Here at Skoltech each course makes me progress significantly in short time periods. On my track during first year we have practice in laboratory, coding, analytical math and computer modeling! And there are so many smart people around from all over the world! I enjoy the process of figuring out in new science fields with my groupmates.

While at Skoltech, students had some freedom to curate their course uptake as it may align with research interests and career goals. I was open to opportunities to discuss and interact with like minds in and outside academia during my Master's programme in Materials Science. For me, the Skoltech learning experience was an embodiment of clear experiential improvements on all frontiers of academic and research excellence.

I chose to study at Skoltech because it allowed me to receive a world-class education, while also experiencing life in a foreign country. No where else could I live out my dream of living abroad in a cosmopolitan city like Moscow while studying at a top university. Skoltech encourages collaboration and team projects, teaches its students to make an impact, and this means that you learn how to create something that people can use.

Skoltech opens doors for many opportunities: educational, self-educational, and lifestyle. On my Materials Science track, I have been learning microscopic, electrochemical, and physical methods of analysis, boosting my skills, and enjoying every minute I spent at Skoltech. Thanks to the comprehensive entrepreneurship training available at Skoltech, I was able to transform my research interest into business and founded a startup company K-plus, and continuing my research I commercialize potassium-ion batteries.

Probably, the best thing about Skoltech Master's program is that one is free to take as much as he/she wants: there is no upper limit. For me, that was meeting with great people from various fields not limited to academia. For example, the "Ideas to Impact" course from the entrepreneurship block forced us to leave the comfort zone speculating about ideas and start real case work, performing customer development, talking to target audience and people whom you don't know (which was tough but particularly useful for me as a generally introvert person), and this all followed by further and further iterations. This would also be impossible without deep and intense teamwork, and I was lucky to have great fellows nearby. Then, negotiation skills and stress management courses by Prof. Dmitri Kulish is a special unbelievable experience I will miss a lot! At the same time, I was making the research I can be proud of, which was focused on the development of new catalyst for modern electrochemical energy storage systems, which is of utmost importance for today's ecological challenges. This research would be impossible without great supervision, and here I would like to take a chance and express my gratitude to Prof. Artem Abakumov, Dr. Maria Kirsanova and Dr. Victoria Nikitina. Their devotion to true science, to guide and give research freedom at the same time is something I will always remember with the warmest feelings possible.