More than 40% of Skoltech students build own businesses, provost said
Almost half of Skoltech students are successfully building their own businesses, said Raj Rajagopalan, the provost of the University of Science and Technology (Skoltech), in an exchange with Sk.ru, the Skolkovo Foundation website
Sep 12, 2014
Skoltech, a university partnered with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in Boston, is the educational arm of the Skolkovo project set up in an effort by the Russian government to wean the economy off oil and gas and create more start-up businesses.
Asked to evaluate the success of Skoltech at this early stage— the institute is only entering its third academic year—provost Rajagopalan pointed to a key performance metric.
"Based on what I hear, the students have done very well. Over 40% are already entrepreneurs," said Mr. Rajagopalan, who until recently directed Middle East collaborations for the National University of Singapore.
Innovation is the backbone of Skoltech: its entire curriculum is geared toward the application of knowledge created in the research process.
The renowned American engineer and scientist Arden L. Bement, who is on the Skoltech board of trustees, told Sk.ru in an interview last month that "students are clearly outstanding" and would "compete well in almost any university in the world."
Asked to evaluate the success of Skoltech at this early stage— the institute is only entering its third academic year—provost Rajagopalan pointed to a key performance metric.
"Based on what I hear, the students have done very well. Over 40% are already entrepreneurs," said Mr. Rajagopalan, who until recently directed Middle East collaborations for the National University of Singapore.
Innovation is the backbone of Skoltech: its entire curriculum is geared toward the application of knowledge created in the research process.
The renowned American engineer and scientist Arden L. Bement, who is on the Skoltech board of trustees, told Sk.ru in an interview last month that "students are clearly outstanding" and would "compete well in almost any university in the world."