By: Modern Russia and Edward Crawley on June 27, 2012
Modern Russia interviewed Edward Crawley, the CEO of Skolkovo Tech, at SPIEF 2012, to find out more about how the university plans to attract foreign students, tackle the brain drain and foster innovation in Russia.What are your impressions of SPIEF 2012? Generally when it comes to meetings like this, the program is a means to collect people to interact much more quickly than they would otherwise do. In the course of the day, I have already spoken with three or four major university presidents within Russia and outside of Russia. I would have to travel for a week to meet those people if they were not here. The same goes for leaders of industry and investors. The value of this sort of meeting is primarily that it provides very efficient networking. I am a little surprised that there is not a broader representation of the international community. Even so, Russia and its direct economic partners felt that with such a large economic zone, it is important to meet this year. You have selected the first group of students for Skolkovo Tech. What kind of professionals are you planning to turn out? How will you reconcile research and entrepreneurship in your program – a rather new combination in Russian education?Our students will all be researchers as well as take some number of graduate-level, master-level and doctoral-level subjects. They all participate in master- and doctoral-level research programs. They all write a thesis about their work. But they are also simultaneously involved in learning about innovation and entrepreneurship. We imagine that every student will take an introductory course in these fields. We call it “introduction in innovation”. Some of the students will take courses in entrepreneurship, design, large system analysis, manufacturing and logistics which will give them the skills to turn the science into real goods and services, real products. The important thing however is to build their confidence, so they can do create innovative products. To be innovative and especially to become entrepreneurs (which means being “innovative squared” because you have to come with a new product and a company), you have to have confidence that you can do it. What we fail to do in education is give students a sense of empowerment, a sense of confidence that they learn useful knowledge and that they know how to turn it into something that will be commercial. So we will include in Skolkovo Tech’s curriculum very specific elements that will allow the students to apply what they learn towards innovation, entrepreneurship and manufacturing.Do you see a role for Skolkovo Tech in the process of modernizing the Russian economy?Absolutely. It goes without saying that the larger Skolkovo project is a key piece of the modernization transformation of the Russian economy. It has very strong support at the highest levels, not only in the government, but also among Russian and multinational companies. Internationally, it is very well known and its role in the economy is highly anticipated. As President Putin said at SPIEF, the Russian economy largely runs on natural resources. While it is still endowed with natural resources, it has to be transformed and modernized to be more of an innovation and manufacturing base. We plan to be involved in these aspects. We have to create an economy in which our students can find jobs. We want to be involved in bringing large-scale manufacturing to Russia. I think that Skolkovo Tech will be a catalyst not only to the Skolkovo project but we will also have influence on the whole education system. We want to create a mechanism by which the international academic community can come to Russia and connect with the Russian research community, institutes and strengthen these relationships. How will you have a concrete impact on the economic development of Russia? Many young dynamic Russians are moving abroad – is there a risk that Russian graduates of Skokovo Tech may not use their expertise in Russia?There is that risk. But there is also an opportunity that some capable Russians will return, and we see very strong evidence of this. In our applications for faculty positions and research programs, the Russians living abroad are very strongly represented. We cannot think of stopping the brain drain, we have to think of creating mobility, allowing people both to leave and return to Russia. Our education system at Skolkovo Tech is largely based on the EU model - teaching in English, one-year degrees, European transfer system – so that Skolkovo Tech will be known within the network of European as well as Russian universities. The way to win is to create places in Russia where people would want to come to. We want to create an opportunity space in Skolkovo where people will want to move because there will be an exciting intellectual, physical and cultural community. To what extent have you succeeded so far in attracting international students, and what are you doing to attract more? Can Skolkovo Tech contribute to building an international profile for Russian higher education?The pattern of international students coming to Russia has been limited in the past 20 years. If we create an education at Skolkovo Tech in the European context, it will all of a sudden become desirable to enroll in a master’s, doctorate or a post-doctorate program here. It is in fact already starting to happen; although it will take time. This year we admitted 21 students who are all Russian citizens. Next year we will enroll about another 30 students, including, we hope, about ten international students. We are just now starting to ramp up the information campaign to get the word out and invite students around the world to apply to our master’s program. It will take a little while. When we start creating the research centers, which will have an international focus, it is the natural pathway for the students in those universities and those research groups to then come and receive a degree at Skolkovo Tech or join the faculty.
Source: modernrussia.com