If someone from outside asks for such a description, it is a place where you can simultaneously study, do world-class science, and launch your own technology project. But for me it is simply a home that I helped build as part of the “construction crew” from the swamp stage, and wherever life takes me, I will always keep Skoltech and the “idea of Skoltech” in my heart.
1. Over the 10-plus years you have worked at Skoltech, what is the most vivid event you can recall?
The opening of the campus, which the team had waited 7 years for.
2. If you were asked to thank one person, department, or unit, to whom would you address your gratitude? Who makes your working life better?
I can’t single out just one. Thanks to Edward Crawley for his brilliant leadership — he inspired like no one else. Thanks to Alexey Ponomarev for his unmatched strategic thinking — he solved unsolvable problems. Thanks to Alena Norko for her high-class management of commercial activities — she understood how Skoltech could earn money.
3. Describe Skoltech in one sentence.
A bold experiment in an era of rethinking the system, a beautiful metamorphosis with a difficult fate.
1. Over the 10-plus years you have worked at Skoltech, what is the most vivid event you can recall?
It is hard to choose a single event — during my time at Skoltech, an incredible number of them have accumulated. Perhaps I will share a few. First of all, our moves. We settled into new spaces twice: first, we set up a cozy office on Nobelya Street, and then we went through the large-scale and long-awaited move into our magnificent new campus. I remember with warmth the times when Skoltech was still quite small and we were based at the Moscow School of Management. Back then we had a completely family-like atmosphere: noisy and fun Friday Happy Hours, sincere collective birthday greetings for colleagues. From a professional standpoint, for me as an HR specialist, particularly special milestones were taking part in the large-scale job fair at the Technopark and, of course, working at the SMILES Summer School in 2024. It was an amazing experience.
2. If you were asked to thank one person, department, or unit, to whom would you address your gratitude? Who makes your working life better?
Throughout my time at Skoltech there was a great deal of communication, shared tasks, and joint projects with a wide variety of departments. Every candidate search and every meeting with managers brought unique experience and vivid emotions. Of course, at times I had to face difficult challenges and overcome obstacles. But it all began with one important person: the very first person I met at Skoltech was Victoria Kurakina — it was she who believed in me and took me into her team back in 2012.
3. Describe Skoltech in one sentence.
A place of opportunities for professional growth and self-development in an innovative environment.
1. Over the 10-plus years you have worked at Skoltech, what is the most vivid event you can recall?
The creation of the laboratory complex of the Center for Petroleum Science and Engineering. The active, dynamic, and intense work of building the laboratories in 2017 — from bare concrete walls to the dense integration of complex engineering and research systems of a large laboratory complex.
2. If you were asked to thank one person, department, or unit, to whom would you address your gratitude? Who makes your working life better?
To Alexey Cheremisin for bringing about the most vivid event at Skoltech, for creating a world-class laboratory complex. Alexey is my direct supervisor, so my first thanks go to him for his trust and for inviting me to work at Skoltech, and then for creating the laboratory complex and the laboratories. Outside the Center for Petroleum Science and Engineering, I want to thank Vladimir Pogosyan and his team for the impeccable organization of many logistical and administrative matters involved in creating the laboratory complex. Despite the high complexity, intensity, and at times unusual tasks, everything was handled with a smile, enthusiasm, a kind attitude, and “with soul.”
3. Describe Skoltech in one sentence.
A “thoroughfare” in the good sense. A high-traffic venue. Skoltech and the laboratory complex in particular have been visited by a large number of high-ranking, top industry specialists, executives, and even royal figures (the Princess of Thailand, one of the princes of Saudi Arabia).
1. Over the 10-plus years you have worked at Skoltech, what is the most vivid event you can recall?
The most vivid event was when I first served as an instructor for practical courses in molecular biology. I had conducted biology practicums before, but the Basic Molecular Biology Techniques course was on a completely different scale. Moreover, the year of my debut as an instructor coincided with a double quota of students: 30 in the autumn and 16 in February–March. It turned out to be a fairly intensive immersion and a vivid experience. I should also mention such a memorable period as the move to the new laboratory on the Skoltech campus. The pleasant surprise at the infrastructure, at the building itself, and, of course, the chores of setting up a new workspace, relocating, and establishing workflows.
2. If you were asked to thank one person, department, or unit, to whom would you address your gratitude? Who makes your working life better?
It is difficult to single out a specific person. During my time in the laboratory, I met many talented people who were part of our team, each with their own interests, ideas, and visions. The greatest thanks I must give to my former supervisors — Konstantin Severinov, thanks to whom I and many of my colleagues came to Skoltech, and also to my direct teacher and the person who probably invested the most effort in our research group — Svetlana Dubiley.
3. Describe Skoltech in one sentence.
A space of aspirations, challenges, and opportunities.