RUSSIA: MOSCOW STATE UNIVERSITY COMPUTER MATHEMATICS

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 MOSCOW 001495

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE

SIPDIS

DEPARTMENT FOR EUR/RUS (GUHA),OES/STAS (DR. ATKINSON),OES/STC
(DAUGHARTY)

WHITE HOUSE FOR OSTP (DR. MARBURGER)

BERLIN FOR ROBERT HAGEN

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: TSPL TNGD RS
SUBJECT: RUSSIA: MOSCOW STATE UNIVERSITY COMPUTER MATHEMATICS
DEPARTMENT COUNTS ITS BLESSINGS


1. (SBU) SUMMARY: The dean of the mathematics and computer science
department of Moscow State University recently provided EST an
overview of his domain. Although the level of funding for science
education remains low as a percentage of the overall budget, he
reported that government revenues have increased lately and private
companies have started to make contributions. Graduates of the
programs still have bright employment prospects, he said, but
lagging financial support imperils future scientific advances in
technical areas. END SUMMARY

THE FACULTY OF MATH AND COMPUTERS
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2. (U) EST explored Russian mathematics and computer science
education at the Moscow State University (MGU) Faculty for Computer
Mathematics and Cybernetics on March 16. Dean Yevgeniy Moiseyev
hosted a lively roundtable with three of his colleagues. The
Faculty was created in 1970 to pursue developments in the new field
of computer mathematics by combining the computer and mathematics
departments of MGU and the Applied Mathematics Institute of the
Russian Academy of Sciences (RAS). There are 17 academic chairs
loosely divided into three scientific areas: programming (including
artificial intelligence and computer technologies); operational
research and forecasting; and mathematical modeling (in such fields
as biology, medicine and ecology). Of 560 members on the teaching
and research staff, more than 300 have the equivalent of a Ph.D. or
better. Fourteen scientific laboratories are associated with the
computer mathematics group. IBM is sponsoring a joint laboratory
for work on supercomputers.


3. (U) More than two dozen full and corresponding members of the
Academy of Sciences are on the Faculty. A full member of RAS, Dr.
Moiseyev has been Dean since 1999. Dr. Yuriy Osipov, the RAS
President, is a professor in the department of Optimal Control,
which studies practical applications in physics, economics,
engineering, metallurgy and machine-building. Even with such high
level connections, the Faculty only received 35 million rubles
(about $1.3 million) in 2006 from MGU's grant of one billion rubles
($373 million) under the government program called "Innovations in
Education." Ten million rubles was used to develop eight programs
for Master's degree students. Between ten and 15 million rubles was
spent for new equipment, and six to seven million rubles went to
foreign study for Faculty employees. The State University of New
York system has a distance learning program linked to MGU's
mathematics program.

STUDENTS
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4. (U) Only 20 percent of the applicants to MGU are admitted, and
they are selected through a countrywide competitive program of
academic "Olympiads." The Mathematics Faculty accepts 340 students
annually into degree programs with full scholarships from government
and university grants based on performance in the competitions.
Another 100 to 150 applicants, mostly foreign students from China,
Vietnam and Korea, are admitted to a full payment program, which
cost approximately $4,600 each last year. Dr. Moiseyev estimates
the cost will increase to nearly $6,000 in 2008.


5. (U) Vice Dean for Academics Dr. Boris Berezin estimated that
about 20 percent of students go on to post-graduate studies, and
only six percent pursue careers in "pure" science, as opposed to
business. When asked about the quality of students, Dr. Moiseyev
said that students are better now than 10 years ago, but are not at
the level of the Soviet period. Dr. Berezin noted that there is not
as wide a range of intellectual pursuits among students as in the
United States. (Comment: On other EST visits to MGU, graduate
students reported that they lack the sophisticated equipment that is
available in Western universities. End comment.)

EMPLOYMENT PROSPECTS
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6. (U) Vice Dean for International Relations Dr. Aleksandr Lukshin
cited a number of foreign companies -- Microsoft, Sun Microsystems,
Hewlett Packard, IBM -- as well as Russian companies and government
agencies that employed graduates of the degree programs. He said
Mathematics Faculty graduates command highly-paid starting salaries
for Russia, on the order of $1,000 to $2,000 per month. He saw the
main impediment to Russian development of the information technology
(IT) sector as the lack of such specialists. Asked if the students

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were attracted to employment opportunities in the new
high-technology parks, he responded that when Intel tried to hire
graduates for IT work in Nizhny Novgorod, only two signed up because
graduates don't want to leave Moscow. Dr. Berezin noted that HP had
set up a grant to the Faculty in 2006, and this year Russian
software companies Luksoft, Consultant Plus and Garant had already
made donations.


7. (U) Dr. Anatoliy Gulyaev, Deputy Vice Rector for Information
Technologies, said that graduates made more than professors. He said
there were limited opportunities to take consulting work, and most
professors relied on grants from government sources. (Comment: The
lack of perceived opportunity reflects the inability to
commercialize intellectual property. The Faculty pursues a varied
program of research and publication, but it doesn't produce
significant revenue from these sources. End comment.)

VIEW FROM THE IVORY TOWER
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8. (U) Looking to the future of science and education in Russia, the
professors said they were optimistic but realistic. Dr. Lukshin
remarked that Russia was trying to change from being mainly a
producer of oil and gas, but it was difficult because it was simpler
to buy high-technology goods than to learn how to produce them. Dr.
Berezin said it was necessary to spend a greater proportion of the
country's budget on research and development over the next 10 years.
Dr. Moiseyev summed up his hopes for Russian universities by saying
that "American universities are not strong because they are in the
United States, but the United States is strong because of its
universities."


9. (SBU) COMMENT: Russian scientists and academics who are in the
best position to observe the state of mathematics and computer
science education point to a recovery from the disastrous years
following the collapse of the Soviet Union. There is a realistic
chance for advances in cutting-edge technology based on Russia's
current economic prosperity and vast reservoir of human talent.
However, the country's comparative weakness in science education,
based on low investment in existing institutions and lack of
commercialization of innovations, will continue for the foreseeable
future to stifle progress.

BURNS