Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology

Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology (abbreviated Phystech or MIPT, Russian language: Физтех or МФТИ) is one of the better known Russian universities, sometimes referred to as the "Russian MIT". The Institute's primary facilities are located in Dolgoprudny, Moscow's satellite town. Admission is highly competitive, depending on performance in nation-wide competitions.

History

The Institute was founded in 1946 as a department of Moscow State University by a group of prominent members of USSR Academy of Sciences. Originally the Department of Physics and Technology of Moscow University, it was granted independent status in 1951, numbering famous Russian scientists, Nobel Prize winners Pyotr Kapitsa, Nikolay Semyonov, and Lev Landau among its founding professors.

Over the years, MIPT became the main training facility for researchers and engineers in the areas of applied and theoretical physics. The so called "Phystech System" (of education) is famous for preparing a large part of the Soviet/Russian scientific resources over the course of half-a-century.

Phystech system

For the first three years of education, all students undergo extensive training in physics and mathematics ( with few differences between programs of different departments ); they also take side courses such as English language, history or chemistry. Most courses consist of two parts - lectures and seminars ( problem-solving sessions ). Lecture attendance is usually optional, whereas seminar attendance affects grades. Full load of a typical 1st- or 2nd-year student is around 35 hours a week, not including homework. By skipping lectures, (s)he can reduce it to around 20.

During enrollment, each student is assigned to a certain "base institute" - a research institute somewhere in Moscow or its suburbs that conducts research, specific to his/her interests. Starting typically in 4th or 5th semester, students have to commute regularly to their base institutes, where they attend lectures of leading scientists in their fields and, eventually, conduct research with them. Frequency of their visits goes from 1 day a week during the third year to 4-5 days a week during the sixth year.

Since 1998, after 4 years of education, students are required to pass a comprehensive physics examination and then awarded a Bachelor's degree diploma.

Towards the end of their education, students have to write and defend a thesis before graduating.

Although the complete course of education in MIPT takes 6 years, just as an American Bachelor's degree followed by Master's degree, it is improper to equate them. Education in MIPT is considerably more intensive and more research-oriented, whereas an American M.S. graduate is usually focused on taking classes and rarely does any research. Many people believe that MIPT diploma is roughly equivalent to an American Ph.D. in physics.

MIPT is commonly missing from the worldwide top university rankings ( e.g. the famous Shanghai Jiao Tong University ranking). This is primarily due to the fact that most distinguished professors work in base institutes rather than MIPT itself, students' scientific publications also rarely mention MIPT, and, as a result, university's ranking ends up "spread up" among 50+ base institutes. Nevertheless, MIPT should be considered one of the strongest physics institutions in the world, probably on par with MIT.

Demographics

Currently the institute has 8 departments, with an average of 80 students enrolling into each department each year. Students typically enroll immediately after completing the high school at the age of 17. About 15% of all students are residents of Moscow; the rest come from all over former Soviet Union. Most of non-local students live in the dormitory on the campus at least for the first 4 years. Older students often either move to base institute dormitories or rent apartments ( given average scholarships on the order of $40/month and 1-room apartment rates in Moscow starting at $400/month, they are usually forced to find day jobs ). Student base is almost exclusively male, with fraction of women in a given department rarely reaching 15% ( having 2-3 women in a class of 80 is not uncommon ).

There is no reliable statistics of careers of MIPT graduates. Many continue their research in the base institutes. Some graduates become businessmen or software engineers. Some, especially high-performing students of prestigious departments ( DGAP, FAME ), go on to get second degrees from foreign instutitions. In the past, some students were known to have been admitted ( all expenses paid ) into Ph.D. programs of American universities as early as after 3rd year of education.

Departments

Radio Engineering and Cybernetics
General and Applied Physics
Aerophysics and Space Research
Molecular and Biology Physics
Physical and Quantum Electronics
Aeromechanics and Flying Engineering (located in Zhukovsky)
Applied Mathematics and Economics
Problems of Physics and Power Engineering

Famous faculty and alumni

External link