Materials Science Skolkovo Institute of Science and Technology (Skoltech)

Overview

Materials Science is an interdisciplinary educational program at Skoltech that emphasizes research into advanced materials, energy materials, carbon materials, metals and composites, biology materials, and computational materials design. The degree program builds encompasses core courses taught by Energy Center faculty and elective courses delivered by professors from other divisions, including the Photonics and the Materials centers. Our lecturers conduct cutting edge research in materials science as evidenced by their high median h-index of approximately 30, top-rated publications, and patents. In addition to the specialized expertise, the program brings an interdisciplinary mix of engineering and natural sciences coupled with industrial practice, innovation activities, and entrepreneurship, which is unique for universities in Russia and beyond. The education program consists of core and elective courses with recommendations for three tracks: Experimental Materials Science, Computational Materials Science, and Materials Engineering.

Tracks 

Computational Materials Science

In this track, students gain knowledge and skills in Computational Materials Science including state of the art materials modeling, computer-aided materials design, materials data science.

Experimental Materials Science

In this track, students gain knowledge and skills in Materials Science with a focus on experimental approaches including material synthesis and characterisation, device fabrication and optimization, prototyping and production upscaling.

Materials Engineering

In this track, students gain knowledge and skills in Materials and Device Engineering in a range of applications including nano-structured materials, mechanical and chemical sensors, optoelectronics, solar cells, rechargeable batteries and other electrochemical energy storage and conversion applications

Our graduates will get all the necessary knowledge, skills, and hands-on experience to

• understand the physical and chemical processes occurring in materials during their synthesis, processing, and application 
• search, interpret, and analyze scientific data, using modern research tools and software
• synthesize new materials using a wide variety of modern methods including solid-state, hydrothermal, co-precipitation, and others 
• characterize materials properties using diffraction, spectroscopy, microscopy, electrochemical, and other methods 
• model materials using quantum chemistry, density functional theory, molecular dynamics, and machine learning methods 

• prototype devices: metal-Ion batteries, solar cells, gas sensors, electrolysers, flexible electronics, and others 

• communicate and work effectively in international and multidisciplinary environments on projects with research groups or industry teams

Future career

• Industry: landing specialist positions in engineering, manufacturing and support in various fields (batteries, solar cells, etc.), as well as Skolkovo resident companies and startups
• Science: landing PhD positions and continuing research at leading Russian and international universities and research entities
• Startup: starting a business on their own or through the Skolkovo innovation ecosystem with its extensive pool of experts, partners, consultants, and investors