Studying in English in Russia: Student Ambassador in Innopolis University

Would you please introduce yourself? Your current school, position, course of study.

My full name is Thomas Gabriel Chung. I am currently studying for my graduate degrees in 2 universities in Russia.

The first school is Innopolis University where I am studying “Technological Entrepreneurship”, while the second school is Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology (MIPT) where I am studying “Modern State of Artificial Intelligence” (MSAI).

I am physically at Innopolis University, while I study at MIPT online. In that regard, I have been privileged to be a student ambassador for Innopolis University where I represent the school on various occasions.

 

What did you study previously and why did you choose entrepreneurship? How did you become a student representative (ambassador) and what does this role entail?

I studied Automation Engineering in my Bachelors and the normal trend was to continue my master’s degree in the same field and probably at the same university in Russian language. But I was tired of the same conditions I found myself studying in.

I was tired of studying in Russian language, I was tired of my previous university and I did not have enough passion for engineering again, which is in contrast to my childhood days. Also, taking into consideration the fast-changing world, it was smarter for me to follow how the world was changing and avoid being static.

I have also loved the whole idea of Artificial Intelligence, but I did not have a good computer background. So, getting the opportunity to study AI from MIPT was a great privilege I had to embrace even though it has been very stressful. Artificial Intelligence is a promising field that the world is shifting towards, so my decisions were perfectly aligned with my goals and the current trends in technology.

I became a student ambassador at Innopolis in December 2022 when the ambassadorship program just started. The university needed outstanding students that would represent her in various positions especially outside the school’s premises.

So, an announcement was made for outstanding students with some specific skills to apply for the program. I doubted if I was the qualified candidate for such a position. But some days back, I had just won a hackathon in the school, which motivated me to apply. I then applied, passed through an interview, and I was then invited for a meeting as one of the successful candidates for such a prestigious position where we were told our duties and the benefits of being an ambassador.

Some of the roles of the ambassador include: presents Innopolis University in other schools/universities, have interviews and live broadcasts, speaks about the university to other students, shares the values of the university, helps applicants in making applications and takes part in the admission process, have access to Innopolis products, etc.

That’s interesting! What professional opportunities are available to students of your school?

There are a lot of professional opportunities that come with studying in Innopolis.

At least you are sure of securing a job at a top Russian tech company like Yandex, MTS, Tinkoff, VTB, Sberbank, etc (because these companies partner with Innopolis), except you are not serious about it. You have a smooth ground to launch and grow your project/business idea. You also have internship opportunities also at the best IT companies.

You work mainly with recruiters from Russia since you will be working in Russian IT companies. But you will most likely get an English job since most students that graduate from Innopolis speak English as their main language, thereby, working with various international recruiters/employees.

The university has advanced laboratories and research centers where big tech giants like Huawei, Yandex, Gazprom, etc come to do research over here. Because of the environment and atmosphere, Yandex is testing their delivery robots, self-driving cars, etc at Innopolis as well as other companies too. And students have opportunities to participate in these projects. Testing of drone deliveries will start at Innopolis this year too.

There is also a startup studio that accelerates startups, provides assistance in applying for grants, mentoring support, etc.

Innopolis is such an open community that you can walk up to anyone to discuss anything, thereby, developing your network. You will meet with professors from different countries, CEO students of big startups, developers, etc. So, if you are smart enough, you will end up building a network that will build and help your career.

Because of the type of training you will receive at Innopolis, you can basically work adequately in any IT company at any position. You can easily start as a middle/senior developer instead of a junior developer, project managers, CEO, CTO, data scientist, ML engineer, technical leader, researcher, etc.

 

What kind of courses can I study as a Masters student in Innopolis? Is it necessary that my Bachelor’s degree is in a related field of study?

There are basically 5 master tracks in Innopolis which includes: software engineering, security and network engineering, artificial intelligence and data science, robotics and computer vision, and information technology entrepreneurship.

You can have a bachelor’s degree from another field and still apply to a different track in Innopolis. You only need to prove that you have a background knowledge of the course you are going for and your motivation for choosing that course.

 

Does your uni offer study abroad or exchange programmes during Masters degree studies? Do I study in Russian? Can I study in another language during my studies?

Yes, every semester, students can apply to partner universities abroad for an exchange program. This program is available for both bachelor’s students as well as master’s students.

The main language of instruction in Innopolis University is English. So, all courses are taught only in English. You cannot study in another language, but you can take Russian language classes if you are interested in learning the language.

 

What can I do to improve my chances of admission? What do I need to apply to your university?

Innopolis is purely a tech school, and to get in, you have to prove that you have a good knowledge of the course you are applying for. You don’t need to know everything, else, there’s no need to come to school again.

But having a solid foundation of your choice course is the most important criteria. And any course you will be studying is related to technology, so having a good problem-solving skill is vital.

And you should know at least one programming language, because in the application stage, there is a point where all applicants write a programming test and that will determine how many percent scholarship you will end up getting because not all students are awarded a 100% scholarship.

Asides the technical skills, you need to have a lot of soft skills like teamwork, communication, etc because your studies will always involve working in teams. Moreso, you get a very high advantage if you have won competitions, hackathons, olympiads, awards or any form of achievement.

In fact, if you have won a major competition or olympiad, you would be awarded additional scholarship asides the 100% you get. And with that, you will earn more stipends than other students when you resume.

To apply to Innopolis, each course has its requirements which you can check here for Bachelors and here for Masters.

So the documents needed are basically a degree/transcript (high school certificate for bachelor’s applicants and bachelor’s degree for master’s applicants), a CV, and a motivation letter for the first stage of applications. In the second stage, you write a programming test, have interviews and provide proof of language proficiency or write an English exam if you don’t have IELTS/TOEFL.

Work experience is a criteria for master’s students. But, not having work experience is not a major setback. As long as you have participated in projects, product development or any team work, then that is enough.

 

How does the Masters programme in your school compare to others?

Speaking now about Innopolis University, the masters program is really really intensive because we are meant to study for one year, after which we go to work in a company or we work on our businesses (entrepreneurs) for one year. This helps to give students both theoretical and in depth practical/industrial knowledge before graduation.

In other universities, students basically study for 2 years where they may have some research work or practicals within the school. But Innopolis allows students to earn money like employees in the process of their master’s degree.

Innopolis University is a very young university that just celebrated its 10th year anniversary in November, 2022. When you talk about technology, teaching, research, financial sustainability, and the likes, Innopolis always scores very high as one of the best in the country. The university is basically an IT university.

 

What is the agenda or workload of a typical Masters student? What campus amenities (dining halls, gyms, bookstores, library) are accessible to students?

As explained earlier, because your study is one year, you have to cover the curriculum of 2 years in one year, which makes the workload very intense.

The student affairs body is a whole department on its own. It is in charge of all extracurricular activities that happen in the university and there’s always funding for this department to make student’s life fun. This department organizes more than 200 events in a year. So, almost every 2 days, an event is going on in the university ranging from student’s clubs, sports, parties, competitions.

There are a lot of extracurricular activities that always take place, Yes, there are more than 50 clubs in the university- both technical and fun clubs.

Innopolis is a small smart city with all the facilities you will need. Everything is connected in one place. You get free self-driving taxis within the city, robots for delivery, gadgets like AR/VR headsets, cameras etc to use for your projects as long as you are a student.

Everything in the school is accessible to you as a student. You can organize your party/event and use the dining hall for free, the gym with swimming pool, sauna, etc are also free to all students, the reading hall/library is free for everyone, even guests, etc. Basically, anything you can find in the university is free for you as a student.

Thank you for your time, Gabriel.

 

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