On January 31, Skoltech celebrated the end of a new milestone — the tenth Independent Study Period 2025. This academic year, the students could choose from more than 50 courses, from bodybuilding and the Serbian language to the basics of programming for data analysis and the craft of coffee making.

Image 1. A class held by instructor Dmitry Krasnikhin. Course — Roadmap to Career Success.

A compulsory curriculum element for all first-year master’s students, the ISP aims to engage all parties in the educational process, where students discover new talents, hone their project and teamwork skills, and gain interdisciplinary and teaching experience, while faculty, researchers, and staff use the opportunity to test their ideas, which are then developed into full-fledged courses with student feedback in mind. External experts are also invited to teach their own course, sharing their expertise with the next generation of innovators.

Image 2. Teamwork at the EQ & NEG Hardcore Games course.

Professor Carlo Nervi from Skoltech’s Material Discovery Laboratory joined ISP 2025 for the first time with a course on catalysis and electrocatalysis: “During my lessons I tried to explore a relatively large and complex research subject from a practical viewpoint, giving some ‘food for thought’ to the students. From the student viewpoint, it is a good opportunity to expand the knowledge towards other fields, having the possibility to taste the flavor of a less known subject, or to explore less common or alternative views of the matter. At the same time professors that start the teaching activity at Skoltech have the opportunity to integrate in the Skoltech system.”

Image 3. A class of Professor Carlo Nervi. Course — Catalysis and Electrocatalysis: Experimental and Theoretical Approaches.

Timur Gafitulin, an external expert who along with Sergey Dutov presented mental models for strategic thinking in innovation, praised the students for their competence: “They are so smart! I teach TRIZ practices to a wide range of audiences and I have noticed that Skoltech students have both extensive scientific knowledge and good thinking skills, which proves that Skoltech’s recruitment and selection system works well.”

Timur also appreciates the unique nature of ISP: “This format is certainly useful, as it helps both to share expertise beyond the course content and to explore new promising topics that can later be included in the standard program. And how else can you do that if not through these experiments?”

Image 4. Students at the Chess Practice for Soft Skills Development course.

On February 17, the traditional Best ISP Student Course Competition announced its winners. The competition was launched in 2023 to recognize students who created and successfully delivered their own advanced courses. Winners will receive a special scholarship under the “Innovation activities” category. This year, the following winners were identified:

• First place — Saumit Paul, a first-year MSc student, Petroleum Engineering program. At ISP 2025, Saumit taught a course on 3D world-building in Unreal Engine 5.

• Second place — Anastasija Cvijovic, a first-year MSc student, Advanced Manufacturing Technologies program. At ISP 2025, Anastasija taught Serbian language.

• Third place — Aigul Nasibullina, a PhD student, Life Sciences program. At ISP 2025, Aigul taught a course on neuroscience of emotional intelligence.

• Third place — Ilya Borovik, a PhD student, Computational and Data Science and Engineering program. At ISP 2025, Ilya taught a course on speech synthesis and voice cloning.

Image 5. Awards ceremony at the Best ISP Student Course Competition 2025. 

For the second year in a row, Skoltech invited school students from the Skolkovo Gymnasium to join ISP. This year, more than 20 instructors agreed to host the gymnasium students, who studied on an equal footing with Skoltech students, attended classes, and did their homework. The gymnasium students appreciate this opportunity, which helps them learn a lot of new things and try themselves in the role of university students. When applying to universities, the gymnasium alumni will include an ISP certificate in their resumés to increase their chances of admission.

In 2025, Skoltech held the ISP for the tenth time. Since 2016, the number of courses and participants has steadily increased, giving aspiring instructors more opportunities to try out their ideas. The ISP webpage on the Skoltech website features highlights from each ISP week, as well as insights from Alexander Chekanov, the head of startup incubation programs, and Oksana Kotovskaya, a PhD student and the first winner of the Best ISP Student Course Competition. They shared how they planned their courses, what challenges they faced, and what lessons they learned, as well as some useful tips for those considering joining ISP as instructors.

Image 6. A laboratory class held by PhD student Azat Meshcherov. Course — Phytopathology: The Invisible Battle among the Kingdoms.