INDEPENDENT UNIVERSITY OF MOSCOW

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About the Independent University of Moscow

The Independent University of Moscow was founded in 1991 on the initiative of a group of well-known mathematicians who now comprise its Academic Council. This group includes the following members of the Russian Academy of Sciences: V.I.Arnold (chairman of the Council), S.P.Novikov, Ya.G.Sinai, L.D.Faddeev, V.A.Vassiliev and the following professors: A.A.Beilinson, † R.L.Dobrushin, B.A.Dubrovin, A.A.Kirillov, A.N.Rudakov, V.M.Tikhomirov, A.G.Khovansky, M.A.Shubin. Professors P.Deligne and R.MacPherson of Princeton and MIT also played crucial roles in the founding of the University, as did the well-known instructor and organizer of mathematical olympiads, N.N.Konstantinov. In December of 1996, the first seven graduates of the University received their diplomas. The University is a private institution of higher learning for the training of professional mathematicians. Its founding organization is the Moscow Center for Continuous Mathematical Education.

Since 1993, the University has offered a (three-year) graduate program. Currently, the following academic advisors work with graduate students in the University: Professors A.I.Bondal, B.L.Feigin, M.V.Finkelberg, Yu.S.Ilyashenko, A.G.Khovanski, A.M.Levin, A.N.Parshin, V.A.Vassiliev, M.I.Vishik, A.G.Vitushkin, O.V.Schwarzman, M.A.Tsfasman, F.L.Zak.

The University has a working agreement to collaborate with the well-known French institution of higher learning, École Normale Supérieure (ENS). Each year there is an academic exchange: the best undergraduate and graduate students of the University have the opportunity to spend one month at ENS (in Paris) attending seminars headed by leading French mathematicians; and the University, in turn, opens its doors to students from ENS, for whom special courses are organized.

The curriculum of IUM generally requires 5 years to complete (students can sometimes shorten or lengthen this term, depending on their individual needs and interests). In order to successfully graduate from the University and receive a diploma, a student must pass exams in all required courses and in some elective courses, and then must write and defend a thesis. In their first and second years students study the following subjects:

• Advanced calculus
• Algebra
• Geometry
• Complex Analysis
• Topology

The subjects of elective courses and of required courses for third, fourth, and fifth year students change from semester to semester.

Courses offered in the current semester and earlier (in Russian)

In addition to mathematics, students in the University study the French or German language. Classes at the University take place in the evening (approximately at 5:00 PM). This is to accomodate the fact that many of our students supplement their coursework at the University with classes at other institutions of higher learning (most often--but not always--in the Department of Mechanics and Mathematics at MSU). For the convenience of our students studying at other institutes of higher learning, the University schedules its examinations at an unusual time: students can either take them at the beginning of the "traditional" study period (November-December and April-May) or immediately after the student holidays (September and February). The University includes a library, which at this time houses approximately 10,000 books. The library receives a number of scholarly journals: thanks to the University's close connections with the French Mathematical Society, the American Mathematical Society, and the Dutch publishing house Walter de Gruyter, foreign publications (including the well-known journal Annals of Mathematics) arrive in the university's library significantly earlier than in any other academic library in Moscow. Students at the University have the opportunity to work in a computer room and to use electronic mail. Study in the University is free. Students are paid a modest stipend.

In order to become a student at the IUM, one had to take a written mathematical entrance exam in the end of June or in the beginning of September. You can familiarize yourself with previous years' entrance exams for the IUM (in Russian). In 2004, however, it was decided, by way of an experiment, to cancel entrance exams; to remain a student after the first semester, one will have to pass successfully the three final exams.

The IUM has a special program for foreign students, conducted in English by its best professors. For information, click here.

Anyone who wishes to can become a non-matriculated student at the University (it is not necessary to take the entrance exam for this). Non-matriculated students do not receive a stipend and cannot use the IUM library, but in other respects enjoy the same rights as official students. Non-matriculated students who successfully complete the exams for the first semester become official students of the University. It is also possible, say, to become an official third-semester student by passing the exams for the first two semesters, and so on.

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