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 -------------- ¶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 -------------- ¶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 -------------- ¶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 MOSCOW 00001495 002 OF 002 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 -------------- ¶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