Program outline
Name of the Institute/Faculty: Faculty of Physics
Type of program: BA
Duration: 4 years (full-time)
Value: 240 credit points
Language: English
Key features:
- hands-on learning; study of fundamental concepts involving experiments
- participating in high-tech engineering and production processes
- individual support of students;
- involvement in international research
- teamwork
The best research and graduation papers are presented at international conferences and published in leading international journals.
Job opportunities: research and technology companies, institutes and universities.
Subject areas:
- Fundamental and Experimental Physics,
- Mathematics,
- Computing,
- Applied Physics,
- Technological Innovations.
Physics
classical fields:
- mechanics, electricity and magnetism, optics, molecular physics, atomic physics.
modern research fields:
- nano-electronics and nano-photonics,
- Terahertz technologies,
- high-temperature superconductivity.
Russian Government covers full-cost scholarships for 10 best applicants. Other means of financial support are available.
Contacts:
Grigory Goltsman — program manager
E-mail: goltsman@mspu-phys.ru
Tel: +7 (499) 246-12-02
Interview
An interview of professor, head of MPGU Institute of Physics, Technology and Information Systems Department of General and Experimental Physics Grigory Goltzman with Boston University professor Alexander Sergienko about collaboration programs of MPGU and Boston University and the competitiveness of MPGU graduates at the international environment.
Alexander, we have started our collaboration a long time ago – as I remember, 10 or more years ago and now we have few former students between. Can you say a few words about first students you know for a long time and other students that you have met at Boston University?
First of all it`s a great pleasure to work with your students and participate in the collaborative programs. And yes, we`ve been doing it for more than 10 years now. And I enjoy the very sophisticated and intellectually exciting collaboration with your team in general. We`ve been happy to use your excellent devices, that are still best in the world, I mean supercontacting photon counters, and during this exchange I have chance to work with your graduate students to see how there level of education at MPGU compares with other schools from around the world. In my practice I was able to work with students from the US institutions – Cornell University, Yale – and Italian, French students. And I should say the level of preparation, the background level of your institution students is extremely competitive. And I would say it`s on power and even higher than the others I had a chance to work with. And the reason of it is the depth, the breath and complexity of the research and education programme in your university, that pushes students to go beyond the comfort level of minimum efforts which many American students like to do – minimum. But when you go beyond that you learn more and can do more. These days everywhere in the world and in USA particulary there is great deficit of a good students and I must confess that last few years more and more are very respective schools are first of all going and selecting the graduates from Russia. From different institutions in Russia and from this institute in particularthe level of preparation goes not only from knowing basic courses, they usually already exposed to initial research in laboratories, based on examples of research that is not just for practice, research that is related to the top-level tasks that have been pursued by many teams around the world. So there`s really top knowledge level of research activity and the students these years have chance to participate in this and they acquire skills that are extremely valuable later on when the apply to graduate schools abroad.
There is Government program, when the student can apply for beat American and European universities, after that the Government pays for it and after the student must come back for three years. And very interesting that the Ministry of education and science says only few students apply for that. This year we will start the program to teach students physics in English. So we start to investigate what Master and PHD courses the students will have. And Minister Livanov said there are less application that they have money.
I can imagine lots of reasons – any student from Russia that goes abroad is pushing the envelope of comfort because it requires efforts. New environment completely stressfull and the student the first is to do willing to do that. And second student`s to be prepared to do it at minimum comfortable level to manage he or she will be able to communicate at the sufficient level to get the benefits of classes just to stay in the class and understand 90% of the substance. The tendency is that US education become more and more popular at the graduate level. Because the level of research in American universities is still significantly higher. And the level of technology, equipment and tasks, problems, that laboratories are working on are challenging forefront of modern science. And the main motivation is that obtaining the PHD from the leading university is opening the road to pretty good academical area and work to do research in industry as well. And there are multiple examples of that.
Olga Minaeva, the graduate of the physics department of Moscow Pedagogical State University, now lecturer at Boston University, research associate, speaks about her life at Boston and language barriers overcoming.
What did you get while studying at the MPGU bacсalaureate?
I think I get a unique possibility and unique experience here. I`ve got regular my physics and math during my last year at a bachelor program. And I spend most of the time at master program at the experimental labs.
Which course have you studied?
We had three subdivisions – theoretical physics, nuclear physics and experimental physics.
What was your most significant impression? May be you have some story?
I was lucky when was at my third year of bachelor program – one of my professors of physics invited me to work in a lab. I remember my first day in a lab – it was something mysterious. Something behind these doors that all professors go. It was absolutely different world. You have chance to talk to professors any time and any questions. Science related, life related and you have chance to ask very experienced people.
What do you feel about your colleagues in US? Did they have some advantage?
I feel pretty confident right now after several years in US. Originally they have an advantage because English is their native language. But this wasn`t big problem for us, because with good level of physics I`ve got here after two-three months got in the environment there. And after experience I`ve got here allowed me to start working in the US labs immediately without any adjustments.
But what about difficulties an education process?
May be I`ll not answer, as I`m working in US for years now? I think not only we have it at good level in my opinion in higher physics but it`s also broader education. I got my bachelor, master and PHD in physics – we studied chemistry, biology, history – what you never meet in American universities. So right now for example I work at a biomedical lab, which doesn`t have physics even in a title, working in a local agent and knowledge of physics allows me to work from one division of science to another one pretty flexible.
