Отъезд

Applicant: Ivan Ivanov

Recommender: Prof. Petr P. Petrov

I have known Ivan Ivanov since February 2000. Being a second-year student, he attended my lectures on XX, and the next academic year - on YY. While attending my lectures, he showed himself as an active and hard-working student. We frequently discussed various physics problems beyond the scope of my course, and I was surprised by his remarkable analytical abilities and originality of his ideas.

After completing my courses Ivan continued to keep in touch with me.

In 2001 he joined Landau Institute Theory group. In order to be admitted to this group, Ivan successfully passed a highly competitive and difficult Landau Theoretical Minimum exam on Quantum Mechanics. This fact characterizes Ivan as a purposeful person with a great ability for independent work. He has also successfully passed non-obligatory Landau Theoretical Minimum exams on General Relativity, Statistical Mechanics and Electrodynamics of Continuous Media.

By now, Ivan's background in theoretical physics is strikingly deep and wide. In his bachelor thesis, which was in the field of quantum Hall effect, he used sophisticated techniques of modern Quantum Field Theory as well as Condensed Matter theory. Ivan’s profound knowledge of Quantum Field Theory is also proved by the fact that he has translated into Russian several chapters of XX's book "Quantum ...". His translation will be published in a few months by “Nauka”, the most respectable Russian scientific publishing company.

I regard Ivan's academic and research abilities as excellent. I'm sure that he is one of the top 2% of MIPT students. I strongly recommend him for graduate study at Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

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As a member of the Board of the Russian school Physics Olympiad I have known Ivan Ivanov since XX, when he was in high school. His prominent knowledge of Physics revealed even then. He became a winner of the Russian school physics olympiad three times in a raw that allowed him to become one of the 16 candidates to, and later one of the members of the Russian team on the Xth IPhO in Country X, where he was awarded Gold Medal and a Special Prize for the best solution of a theoretical problem.

Among other winners of the Russian Olympiad Ivan took part in winter (two weeks) and summer (a month) sessions of candidates to the team in XX. The sessions included advanced lectures on physics. Seminars devoted to theoretical problems and intensive laboratory courses were alternated with frequent rounds of problem solving contests designed to reduce the number of candidates from 16 to 5. Even though initially he had been placed 14th in our unofficial rating, his perseverance, purposefulness and diligence enabled him to enter the final membership of Russian team. During the time of sessions Ivan showed ability of quick perception of new ideas and using them in future, high intelligence and capacity for work.

When Ivan entered MIPT, he continued working hard. During his studies Ivan has been the best among all MIPT students of his age. Being in his second year, he became the absolute winner of Physics and Mathematics Olympiads among all undergraduates of MIPT. He was awarded Landau Institute fellowship, ITEP fellowship (awarded to 2 students among 80) and Lenin grant, which is awarded to one student out of 500. I believe that with his persistence and capacity Ivan will maintain the way he started.

There is an established tradition that students who have won the IPhO in previous years work as instructors in the sessions of the succeeding IPhO teams. Ivan Ivanov is one of such students. Being the leader of the training team I highly appreciate Ivan's activity. Students invent problems to solve, give seminars, laboratory classes and examine schoolboys' knowledge of physics. Ivan demonstrated brilliant mental abilities and theoretical skills, so we decided to try him as a member of the Board of Russian PhO in XX. I was impressed by his performance, so Ivan was invited to the Board permanently. He is one of a few students who is a permanent Jury member of such a high-level olympiad. I have no doubts that this activity gave him an excellent teaching practice. I would also like to notice that Ivan has perfect collaboration skills. It was a great pleasure for me to work with him.

Working at MIPT for many years I can compare Ivan's abilities with those of other MIPT students. For the last 10 years I have known only several students like Ivan quite well. For example, XX and XX (both are graduate students at Harvard now), XX and XX (they are graduate students at MIT), XX (now he is a graduate student at Cornell), XX and XX ( they are graduate students at Princeton), XX (he is a graduate student at University of California at Berkeley).

In sum, I am confident that Ivan is the best among approximately 500 MIPT students of his year. He has outstanding potential and motivation to succeed in a career as a physicist. He is diligent, bright-minded and trust-worthy in every way. I'm deeply convinced that students displaying such talents as Ivan’s, are able to study at graduate level successfully. Thus I enthusiastically recommend Ivan Ivanov for further education at Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

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have known Ivan Ivanov for approximately four years. During first two years he was attending my lectures and seminars in XX, XX and XX. Ivan is very active and sociable. We used to discuss different mathematical problems several times a week. During our discussions Ivan displayed great ingenuity and profound knowledge of mathematics far above the scope of MIPT program.

Ivan is one of the best students of his year. Two times he won highly competitive Mathematics Olympiad among MIPT students and Math Problems Solving Contest. He has always been a hard-working student. He attended many advanced lectures on modern mathematics at MIPT as well as at the Independent University of Moscow, a very strong Russian mathematical institution.

Ivan has excellent research abilities. He is extremely strong in solving non-standard problems in various areas. During his undergraduate studies he himself explored a scientific problem connected with XX problem. His solution of the problem was very elegant and I wasn't surprised when his article was accepted for publication in Mathematical Notes.

I consider Ivan as one of the top 2% MIPT students. He proved himself to be an organized and responsible person. Besides, Ivan is a very pleasant person to communicate with. I believe these qualities along with brilliant intellectual capacity guarantee Ivan's success in his future work. I highly recommend Ivan Ivanov and strongly support his application to Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

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I am delighted to support Ivan Ivanov's application to Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

I have known Ivan for more than 3 years. Initially, he was among 30 students out of approximately 600 who were exempted from entrance exams to MIPT due to their excellent performance on Russian Physics Olympiads. During his years at MIPT Ivan showed himself as a purposeful, self-organized person with very high intellectual capacity. He has been receiving extended scholarship from the Institute and was awarded with Landau Fellowship as a promising student-theorist. Being the Head of the State Examination Board at 3rd year students’ Final Exam on General Physics, I highly appreciated Ivan’s prominent knowledge of the subject.

Now Ivan specializes in theoretical physics at Landau Institute theory group. It is the most advanced theory group at our department. To enter this group one should pass highly competitive Landau Theoretical Minimum exam in Quantum Mechanics, based on Landau Theoretical Physics course and only a few students are able to do this. As for Ivan, he passed the exam half year before the deadline and was the 1st to be admitted in his year. This fact particularly emphasizes his outstanding potential and motivation to carry on advanced study in Physics.

Ivan gained excellent teaching experience at our Institute. He voluntarily worked as an instructor in physics and elementary mathematics at the School by Correspondence of MIPT, where he supervised about 30 schoolboys and schoolgirls during 2 years. As a responsible and very sociable person Ivan was chosen to be a monitor of his group, so he also has some public activity experience. I am sure that his ability to communicate easily will help him greatly in his future carrier of a physicist.

Ivan’s academic achievements should also be emphasized by the fact that he is the youngest student at our department at his 4-th year. During 3 years I monitored Ivan’s academic and personal growth and now I am convinced that Ivan belongs to top 2% of all MIPT students.

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I am pleased to write this letter of recommendation in support of Petr Petrov’s application to Princeton University.

I have known Ivan for almost two years. He attended my lectures on XX on his 2-d year at MIPT, and lectures on XX on his 3-rd year. Many times we had discussions that lay beyond the scope of my lectures and Ivan showed profound understanding of the material and proficiency in these areas. I personally examined him and gave him excellent marks on both courses.

Ivan has remarkable ability to grasp quickly the essence of new ideas and complicated concepts, such as those of Special Relativity and formalism of Quantum Mechanics, which distinguishes him from many others MIPT students. I should also mention his strong background in mathematics, which is very important for future theorist.

Upon finishing his 3-rd year at MIPT Ivan joined theory group at Landau Institute for Theoretical Physics.

Enrollment to this group is highly competitive and based on the results of special examination on Quantum Mechanics, called Landau Theoretical Minimum. The exam requires the knowledge of large amount of material which is not included into the curriculum and had to be mastered by a student independently. The fact that Ivan passed Theoretical Minimum successfully characterizes him as a very ambitious person with great potential for future specialization in any field of theoretical physics.

I consider Ivan as one of the top 2% of all MIPT students. His ability for independent learning, quick mastering of sophisticated material and mathematical skills make him an excellent candidate for Graduate program in Physics at Princeton University. I strongly recommend him for admission.

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Letter of Evaluation Applicant: Ivan Ivanov

I have been teaching physics at Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology for 30 years. I also take part in developing laboratory assignments and practice exercises for all MIPT students. Ivan Ivanov attended my weekly lectures and seminars on

XX Physics during his 3-rd year of education at MIPT, so I know him quite well to give him proper evaluation.

Ivan is very creative and broad-minded student. He always proposed original ideas and presented non-standard approaches to the problems discussed on my seminars. He possesses a brilliant physical intuition – the most important skill of a good physicist, which allows him to choose an appropriate physical model to tackle effectively most complicated physical problems. I am sure he is the strongest 4-th year student at MIPT now.

The course of Solid State Physics was especially interesting for him. He surprisingly fast mastered the ideas of quasi-particles and Bose and Fermi distribution, which are usually understood rather hard by other students. For his Final Physics Examination in June XX he has studied several articles on Quantum Hall Effect and presented an excellent report. He accomplished this rather difficult for a junior task on his own will, so I think he has a real interest and high potential for research in modern physics. By now Ivan has decided to specialize in theory, and I think his excellent abilities for qualitative analysis of physical problems will be of great help to him in his future theoretical research.

I should also mention here that Ivan is a very nice, tactful person and easy to communicate with, thus he would be good at collaborative work. I am confident that he will succeed as a graduate student in Physics.

I regard Ivan’s intellectual abilities as truly exceptional and highly recommend him for graduate study at UC Berkeley. Please feel free to contact me if I can be of further assistance.

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Dear Colleagues,

I am very pleased to write on behalf of Ivan I. Ivanov who asked me to recommend him for admission to Florida State University.

Ivan has been working under my supervision over the last year and was the student attending my lectures on course XX in Fall, XX. He is currently a X year student of the Mendeleev University of Chemical Technology. The University is one of the best, largest and oldest academic institutions for Chemistry in Russia. Since January XX, Ivan is undertaking a graduation paper under my guidance. His work in the Laboratory of XX covers that part of Physical Chemistry which is basically related to Surface Chemistry.

In our research he deals with such important direction in Chemistry as the research of XX. During this work he gained valuable experience working with equipment of electron microscopy and X-ray analysis. I should emphasize here that he is very accurate and diligent in his experimental work as well as in treating the results. Ivan evolved as a dependable, intelligent, erudite, emotionally stable person who is able to generate new ideas, to find untraditional solutions, and I can add that it would not be an exaggeration, if I describe him quite assertive and sophisticated. I have no doubt that Ivan would be a good instructor thanks to his accuracy and clearance in oral expression. Also, he has a good attitude and capable of working in a group as well as acting independently. I can say that he is the best student among the ones I had supervised for the last years.

In addition, Ivan has very good knowledge of the English language because for the most part he uses English-written materials (e- libraries, data bases, articles from foreign magazines, etc.) as theoretical support for our investigations.

Seeing his serious yearning for further education, persistence and striving for purpose, I think that he will realize his huge potential and inevitably obtain excellent results in his future scientific career. I also believe that it will be very beneficial for both Florida State University and Ivan to continue his education in your graduate program. Thus I strongly recommend him for admission.

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Dear Colleagues,

It is my pleasure to recommend a 6-th year student of the Mendeleev University of Chemical Technology, Ivan I. Ivanov who is applying for admission to the graduate program in Chemistry at Florida State University. Ivan has been working in my laboratory since 2000. As a Chairman of the Division of XX, at which he has been studying specialized courses, I have known him from the beginning of his study in our Division from 1998. During his study he showed good academic results and did not have any troubles with studies. I should emphasize that it is not a simple task to maintain the high level of records at one of the best and esteemed academic institutions for Chemistry in Russia - Mendeleev University of Chemical Technology requires strong intellectual abilities and assiduity. Ivan is a student who attended my Lectures on courses “XX” and “XX”. On the final exams of these classes, he proved high theoretical background of crystal structures and processes and methods of crystal growth.

As a student who has worked in my research group, Artem has gained significant experience in single-crystal growth. Part of experimental work he undertook was at one of the laboratories of the XX Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences. He dealt with such contemporary materials as laser single crystals. Under my supervision, he has done the research term paper entitled “XX” which is valuable for our University. I think that such strong characteristics as his high intellectual potential, perseverance and his excellent ability to work independently is the serious motivation to be successful as a graduate student. I’m sure that his potential as a teacher is also very high.

I must mention Ivan’s proficiency in English. Almost all materials I gave him to study (articles from different scientific journals, proceedings of conferences etc.) were written in English. He has no difficulties with understanding such papers.

In addition, on the final interdisciplinary state exam which is carried out in our University in the last semester (prior degree work) covering all specialized courses, he proved high scientific attainments in various areas of Physical and Theoretical Chemistry. In my opinion, Ivan is one of the best students in his class.

As a recommender, I consider the applicant as a gifted and promising student. Ivan Ivanov is comparable with my best students of previous years. I highly recommend him for a program leading to the PhD degree. I am sure that he will successfully accomplish a program of graduate study. I do believe that both Florida State University and Ivan would most certainly benefit from him studying at your graduate school.

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Dear Sir or Madam,

I am pleased to introduce Ivan I. Ivanov to you. I know that he is particularly interested in the graduate program in Chemistry at Florida State University so I will try to characterize him in details.

Ivan worked in my research laboratory for about 2 years, since XX. During our research work he evolved as a creative, assertive, and intelligent personality who has shown himself a goal-oriented and hardworking student with an adequate response to the most challenging tasks in very complicated Russian conditions. Our research work concerned a non-stoichiometry as a part of my Course “XX”. Under my supervision he did a research term paper entitled “XX” in which he considered medical and geological applications of luminophors that he synthesized. Ivan is really imaginative and innovative person. His investigations I can summarize as efficient and significant. In February 2001, he presented a paper at the General Chemistry Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences student conference and showed exceptional oratorical abilities.

Ivan is a good team-worker and bears his duties with high willingness to accept responsibility. He is always enthusiastic about explaining difficult matters to his fellow-students. In my opinion, Ivan would be a good instructor for undergraduate courses. He also possesses a comprehensive and advanced personality and is able to achieve desired goals. I certainly should mention a very high level of Ivan's English proficiency and the fact that he is among the best students in his class.

Due to the economical situation in Russia nowadays, adequate financing for institutions of the Russian Academy of Sciences and a science on the whole is quite unstable. In existing conditions it is rather hard for our students to reveal entirely all their talents and potentials. Therefore, I fully agree with Ivan’s decision to apply to graduate school in the USA. I am convinced that his capability of independent creativity and hard learning will make his future studying successful and scientific activities effective.

Ivan Ivanov has asked me to write a letter of recommendation to accompany his application for PhD program in Mathematics at XX. I am pleased to provide a reference for such a gifted student who is at the very top of his highly competitive and highly talented class. I would like to stress particularly his thirst for knowledge which is intensified by Ivan's strong determination, and his deep interest in science. Ivan is an outstanding researcher and person.

I have known Ivan Ivanov for two years. Being a third-year student he attended my lectures and seminars on The Theory of XX and in the next academic year - lectures and seminars on XX. While he was studying my course I was surprised by his remarkable abilities of learning and grasping the essence of new ideas. Upon completing each course of lectures students pass an examination, which consists of completing complex homework and later an oral interview. Ivan showed deep understanding of the subject and was given an excellent mark for his performance. I would like to emphasize that he was allowed to pass these exams before the appointed date, although it is a rare practice and is only granted to excellent students. To be precise, there was only one other student of similar level in his class.

Ivan's brilliant teaching skills and his natural talent of getting along with people made him a top-ranked teacher at “PhystechCollege”- an extracurricular High School intended to help schoolchildren in studying the sciences at levels beyond regular school program. Thus, I rate Ivan's potential as a teacher as rather high.

From our discussions concerning Ivan's plans I could conclude that Mr. Ivanov has strong motivation towards academic career in mathematics. He is very much involved with ..., and yet he has the background to answer .... I think that it would not be overestimation to assert that Ivan belongs to the top 2% of MIPT students. I strongly recommend Ivan Ivanov for graduate studies toward Ph.D. degree at your University.

Sincerely,

Prof. Petr P. Petrov

I have known Ivan Ivanov since ... and I am writing this letter to give him my highest recommendations (or truly pleased to give him my recommendations ) . As Ivan's research supervisor I often had an opportunity to observe his unusual abilities, creativity, capacity for deep analytical thinking and amazing mathematic intuition.

It was not accident that Ivan became my research student. I was the head of the Jury of The Department of Mathematics at MIPT Scientific Conference, where I noticed high level of his research work in the field of Convex Analysis and it was agenda for Ivan’s future research. I also was in the Jury of student Olympiad, where he showed exceptionally high for his age results, and I was the head of the State Examination Board at Ivan’s Final Exam on Mathematics, where he has shown prominent knowledge of the subject and his answers was highly appreciated by the Board.

I was very pleased that he had chosen me as a research supervisor for his BS dissertation. In his research work Ivan is active and goal-oriented; he reveals diligence and accuracy along with satisfaction by his work. His first work under my guidance was his bachelor thesis in the field of XX which included investigation of properties of such mappings including conditions under which they are Riemann integrable and support functions of convex compacts. Here I should emphasize that this branch of mathematics has attracted exceptional research attention in the two recent decades, and one has to possess great mathematical erudition to work here. Ivan shows distinguished capacity of learning new concepts and high level of knowledge in XX. He has not only coped with highly complex and somewhat erratic material, but also found some important classes of sets of attainability using this theory. For example, he thoroughly investigated some applied problems from theoretical mechanics that involve integration of XX.

The work was highly appreciated by the Diploma Committee and Ivan was awarded BS degree with Honors. Currently Ivan is successfully working on his master thesis project in the field of XX, which is the development of our previous investigation. To get necessary knowledge in optimal control Ivan attends lections in Moscow State University at the Department of Computational Mathematics and Cybernetics.

I am sure that Ivan will become an excellent researcher and will produce serious work of international quality. His outstanding mathematical abilities place him in the very top 5% of MIPT students. Considering his achievements, I highly recommend him for the graduate study at your University.

Ivan Ivanov has asked me to write a letter of recommendation to accompany his application for PhD program in Mathematics at XX. I am pleased to provide a reference for such a gifted student who is at the very top of his highly competitive and highly talented class. I would like to stress particularly his thirst for knowledge which is intensified by Ivan's strong determination, and his deep interest in science. Ivan is an outstanding researcher and person.

I have known Ivan Ivanov for two years. Being a third-year student he attended my lectures and seminars on The Theory of XX and in the next academic year - lectures and seminars on XX. While he was studying my course I was surprised by his remarkable abilities of learning and grasping the essence of new ideas. Upon completing each course of lectures students pass an examination, which consists of completing complex homework and later an oral interview. Ivan showed deep understanding of the subject and was given an excellent mark for his performance. I would like to emphasize that he was allowed to pass these exams before the appointed date, although it is a rare practice and is only granted to excellent students. To be precise, there was only one other student of similar level in his class.

Ivan's brilliant teaching skills and his natural talent of getting along with people made him a top-ranked teacher at “PhystechCollege”- an extracurricular High School intended to help schoolchildren in studying the sciences at levels beyond regular school program. Thus, I rate Ivan's potential as a teacher as rather high.

From our discussions concerning Ivan's plans I could conclude that Mr. Ivanov has strong motivation towards academic career in mathematics. He is very much involved with ..., and yet he has the background to answer .... I think that it would not be overestimation to assert that Ivan belongs to the top 2% of MIPT students. I strongly recommend Ivan Ivanov for graduate studies toward Ph.D. degree at your University.

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LETTER of RECOMMENDATION for Ivan Ivanov

November 16, 2002

Being the Leader of the Russian IPhO Team, I have known Ivan Ivanov since xxx, when he was studying in high school. In xxx he was a winner of the International Physics Olympiad (IPhO) in City, Country, and was awarded silver medal there. Also Ivan was a winner of All-Ukrainian PhOs, Young Physicists Tournaments during 1994-1997.

His first year of undergraduate studies Ivan spent in the XX Department of XX National University. Next year he continued his study at Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology (MIPT). I was not surprised when Ivan was admitted to our institute as a second year transfer student. It is necessary to notice that no more than five students are admitted in such a way per year. For that they have to pass thorough examinations and show substantial irreproachable knowledge of physics and mathematics, as well as high clarity of thoughts.

Studying at the Institute is very hard but Ivan became one of the top students here. This judgment is supplied by the fact that Ivan was a winner of MIPT Undergraduate students Physics Olympiad (2nd position in xxx), successfully participated in All-Russian students Theoretical Mechanics Olympiad. He has got only the highest grades on all subjects, thus his GPA is 4.0 so far. For such

excellence in studies and research work Ivan was selected two times as a Soros Student.

Every year a small group of students and MIPT professors conduct winter and summer sessions of the Russian IPhO Team. The aim of the sessions is to select and to train the team of 5 high school students. For this reason we turn to students of MIPT, generally former participants of IPhOs, who proved themselves to be excellent students. They invent problems to solve, give seminars, laboratory classes and examine high school students’ knowledge of physics. Ivan Ivanov belongs to this small group of students. I have to mention that Ivan started his teaching practice as early as while studying at XX University. He conducted sessions, training high school students for All-Ukrainian and International PhOs. So when he joined our group he started work at full capacity. He demonstrated brilliant mental abilities and experimental skills, so we decided to try Ivan as a member of the Board of the Final Stage of Russian PhO in xxx. I was impressed by his performance, so I invited him in xxx as well. I have no doubts that this activity gave him an excellent teaching practice.

Working at MIPT for many years I can compare Ivan’s abilities with those of other MIPT students. For the last 8 years I have known several students like Ivan quite well. For example XX, XX and XX (all of them are graduate students at Harvard now), XX, XX and XX (they are graduate students at MIT), XX (University of California at Berkeley). I am sure that all of them (including Ivan Ivanov) belong to the top 2% of MIPT students. Those listed above are, of course, very different and every one of them is unordinary person in his own way. Still they have one feature in common, namely, it is their independent, maybe sometimes erratic, way of study. Due to this feature their knowledge of physics is often far greater than required. For example, XX, XX and XX were offered graduate admission by several U.S. Universities while being in their second year of studies at MIPT.

Ivan has a strong and motivated desire to be a scientist. He is diligent, bright-minded and trust-worthy in every way. I highly recommend Ivan Ivanov for further education at your department.

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Applicant: Irina I. Ivanova Recommender: Dr. Petr P. Petrov

It is my pleasure to write a letter of recommendation on behalf of Irina Ivanova. I have known her since 1998, when she started to work as a research assistant under my guidance. For more than a year I have close experience of Irina’s work and can state unequivocally that her academic and professional skills place her in the top 5% of the students I have worked with during my 50 years of work at Lebedev Physics Institute of Russian Academy of Sciences.

Some of the main credits of Irina are her persistence and diligence sometimes even ranging with obsession with work. I will give you an example. When I first met Irina in September 1998 she was a 4th year student at MIPT and possessed a solid background in physics and mathematics, though she lacked some knowledge in biology and chemistry necessary for successful research in the field of biophysical kinetics which our laboratory is primary concerned with. It took her only a few months to read a rather large number of books and articles in Russian as well as in English and become proficient in this field. From that time she started to attend extra-curriculum lectures and seminars on different topics in biophysics (such as Biophysics of Membrane Processes, Biochemical Physics, Physical aspects of Biological Processes) at MIPT as well as at Moscow State University.

I must admit that now Irina possesses a unique combination of solid academic knowledge in physics, chemistry, biology and mathematical methods. In scientific discussions and during colloquia Irina revealed maturity, excellent analytical thinking and clarity of thought. She often proposed original ideas and made outstanding conclusions.

As a member of our laboratory Irina investigated permeability of erythrocyte membrane for glucose and oxygen in normal conditions and under pressure. This was an important part of our major research concerning influence of pressure on permeability of cytoplasmic membranes. Irina took part in construction of theoretical model and then carried out a lot of independent research. I should mention her accuracy and thoroughness in carrying out experiments and an ability to pay attention to nuances, which often play crucial role. Her findings were very important for confirmation of our theory of structure of cytoplasmic membrane. As a result of this work in June 1999 Irina successfully defended her thesis and got BS with Honors. Recently she has reported these results at Biophysics section of MIPT Scientific Conference. This report was made at the top level.

In summary, Irina distinguished herself as an individual who exhibits an organized, scientific approach to research, and with a high degree of motivation, innovation and initiative, can accomplish her goals. Therefore, I evaluate Irina Ivanova as a person with high potential to carry out an advanced study in the field of biophysics and strongly recommend her for further education at Biophysics Department of California Institute of Technology.

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It is with a great pleasure that I write this letter of recommendation for Ms. Irina Ivanova. I first met Irina in January 1999 when one of my colleagues recommended her for research work at my laboratory of Heart Electrophysiology at Cardiological Research Center of Russian Ministry of Health. The main problems of our research include electrophysiological aspects of spontaneous initiation of atrial flutter and fibrillation, which we investigate using microelectrode recordings, patch-clamp technique and electric mapping.

The first Irina’s tasks were to master the procedure of cell isolation and to make the existing patch-clamp device to work, since these facilities were out of use for some time but we really needed them for our experiments. That was rather time-taking task and required a lot of effort and persistence from Irina. First of all she had to study a rather large amount of literature on the subject

and then use her knowledge in practice. I was pleased to see enthusiasm and insistence with which Irina managed this task. That was mostly due to her remarkable assiduity and great zeal that soon she was able to proceed with actual experiments. For the last five years our laboratory deals with refinement of new class III antiarrhythmic agent nibentan. Irina currently works on right ventricular cells using whole-cell patch-clamp configuration. The overall goal of Irina’s work is to characterize a role of nibentan on ionic channels in atrial and sinoatrial cells of rabbits and guinea-pigs. By now she already has some important data concerning effects of nibentan on potassium outward currents and in May 1999 she plan to defend the Diploma of Higher Education on this topic.

I would also like to mention here Irina’s ability to cooperate with colleagues and her responsibility, both of which are important for professional success. She is one of the best students whom I have worked with. I think that her achievements are attributed not only to her aptitude but also to her perseverance and ambitions. She is active and thorough in research, always goal-oriented.

I highly recommend Irina Ivanova for admission to Massachusetts Institute of Technology. It is my unconditional belief that Irina will realize her huge potential and grow into a prominent scientist.

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Applicant: Irina I. Ivanova

I have been a Dean of Department of XX for more than twenty years and have been teaching physics for more than 30 years. I have known Irina Ivanova for almost six years, beginning with her admission to MIPT without entrance examinations due to her outstanding performances at Physics and Math Olympiads of different levels.

During all six years of Irina’s studying at MIPT I have close experience of her academic and scientific life. Irina has distinguished herself from other students with her persistence and enthusiasm in achieving her goals. She started work as a Research Assistant at Optics Laboratory when she was only a second year student. From that time she is constantly involved in research activities first in the field of Optics and now in the field of Biophysics.

Last year when Irina has changed her specialization to biophysics she started to attend extra-curriculum lectures and seminars on different topics in biophysics (such as Biophysics of Membrane Processes, Biochemical Physics, Physical aspects of Biological Processes) at MIPT as well as at Moscow State University.I must admit that now Irina possesses a unique combination of solid academic knowledge in physics, chemistry, biology and mathematical methods. During our discussions of scientific problems Irina revealed maturity, excellent analytical thinking and clarity of thought. She often proposed original ideas and made outstanding conclusions.

I would also like to mention here Irina’s ability to cooperate with colleagues and her responsibility, both of which are important for professional success. She is one of the best students whom I have worked with. I think that her achievements are attributed not only to her aptitude but also to her perseverance and ambitions. She is active and thorough in research, always goal-oriented.

In summary, Irina distinguished herself as an individual who exhibits an organized, scientific approach to research, and with a high degree of motivation, innovation and initiative, can accomplish her goals. Therefore, I evaluate Irina Ivanova as a person with high potential to carry out an advanced study in the field of biophysics and strongly recommend her for further education at Biophysics Department of Your University.

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As a member of the Board of the Russian school Physics Olympiad I have known Ivan Ivanov since 1994, when he was in high school. His prominent knowledge of Physics revealed even then. He won 2nd diploma at the Russian school Physics Olympiad in 1994 and 1995 that allowed him to become one of the 16 candidates to, and later one of the members of the Russian team on the 27th IPhO in Oslo, where he was awarded Bronze Medal.

Among other winners of the Russian Olympiad Ivan took part in winter (two weeks) and summer (a month) sessions of candidates to the team in 1996. The sessions included advanced lectures on physics. Seminars devoted to theoretical problems and intensive laboratory courses were alternated with frequent rounds of problem solving contests designed to reduce the number of candidates from 16 to 5. Even though initially he had been placed sixth in our unofficial rating, his perseverance, purposefulness and diligence enabled him to enter the final membership of Russian team. During the time of sessions Ivan showed ability of quick perception of new ideas and using them in future, high intelligence and capacity for work.

For his great achievements Ivan has been admitted to MIPT without entrance examinations, where he continued working hard. His grades, despite very high requirements to students, were only excellent. He was awarded Soros grand and Eximer fellowship (The latter is given only to two students among 80). He has taken the third prize of Physics Olympiad among first-year students of MIPT in 1997 and second prize among all students in 1998 and 1999 .

There is an established tradition that students who have won the IPhO in previous years work as instructors in the sessions of the succeeding IPhO teams. Ivan Ivanov is one of such students. Being the leader of the training team I highly appreciate Ivan's activity. Of course, guidance and experience of those who themselves have got through both these sessions and the IPhO are extremely useful in our work. Ivan has offered numerous theoretical problems and designed several labs which were used in training of the team. I hope that the time spent for the preparation of Russian teams gave him an excellent teaching practice.

Also I have to mention Ivan's participation as a member of the Board of the Russian school Physics Olympiad in 1997. He was responsible for conducting and grading experimental round among 9th-grade students. He showed great proficiency in managing with both equipment and students.

Working at MIPT for many years I can compare Ivan's abilities with those of other MIPT students. For the last 7 years I have been knowing several students like Ivan quite well. For example XX and XX (now they are graduate students at MIT), XX, XX and XX (Harvard), XX (Cornell), XX (Yale), XX (Princeton). All of them participated in the USSR Physics Olympiad and IPhO brilliantly, had extremely high intelligence, persistence and potential for future scientific work. I think that Ivan Ivanov and these students belong to the top 2% of MIPT students.

I'm deeply convinced that students displaying such talents as Ivan's, are able to study at graduate level successfully. Thus I strongly recommend Ivan Ivanov for further education at your university.

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am pleased to give my recommendations for Ivan Ivanov. I am the head of the laboratory of superconductivity in the Institute of Solid State Physics (ISSP) RAS. Ivan has worked under my guidance as a part-time research assistant for the last year, therefore I know him rather well to evaluate his talents.

When I introduced Ivan in the field of Josephson junctions, SNS and SFS contacts I am dealing with, he demonstrated extensive academic background, ability to grasp new difficult concepts quickly and express them in simple words. In our discussions Ivan showed maturity along with power in defending his opinion, but he was also careful for my arguments. His intelligence and urgent zeal for knowledge enabled him to gain profound understanding of the subject and join our research.

Facilities in the laboratory are modern complex devices. I was surprised when Ivan has learnt in short time how to handle with them, that means operating with cryostats and insertions, SQUID devices and LOCK-IN amplifier, current sources, voltmeters and many others. He has also learnt data handling on a computer using program Origin 4.1

In conducting of experiments and data processing Ivan is active and goal-oriented, he reveals diligence and accuracy along with satisfaction of his work. He has obtained valuable experience with handling of present-day equipment and has learnt very much about work of physicist-researcher. Ivan has already made remarkable contribution in our research. He independently has mounted several samples (CuNi thin films) on the cryogenic dipstick and made some measurements. Data, he -junction will beπ- phase state in Josephson πhas obtained, related reported soon.

I must mention Ivan's proficiency in English. All materials I gave him to study (articles from different scientific journals, proceedings of conferences etc.) were written in English. He has no difficulties with understanding such papers. Also he easily communicated with guests from other countries, demonstrating his abilities in spoken English.

Seeing his serious yearning for further education, persistence and striving for purposes I think that he will realize his huge potential and inevitably obtain excellent results in his future scientific career. I also believe that it will be very beneficial for both your university and Ivan to continue his education in your graduate program. Thus I strongly recommend him for admission.

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I know Irina Ivanova for more than 4 years. I have been her teacher on General Physics during 2 years and also supervised Irina’s work on a program of experimental preparation in General Physics Laboratory of Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology (MIPT). Since our first seminars I was surprised by Irina’s great and unweakening interest in physics. She is actively interested in contemporaneous problems of physics, problems in applied mathematics and also has obvious inclination to experimental work. Irina works independently a lot, she is very disciplinary and can easily communicate with her colleagues. From my point of view, she is well oriented in physical models, can clearly formulate conditions of physical problems and interesting for her questions in the problem. Due to her clarity of thought Irina can readily explain her ideas to the listeners.

Irina is spending a lot of time on optional work in physical laboratory of MIPT. By her own initiative she carried out two experimental works in my laboratory. During one semester of her 3rd year of studies she assembled and tuned an optical interferometer for measuring coherent characteristics of light fields whereby I managed to create a new laboratory work for MIPT students. With the help of this interferometer she measured coherent characteristics of the laser and thermal sources of light. During next semester Irina was engaged in experimental research of optical pumping of neodim glass. I should emphasize here that she is very accurate and diligent in her experimental work as well as in treating the results.

I am absolutely sure that Irina is ready for the graduate work. I strongly recommend her as a Research Associate as well as Teaching Assistant for graduate study at your Institution.

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I am very pleased to write on behalf of Irina Ivanova who asked me to recommend her for admission to Harvard University. I know Irina for almost 3 years during which I am her scientific advisor at P.N.Lebedev Physical Institute RAS (LPI).

The major research subjects of Vavilov Luminescence Department of LPI are luminescence of the organic and crystalline substances and fundamental aspects connected with that. Irina’s work towards Master’s Degree in Physics is currently proceeding in the framework of NATO “Science for Peace” Project “Novel Molecular Electronics Materials with unusual Electron and Exciton Dynamics”. Our first results are going to be published soon.

Mainly she is connected with experimental work concerning creating thin solid films such as Langmuir-Blodgett films, spincoated and self-assembled films. As a Physics teacher at Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology (MIPT) I should admit that her theoretical knowledge on the subject was exceptionally strong even in the Department of General and Applied Physics, the best one of MIPT. Although in the beginning Irina certainly lacked experience in this field, but now she undoubtedly possesses remarkable skills in spectroscopy, nanotechnology and advanced microscopy techniques.

Irina has shown herself a goal-oriented and hardworking student with an adequate response to the most challenging tasks in very complicated russian conditions. She revived the ruined Langmuir-Blodgett facility in our lab with practically no support

from the trained personnel. I should notice here that in our men community she manages to co-operate and even be a leader when achieving her objects. Her intuitive feeling for the spectroscopy experiments was of great help through the everyday activity of our laboratory.

I should also mention her excellent proficiency in English, which is always of great support to our laboratory. She helps the staff in communication with foreign collaborators and what is more important in the text preparation for the English-language publications as well as grant application materials.

Due to the economical situation in Russia nowadays adequate financing for the Academy of Sciences is quite unstable. In existing conditions it is rather hard for our students to entirely reveal all their talents and potentials. Therefore I strongly advise Irina to apply to graduate school in the USA. I am convinced that her capability of independent creativity and hard learning will make her future studying successful and scientific activities effective.

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I have been a Dean of Department of XX for more than twenty years and have been teaching physics for more than thirty years. I have known Irina Ivanova for almost six years, beginning with her brilliant entrance examinations in spring 1994. Our Department has the highest admission standards and we often have as many as 10 well-qualified high-school graduates competing for each admission spot. Unfortunately the department consists of mostly male students (we happen to admit only about 3% of women). So I believe that Irina deserves high respect for her hard will and perseverance. As someone who has worked at MIPT for more than thirty years I can well estimate Irina’s potential and level and compare her abilities to those of other MIPT students and would say she belongs to the top10% MIPT students I have ever taught.

I have been Irina’s teacher in General Physics during her first year of studies. Irina has distinguished herself from other students with her diligence, persistence and ability to work independently. I should also mention her easiness in communication with colleagues, readiness to help and capability to clearly explain her ideas. I have been the head of examination committee during both her General Physics and Theoretical Physics Qualification examinations. Those two exams are the two toughest exams at MIPT since the committee has a chance to test a student's knowledge in all areas of General and Theoretical Physics. I must admit she has solid academic knowledge in both subjects and I enjoyed her brilliant answers.

I am one of the heads of MIPT Correspondence School where Irina has worked as a teaching assistant. I can point to her excellent work as a teacher. Now she is continuing to work as a teacher at MIPT Phys. Tech. College, an MIPT organization that gives high-school students additional education. She handles her task very well, takes her teaching responsibilities very seriously, but what is even more important - she truly enjoys teaching.

Therefore I believe that Irina possesses an excellent basis for further success in graduate studies at MIT and highly recommend her for admission

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I have known Irina Ivanova since 1995. For the past 3 years she was enrolled in a series of advanced-level courses “Advanced Topics in Optics” taught by me, consisting of lectures, laboratory assignments and independent research projects. During those years I have got to know her well enough to evaluate her outstanding abilities, character and tremendous potential for research work.

The Advanced Topics course I taught included new theoretical concepts, as well new experimental techniques, and quite understandably certain parts of the course can be quite challenging for many students. However, because of her diligent and hardworking approach, she was soon well ahead of the class. I have to admit that her interesting and often difficult questions, often outside of the course description, made this experience as challenging for me as it was for my students. Irina has also proved to possess a knack of experimental technique. In the laboratory she demonstrated the ability to deal with the problems she came across in experiments in a non-standard way. Her overall approach to new tasks can be best described as careful and thorough. Moreover, during the theoretical analysis of experimental work she showed a remarkable talent to quickly grasp any new concepts and apt at solving problems on paper. Besides, she is simply a very pleasant person to cooperate and communicate with.

I regard Irina as a very strong student among the top 5% of all the students I have taught during the last 20 years at Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology (MIPT). Taking into account that our Institute’s undergraduate enrollment consists of less than 7% of female students, I am especially glad to see Irina performing so well. I could only wish we had more students with as much genuine interest in math and sciences as her.

I believe Irina to have excellent prospects of success in a physicist-researcher career and strongly recommend her to continue her education in the field of Physics at the graduate level at Boston University.

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Recommendation letter for Ivan Ivanov

I work in Molecular Luminescence group of P.N.Lebedev Physical Institute since 1994. Ivan Ivanov works in our group since May 1997, so I know him for 3.5 years. He works under my guidance under experimental investigation of J-aggregates luminescent properties and this is about a half of his work in the laboratory. We talk often not only about the research and I know him well.

Ivan is an assiduous, hard-working student. His background in optics, general physics and mathematics is very high. He easily learns new material and can answer a posed question very quickly. He is responsible and can work independently.

His work in the laboratory was very fruitful. He became familiar with various experimental techniques. Particularly he has a lot of experience in steady-state absorption and luminescence spectroscopy, sub-nanosecond time-resolved luminescence measurements, deposition of LB and spin-coating films of organic materials. This year Ivan gains an experience in Near Field Microscopy and in operating with helium cryostat. As a result he became a co-author of two published articles and one article in progress.

To his shortcomings I can ascribe some haste in the work resulting sometimes in inaccuracy. I think his forthcoming work under Ph.D. thesis will help him to improve this. It is maybe concerned with his aspiration to do too much work per day.

About his English I can mention that it is rather well. Ivan express thought in English easily both in written and oral form. He worked for a month in a research lab of the Catholic University of Leuven, Belgium speaking only in English and had no difficulties in communication.

As a whole I rank Ivan very high. I cannot compare him with the students of his group but I can approximately compare him with the students of his department of MIPT, which I also finished. I think he is comparable to the best students of the department.

I recommend him for admission and think he will be successful in the Ph.D. program of your university.

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I have known Ivan Ivanov for two years. Being a second-year student he attended my lectures on Electromagnetic Field Theory and in the next academic year - lectures on Quantum Mechanics I. While he was studying my course I was surprised of his remarkable abilities of learning and grasping the essence of new ideas. Several times we discussed problems beyond the scope of my courses, and Ivan demonstrated proficiency in this areas, as well as strong analytical abilities. Upon completing each course of lectures I examined him. In both exams Ivan showed deep understanding of the subject and I gave him excellent marks.

Year ago Ivan seriously decided to involve himself in theoretical physics. He was determined to join Landau Institute theory group, where he could be engaged in studying any field of theoretical physics most effectively. This group is not an ordinary one. The point is that from very beginning every undergraduate student is attached to a certain department (at the Faculty of General and Applied Physics) but he can rather easily change the department. But enrolment in Landau Institute theory group is based on the results of special examination, called Landau Theoretical Minimum. It requires knowledge of some

Quantum mechanics. That Ivan passed them successfully characterizes him as a person who has great will and the potential to study theory in physics.

Taking all this into account, I consider Ivan as one of the best students I know and enthusiastically recommend him for graduate study at Your University.

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I have been the Dean of the XX (XX) at Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology (MIPT) for more than fifteen years and have been teaching physics for more than thirty years. I have known Ivan Ivanov for about four years and a half since his successful admission to our department. He was admitted without entrance exams due to his exceptional performance at the entrance interview and his winning a gold medal at the International Physics Olympiad in Iceland, 1998.

I have been communicating with him on different subjects during all this time. Ivan indeed became one of the best students at our institute. To prove the fact I can mention his outstanding results in MIPT students Physics Olympiads. Though studying at our University is hard enough, his GPA is 4.0. Being the Head of the State Examination Board at 3rd year students’ Final Exam on General Physics, I highly appreciated Ivan’s prominent knowledge of the subject.

After completion of this Exam every student can apply to Landau Institute for advanced study of Theoretical Physics. To enter this Institute one should pass Landau Theoretical Minimum exam in Quantum Mechanics, based on Landau Theoretical Physics course. Only few students are capable of this, and Ivan was one of them. He passed all necessary exams half a year prior to deadline, and began to attend lectures on Quantum Field Theory and Nonlinear Hydrodynamics, being a third-year student. Recently I discussed Ivan’s progress with head of his department and my perception of Ivan as a hardworking and highly motivated person has confirmed.

Teaching experience is very important for future scientist, and Ivan has an extensive teaching practice. I know him to be a member of the group that trains Russian International Physics Olympiad Team and a member of the Board of Russian Physics Olympiads at different levels.

During all these years I have watched Ivan’s personal growth and development, and I know the tremendous focus he has upon his studies and research. It is my firm belief that his maturity, initiative, and self-reliance will only lead to success in Graduate school, and that his strength of character will lead to an outstanding contribution to humanity as physicist. I am sure Ivan belongs to the top 2% of MIPT students.

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As a member of the Board of the Russian school Physics Olympiad I have known Ivan Ivanov since 1997, when he was in high school. His prominent knowledge of Physics revealed even then. He won 1st diploma at the Russian school physics olympiad in 1997 and 1998 that allowed him to become one of the 16 candidates to, and later one of the members of the Russian team on the 29th IPhO in Reykjavik (Iceland), where he was awarded Gold Medal.

Among other winners of the Russian Olympiad Ivan took part in winter (two weeks) and summer (a month) sessions of candidates to the team in 1998. The sessions included advanced lectures on physics. Seminars devoted to theoretical problems and intensive laboratory courses were alternated with frequent rounds of problem solving contests designed to reduce the number of candidates from 16 to 5. From the beginning he had been placed first in our unofficial rating, and his perseverance, purposefulness and diligence enabled him to enter the final membership of Russian team. During the time of sessions Ivan showed ability of quick perception of new ideas and using them in future, high intelligence and capacity for work.

When Ivan entered MIPT, he continued working hard, therefore his grades, despite very high requirements to students, were only excellent. Ivan was awarded Landau Institute of Theoretical Physics and "Eximer" Fellowships (both of which are awarded to 2 students among the faculty of some 80 students). He has twice become the winner of Physics Olympiad among students of MIPT. He was also awarded Soros student grant. I believe that with his persistence and capacity Ivan will maintain the way he started. There is an established tradition that students who have won the IPhO in previous years work as instructors in the sessions of the succeeding IPhO teams. Ivan Ivanov is one of such students. Being the leader of the training team I highly appreciate Ivan's

activity. Students invent problems to solve, give seminars, laboratory classes and examine schoolboys' knowledge of physics. Ivan demonstrated brilliant mental abilities and theoretical skills, so we decided to try him as a member of the Board of the Final Stage of Russian PhO in 1999.I was impressed by his performance, so Ivan was invited to the Board permanently. He is one of a few students who is a permanent Jury member of such a high-level Olympiad. I have no doubts that this activity gave him an excellent teaching practice.

Working at MIPT for many years I can compare Ivan's abilities with those of other MIPT students. For the last 10 years I have known several students like Ivan quite well. For example XX and XX (both are graduate students at Harvard now), XX and XX (they are graduate students at MIT), XX (now he is a graduate student at Cornell), XX and XX ( they are graduate students at Princeton), XX (he is a graduate student at University of California at Berkeley). All of them participated in the USSR Physics Olympiad and IPhO brilliantly, and used to work as instructors in the sessions of the previous IPhO teams. I think all of them (including Ivan Ivanov) belong to the top 2% of MIPT students.

Ivan has a strong and motivated desire to be a scientist. He is diligent, bright-minded and trust-worthy in every way. I'm deeply convinced that students displaying such talantes as Ivan's, are able to study at graduate level successfully. Thus I strongly recommend Ivan Ivanov for further education at your University.

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I am pleased to give my recommendation for Ivan Ivanov. I am the head of the laboratory of XX of the Institute of Radio Engineering and Electronics (IRE) RAS. I have known Ivan for a year and a half since 1999 when he began to attend my lectures on XX. During the course he showed strong capability to grasp new material quickly and great background on the subject. He became interested in our research and joined our group a year ago.

Soon he started his first research project in our laboratory. Our goal was to analyze the ability of lattices of coupled chaotic maps to perform computations and to develop a computer simulation of a simple chaotic processor. Ivan had to study a lot of literature and a number of publications on chaos based computations, information theory and self-organized criticality. Here I should notice a very high level of his English proficiency, since papers he has read were mainly original publications from Phys. Rev., Phys. Rev. Letters and he had no problem reading them. Soon a program was constructed.

This year Ivan became involved in a project on Chaotic Map based Associative and Random Access Memory being held by our group. He is responsible for the construction of the map and now for this purpose he is developing a special research computer program. From our collaboration I concluded that Ivan entirely devotes himself to work and due to all-round education his mind is opened for any task I set. It deserves mentioning that he always takes an active part in scientific discussions, demonstrating maturity, strong ability to defend his ideas while paying careful attention to opponent’s remarks. He is also a very sociable person and easily finds common language with people.

As for his experimental abilities, Ivan is accurate and attentive, and always well prepared theoretically. He has a solid experience in dealing with common equipment as well as high comprehension of new complex devices. He is now taking the special laboratory course on simulation of nonlinear dynamical systems using digital signal processors and his instructor is fully satisfied with his performance.

In summary, Ivan proved himself as an active and goal-oriented person. Evidently, his scientific attainments are gained not only with his aptitude but also with thirst for knowledge, perseverance and ambitions.

I highly recommend Ivan Ivanov for admission to your university.

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I have been the Dean of the Department of XX at Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology (MIPT) for more than fifteen years and have been teaching physics for more than thirty years. I have known Ivan Ivanov for about two years and a half, beginning with his admission to MIPT. He was admitted as the second year transfer student from Kiev University due to his outstanding performance at the entrance exams. Only truly exceptional students are allowed to enter our Institute in such a way. During his study at MIPT Ivan confirmed his excellent knowledge and proved to be an outstanding student. His GPA is 4.0; he is the winner of MIPT students Physics Olympiad. I am sure Ivan belongs to the top 2% of MIPT students.

Ivan Ivanov started to carry out his own research surprisingly early. He became interested in nonlinear phenomena during his studies at Kiev University. Under the guidance of Prof. XX he studied the behavior of Kiyashko-Pikovsky-Rabinovich generator. Results of this work were presented at several conferences. His work has won All-Russian Student Best Scientific Work Contest. In addition, I would like to mention his report at the Nonlinear and Quantum Phenomena section of MIPT Scientific Conference in 1998. In discussions following presentation he revealed broad background in physics and his arguments were always precise and clear.

Continuing his active participation in research projects Ivan joined Prof. YY’s group that deals with the information and communication technologies based on dynamical chaos. At that time Ivan was a third year student although in our Institute students are expected to start their research work only on the fourth year of study.

Teaching experience is very important for future scientist, and Ivan has an extensive teaching practice. I know him to be a member of the group that trains Russian International Physics Olympiad Team and a member of the Board of Russian Physics Olympiads at different levels. In addition he is a teacher at “Phystech-College” – a high school that provides advanced trainings in sciences for high school students.

During all these years I have watched Ivan’s personal growth and development, and I know the tremendous focus he has upon his studies and research. It is my firm belief that his maturity, initiative, and self-reliance will only lead to success in Graduate school, and that his strength of character will lead to an outstanding contribution to humanity as physicist.

I enthusiastically recommend Ivan Ivanov for admission to your graduate school.

I am pleased to give my recommendation for Ivan Ivanov. I have known him since 1996 when he began to attend my lectures and seminars on the analysis of experimental data. This two-semester course involves use of complex mathematical formalism such as functional analysis and is generally hard to understand for the first time. Only in his second year of studies, Ivan has demonstrated

an excellent knowledge of advanced mathematical methods and proved to have a good receptiveness. He gained a profound understanding of the subject and, moreover, studied independently one of the covered topics, wavelet analysis, in full.

After this course he showed an interest in the topic of research I am engaged in. Due to a good well-rounded education it was not difficult for Ivan to study a rather large amount of literature on this topic. Therefore, since May 1998 Ivan has taken part in the research of muonium formation in liquid helium. He is responsible for computer modeling and data processing of the results of experiments carried out at the muon factory of Paul Scherrer Institute by our collaborator E.P.Krasnoperov (Kurchatov Institute) et al. Currently Ivan is working on the simulations of charges motion in liquid helium under the influence of external field and his assistance is truly indispensable.

After reviewing our joint research activity I affirm that he has a high capacity for work and that his conclusions are very original. In scientific discussions Ivan reveals maturity, defends well his convictions, though he also pays an attention to my arguments. For instance, recently he proposed and applied very original solution to one of the problems, which had arisen in computer modeling of muonium formation.

Also a credit to Ivan are his ability to cooperate with colleagues and his responsibility, both of which are important for professional success. He is one of the best students whom I have worked with. I think that his achievements in physics are attributed not only to his aptitude but also to his perseverance and ambitions. He is active and thorough in research, always goaloriented. I should also mention a very high level of Ivan's English proficiency.

Therefore, I evaluate Ivan Ivanov as a person with high potential to carry on an advanced study in the field of Physics and strongly recommend him for further education at the Physics department of …University.

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I have been teaching physics for … years and have advised approximately … students. Also I have been a leader of the Ukrainian International Physics Olympiad team since the time of its formation. I have known Ivan Ivanov for 5 years, beginning with his outstanding participation in the Ukrainian Physics Olympiad in 1994. That year he was the only ninth grade student who was invited to the summer session of the Ukrainian IPhO team, which usually consists of the 11th grade students.

During the next two years he attended my classes on solving olympiad-type physics problems, which are more advanced than those of the high school level. At these classes Ivan demonstrated remarkable analytical skills and creativity, extraordinary for the person of his age. Due to these qualities and because of persistency in achieving his goals, Ivan was a two-time member of the Ukrainian IPhO team, which consists of 5 the most talented high school students in the Ukraine and successfully participated in IPhOs.

Familiar with his ability to explain complex physical concepts in simple words and constant desire to share his knowledge with others, I was not surprised by the fact that in the 11th grade Ivan arranged physics tutorials for the 9th grade students. Unusually for high school students, Ivan has become my colleague in work with talented high-school students and we collaborated for a year.

Solving many hard physical problems is necessary but not sufficient for future success in physics. During his last year of high school Ivan began a more thorough study of problems that were especially interesting to him, thus demonstrating understanding of what it takes to become a great physicist and exhibiting maturity for research. Under the guidance of my colleague he studied the behavior of solitons in nonlinear models of atomic lattices using computer simulations. He reported the results at several physics conferences.

I should add here that Ivan demonstrated surprising fluency in English during our stay at the IPhOs in Australia and Norway. He communicated easily with participants from other countries and made many friends. As I know he reads and writes in English very well.

Besides, I have discussed with Ivan his recent research at the Institute for Physical Problems and his studies at MIPT. My knowledge of Ivan as a hard working and highly motivated person has confirmed. I am confident that he will realize his huge potential and grow into a prominent physicist.

I have no doubt that Ivan is qualified to study at the graduate level successfully and highly recommend him for admission to…

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I know Ivan Ivanov as a student of MIPT who has been following his research assistantship program at the Institute for Physical Problems since 1997. He participated in my colloquia on Experimental Low Temperature Physics for half a year and attended a course of lectures on Advanced Statistical Physics this year.

Considering our collaboration at the colloquia I should point out his excellent analytical thinking, strong mathematical skills and clarity of thoughts. His brilliant report on the contemporary problems in nuclear fusion has revealed his ability to grasp concepts that were unknown to him quickly and to explain them clearly. All these qualities helped him to succeed in the study of Advanced Statistical Physics and other theoretical courses. However, I have to mention that sometimes he is unsatisfied with himself and some lack of self-confidence arises from it. But I think this is not an obstacle to his development and, on the contrary, a kind of his motive power.

This spring Ivan became involved into research connected with the behavior of charges in liquid helium. The results of this work he has reported recently at the Low Temperature Physics section of MIPT Scientific Conference, being held at our Institute. He took an active part in subsequent discussions vividly expressing his thoughts at the top level.

I know Ivan as a teacher of physics at “Phystech-College” – a high school intended to help schoolboys in studying the sciences at high level. This position is highly competitive, as only a few students are allowed to work there along with professional tutors. Thus, his potential as a teacher is also rather high.

From our discussions concerning his plans I could conclude that Ivan has a strong motivation towards career in physics. He is able to carry out an independent research and definitely has a promise of professional success. Undoubtedly Ivan is one of the best students at his educational level I have ever known. His overall skills are similar to that of Sergey Dzhosuk who is now a graduate student at Harvard University. I strongly recommend Ivan Ivanov for graduate studies toward Ph.D. degree at your university.

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I’m very pleased to write some words about Ivan Frolov. For almost two years he has been taking a course of intensive study at the Institute of Solid State Physics, Chernogolovka. Under guidance of me and my colleagues Ivan attended lectures on fundamentals of solid state physics, performed laboratory practice on x-ray analysis and high-pressure physics, participated in colloquium on experimental physics, where he has made several repots on low-temperature techniques.

I have early noticed Ivan’s great interest in superconductors. During the observational lecture on this topic he asked many questions and expressed his wish to become more familiar with theory of superconductivity. I gave him advanced literature, including Schmidt’s “Superconductivity” textbook, edited by our laboratory. In our conversation he showed excellent knowledge of Josephson junctions and vortex lattices. So I can affirm his high-level skills in the subject.

I must also mention Ivan’s experience in computer science. Here is the example. It was necessary for us to obtain Fourier of SEM pictures. Ivan easily solved this problem of data processing, including Fast Fourier Transformation of an image, low-pass filtering etc. The program written by Ivan has friendly interface and is very suitable for us.

At the moment Ivan is busy with the project of STM construction at XX laboratory. I believe this task will be very useful for Ivan. It will allow him to “look inside” real laboratory devices, to sense the newest scientific technology by his own hands.

In the nearest future we are planning to use new microscope for more efficient imaging of vortex lattices in superconductors. Thus, Ivan’s interest for superconductivity as a “pure science” and his technical experience will be unified. No doubt, being able to manage with such a complex and embracing project is Ivan’s important benefit.

That’s why I strongly recommend him for graduate study at your University.

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I know Ivan Ivanov for more than 2 years. He works in my seminar on general physics. Under my guidance he performs the program of experimental training at the laboratory of the chair of general physics at Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology (MIPT). Ivan's outstanding mental abilities and inclination to work in the realm of physical-mathematical science revealed very early . He was the member of the Ukrainian Team at International Physics Olympiad, Pekin, China. I think that physics for Ivan is not only rightly chosen field of applying his faculty but also deep passion. He never accepts superficial familiarization with phenomena , enjoys experimentalize , always proposes other original physical models, pays close attention to their contradictories.

Ivan's marks on physical-mathematical courses only excellent , he repeatedly won students physical Olympiads. Ivan is selfdisciplined, he easily comes in contact with students and instructors. In scientific discussions Ivan revealed maturity along with power in defending his opinion, but he was also careful for opponent's arguments.

I can emphasize very unordinary Ivan's report with original description of the systems of quantum oscillators, that Ivan made by his own initiative.

To my mind, Ivan's potential and abilities are close to those of your graduate student XX who was the group mate of Ivan and entered Urbana last year.

I am sure that it would be very helpful for Ivan to continue his education at your University.

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As a member of the Board of the USSR student Physics Olympiad I have known Ivan Ivanov since 1991, when he was in high school. His prominent knowledge of Physics revealed even then. Ivan won the First Diploma at the USSR olympiad in 1991 and in 1992 and got a special award for the best experimental score in 1992. He participated in the two International Physics Olympiad (IPhO) in Finland and in Williamsburg, VA and was awarded silver medals there.

Ivan entered Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology. Studying at the Institute is very hard but Ivan became one of the top students even here. He has got only highest grades on all subjects, thus his GPA is 4.0 so far. For such excellence in studies Ivan was awarded Lebedev Physical Institute and "Eximer" Fellowships. Both Fellowships are awarded to 2 students among the Faculty of some 80 students. He was also awarded Soros student grant. I believe that with his persistence and capacity Ivan will maintain

the way he started.

Every year a small group of students and MIPT professors conduct winter and summer sessions of the Russian IPhO team. The aim of the sessions is to select and to train the team of 5 students. Being the leader of the training teem I highly appreciate Ivan's activity. Of course, guidance and experience of those who themselves have got through both these sessions and the IPhO are extremely useful in our work. Students invent problems to solve, give seminars, laboratory classes and examine schoolboys' knowledge of physics. I highly appreciate Ivan's activity as a member of our group and hope that the time spent for the preparation of our team gave him an excellent teaching practice.

Working at MIPT for many years I can compare Ivan's abilities with those of other MIPT students. For the last 5 years I have been knowing several students like Ivan quite well. For example XX and XX (both are graduate students at Harvard now), XX and XX (they are graduate students at MIT), XX (now he is a graduate student at Yale), XX (he is a graduate student at Prinston), XX (he is a graduate student at Rochester). All of them participated in the USSR Physics Olympiad and IPhO brilliantly, and used to work as instructors in the sessions of the previous IPhO teams.

I think all of them (including Ivan Ivanov) belong to the top 2% of MIPT students. Those listed above are, of course, very different and everyone of them is unordinary person in his own way. Still they have one feature in common - it is their independent, maybe sometimes erratic way of study. Due to this feature their knowledge of physics is often far greater than it is

required by Department of General Physics at MIPT. For example XX and XX were offered graduate admission by several U.S. universities while being in their second year of studies at MIPT.

I have no doubts that Ivan is able to study at the Graduate level successfully .

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I am pleased to offer this letter of recommendation for Mr. Ivan Ivanov, who has applied for admission to Your Graduate Program. I got to know Ivan Ivanov in September, 1992. I taught him course of General Physics.From 1993 I began to give labs and seminars in his group.

I may say that I was surprised by his very high level both in theoretical physics and corresponding mathematical formalism. His ability to analyze difficult physical problems are outstanding. He is known as a student who can generate his own original and unusual ideas. Ivan Ivanov was awarded a lot of grants for his excellent study, such as Landaw's grant (1993) and President's grant (1994). I think that such strong characteristics as his high intellectual potential, perseverance and his excellent ability to work independently is the serious motivation to be successful as a graduate student.

His potential as a teacher is also very high. When he was a first-year student he worked at the College of Physics and Mathematics attached to MIPT. Undoubtedly he is one of the best students at his educational level I have ever known. His general all-around academic ability is truly exceptional. Ivan has clear vision of his educational goals. His interests lie in the field of state solid body where he studies now in Chernogolovka in the Institute of State Solid Physics. I understand Ivan's intention to continue his education in Your University. He demonstrated a good communication skills outstanding candidate for your graduate school.

I strongly recommend Ivanov Ivan for Doctoral Program in Physics. I am sure that he is able to get the advanced study in physics and achieve successful results in his professional career. This opinion is based on my deep knowledge of this person. I believe that graduate study at Your University will greatly enrich applicant's knowledge of physics and help him in his further scientific life.

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LETTER OF RECOMMENDATION

I am writing to you on behalf of Ivan Ivanov. I have known Ivan Ivanov in February of 1992.He has been studying at Faculty of General and Applied Physics of Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology since September of 1992. I am a professor of mathematics and Ivan has attended my lectures and seminars throughout 1992-1994. So I feel quite capable of evaluating his mathematics abilities as well as comparing him with other students.

For years of his study at MIPT Ivan proved himself to be a talent student. While he was studying my course I was surprised of his remarkable abilities of learning and his extensive knowledge of mathematics . It is worth saying that Ivan Ivanov studies rather hard (he has only excellent marks in last four terms, in Russia-fives). Knowing MIPT for many years I may consider that as further indication that Ivan has indeed worked very hard . I think that his achievements in physics should be attributed not only to his talent in physics but also to his outstanding knowledge of mathematical sciences.

Thanks to his talent and persistence, I am sure that Ivan is one of my best students I have ever known. This opinion is based on my deep knowing that person. I strongly recommend the applicant for Doctoral Program in Physics because I am really sure that Ivan Ivanov is an outstanding candidate for Your graduate school. I think that his stay at Your University as a graduate student will be very useful for his scientific career and you will raise a good physicist.

Sincerely yours,

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LETTER OF RECOMMENDATION

I am pleased to offer this letter of recommendation for Mr. Ivan Y. Ivanov to support his application. I got to know Ivan Ivanov in September 1994, when I began to give labs in general physics to his group. While studying my course Ivan revealed a very high level of experimental and theoretical skills. During our joint discussions on various problems in physics Ivan showed good knowledge of general physics and applied mathematics. Ivan posses a remarkable ability of grasping new ideas and putting them into plain words.

Since I was the supervisor of the laboratory work of the group , I can also evaluate his experimental skills . Ivan demonstrated very accurate performance of physical experiment. While preparing for laboratory works , Ivan often had to self-study and used a big amount of addition literature. I think that Ivan Ivanov shows a deep understanding of Physics because he has both an excellent ability to learn subject very carefully and ,I believe, an outstanding ability of creating his own ideas and analyze difficult problems.

It is not a secret that while he was a schoolboy he was a repeated winner of physical and mathematical Olympiads such as Ukrainian Physics Olympiad ( the first place in 1990,1991, 1992,1993) ; International Tournament of Physics ( 1990 ); International Tournament of Mathematics ( the first place in 1989, the second place in 1990).

As recommender , I consider the applicant as gifted and promising student. Ivan Ivanov is comparable with my best students of previous years . I highly recommend him for a program leading to the PhD degree . I am sure that the applicant will successfully accomplish a program of graduate study. The transfer to Your University, I believe, would not be difficult for him. I think that

study at Your University will be useful for Ivan Ivanov, and you will have good graduate student.

Sincerely yours,

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As the member of the Board of the USSR schoolboy Physics Olympiad I have known Ivan Ivanov since 1991 when he won the Second Diploma at the final stage of that Olympiad. In 1992 Ivan won the First Diploma and got a special award for the best experimental score. In 1993 Ivan participated in the International Physics Olympiad (IPhO), Williamsburg, VA and was awarded Silver Medal there.

Every year a small group of students and MIPT professors conducts winter and summer sessions of the Russian IPhO team. The aim of the sessions is to select and to train upon selection the team of 5 schoolboys. Of course, guidance and experience of those who themselves have got through both these sessions and the IPhO is extremely useful in our work. These students invent problems to solve, give seminars, laboratory classes and examine schoolboys' knowledge of physics. I highly appreciate Ivan's activity as a member of our group and hope that the time spent on the preparation of our team gave him an excellent teaching practice.

I would like to pay your attention to Ivan's remarkable scholastic ability. His GPA is 4.0 (it means Oleg has got only "excellent" grades) and I am sure that he will be able to keep on in the way he started. For his excellence in studies Ivan was awarded Fellowship of FIAN (Lebedev Physical Institute, Moscow) and "Eximer" Fellowship. Both Fellowships are awarded to 2 students out of 83 undergraduates of the Department.

Working at MIPT for many years I can compare Ivan's abilities with those of other MIPT students. For the last 5 years I have been closely working with several students like Oleg. For example, XX and XX (both are graduate students at Harvard now), XX (now he is a graduate student at MIT), XX (now he is a graduate student at Yale) and XX (he is a graduate student at Rice). All of them participated in the USSR Physics Olympiad and IPhO brilliantly, and used to work as instructors in the sessions of the previous IPhO team. In my opinion all of them (including Ivan Ivanov) belong to the top 2% of MIPT students.

Those listed above are, of course, very different and everyone of them is unordinary person in his own way. Still they have one feature in common - it is their independent, maybe sometimes erratic way of study. Due to this feature their knowledge of physics is often far greater than it is required by Department of General Physics at MIPT. For example, XX was offered graduate admission by several U.S. universities while being in his second year of studies at MIPT.

I have no doubts that Ivan is able to study at the Graduate level successfully .

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have been the leader of the USSR Physics Olympiad Team for several years. I have known Ivan Ivanov for almost 4 years. In 1991, being only 15 years old Ivan won the USSR Physics Olympiad and was invited to the winter (2 weeks) and summer (one month) sessions of the USSR IPhO team. We usually invite to the sessions 15 candidates who are seniors in High School (i.e. 1617 year-old students). Ivan being a junior competed in a year higher rank so we invited him also. The sessions included lectures on advanced topics in physics as well as seminars, devoted to theoretical problems and intense lab courses. The sessions also contained frequent rounds of problem solving contests designed to reduce the number of candidates. Ivan has managed to enter the final list of 7 students. He participated in 1993 IPhO as a member of Ukrainian team. His silver medal confirmed his outstanding knowledge of physics.

In 1993 Ivan entered Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology (MIPT). It is worth mentioning that he was accepted without any entrance examinations, while the competition for the entrance is always very keen at MIPT. As a freshman at MIPT Ivan has used his leisure time efficiently: he studied Quantum Physics and Functions of Complex Variable Theory. We have often discussed which books he should read and clarified difficult questions, if they had arisen.

I should especially mention the feature of Ivan, which stimulates him in his studies - Ivan is extremely curious person. He has a habit of asking himself (and others) how the things work. One of the results of his searches is that Ivan is an author of 5 original problems, published in "Kvant" magazine. We (editors) annually choose 60 such problems.

During past two years Ivan has worked as an instructor of the IPhO sessions (training group consists of 4 students and 4 professors) and as a member of Soros Physics Olympiad Organizing Committee (committee consists of 5 students and 2 professors). I am sure that Ivan has acquired all the basic skills needed for work as a Teaching Assistant.

I am convinced that much of a student's success is determined by the way he used to study before entering university. According to my observations, one who used to study ahead of others in school rarely fails to do so afterwards. Ivan is not an exception to this rule. As a professor at Moscow State University (MSU), I am acquainted with students from both MSU and MIPT and I can say with confidence that Ivan Ivanov is one of the best students I have ever known.

I would like to tell a few words about some specific features of MIPT education. MIPT has close relations with the leading Russian research Institutes. The program of study is designed so that students are given all the basic undergraduate courses in their first 2-2.5 years of study. During the 6th semester of their studies students are expected to start their own scientific researches in the chosen field of physics. From my point of view the program is overloaded with physics and math, despite the obvious lack of humanities. However the main purpose of MIPT is to prepare well qualified specialists in physics - is being accomplished perfectly.

Taking into account my knowledge of Ivan Ivanov as a brilliant, industrious and intelligent student I feel confident about his ability to realize his undoubtfully huge potential.

I highly recommend Ivan Ivanov for graduate study at ... University.

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Evaluation.

I have known Ivan Ivanov since 1992, when he started his studies at our Institute. Ivan was interested in Liquid Crystals (LC) and various optical phenomena, which occur in them. I was rather surprised to see such a zeal for knowledge , because Ivan was only 16 then. Later I have realized that Ivan was quite unordinary person and , therefore , he needed unordinary approach. That is why , in spite of his youth, I advised him to join a small research group at our department.

Ivan easily communicated with his older colleagues and this helped him to start working in the group. Despite the lack of knowledge and the experience in physics of LC, Ivan has displayed a lot of persistence and in a short time has become well informed in this field of physics. Among various types of research at our department Ivan has chosen the investigation of zigzagdisclination in LC. Along with our graduate student XX, Ivan investigated the behavior of zigzag-disclination under the effect of the AC electric field.

While working at the Institute of Physics Ivan has greatly improved his English. It is necessary for researcher to read well and to express his thoughts clearly in English. I think Ivan gained those skills while carrying out his research on crystal. He also had to read some articles in "Phys.Rev. Letters." and "Mol.Cryst. and LC" and to get acquainted with several types of modern optical and electronic equipment. X and Ivan often used computer in their research and even managed to create the electronic device, producing the electric signal needed. Some results of their joint work have been submitted for publication.

Ivan has shown very promising abilities in experimental physics and I am confident that practical skills, which he acquired at our Institute, will help him in his future career.

I enthusiastically recommend Mr. Ivanov for graduate study at your University.

Petrov P.P.

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I have known Ivan Ivanov for more than 3 years. I have been the leader of the USSR International Physics Olympiad team for several years. Among other winners of the USSR Olympiad Ivan took part in winter (two weeks) and summer (a month) sessions of the team in 1991. The sessions included advanced lectures on physics .Seminars devoted to theoretical problems and intensive laboratory courses were alternated with frequent rounds of problem solving contests designed to reduce the number of candidates from 15 to 5.

Being only 15 years old, Ivan lacked some necessary skills but despite the spirit of competition that was present at the winter sessions he easily communicated with other members of the team managing to learn much from his fellows. At the Olympiad itself that was held in Havana Ivan received the special prize of the European Physics Society rating the first of 150 participants from more than 30 countries. This result represented remarkable progress made in six months. The Silver Medal at the International Physics Olympiad in Helsinki confirmed Ivan's outstanding knowledge of physics.

There is an established tradition that students who have won the IPhO in previous years work as instructors in the sessions of the succeeding IPhO teams. Ivan Ivanov is one of such students. The amount of work he has done was especially large last year. It is worth saying that Russian IPhO team won the first prize in the XXIV IPhO (Williamsburg, Virginia) last summer.

I am convinced that much of a student's success, e.g. in physics is determined by the way he has learned the subject before entering university : one who used to study ahead of others in school rarely fails to do so afterwards. Ivan is no exception to the rule. Attending advanced classes on group theory helps him much , so does the reading of original works and books on quantum mechanics. Taking into account my knowledge of Ivan Ivanov as a brilliant, perseverant and intelligent student, I feel confident about his ability to

realize his undoubtedly huge potential. I highly recommend him for graduate study in your Institution.

Faithfully yours,

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Ivan Ivanov is a second year student at Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology (MIPT). I have known him for a year and a half. I teach General Physics course at MIPT and he attended my seminars during 1991/92 academic year. Our contacts were not confined to meetings during these classes. We often met in my apartment to discuss his difficulties, his studies and his future plans. We have become true friends, and I hope that advice which I have given him will be useful in fulfilling his career objectives.

Knowing Ivan well, I can tell you some words about his outstanding abilities in Physics. He revealed them very early. Ivan has won the USSR Physics Olympiad many times. He is the winner of the the XXII and XXIII International Physics Olympiads (he got the gold medal in 1991 and the silver one in 1992). Being in the first year of his studies at MIPT, Ivan took part in the MIPT

Physics Olympiad ranking the 4th among all undergraduates of our institute. On this basis he, along with the several seniors of MIPT , was allowed to attend Elementary Particle Physics courses given at the Institute for High Energy Physics-Serpukhov. During our joint discussions of various problems in physics Ivan demonstrated very good knowledge of general physics, theoretical physics and mathematics. Considering his progress made in MIPT I can say with no doubt that Ivan has a talent for physics.

Besides his evident talent there is another feature of Mr. Ivanov that is very important for understanding what a person he is. This feature is perseverance. Let me give you an example. When Ivan was admitted to MIPT his knowledge of English was that of an average Russian freshman. That means he could hardly read and speak. In the fall of 1992 year he firmly decided to continue his education in the USA. Now he reads a large number of original books (he especially likes Wolfe, Fitzgerald and Doctorow), listens to BBC and CNN without any difficulties and speaks English quite fluently. If you take into consideration that during this year he has been studying at MIPT you will understand that Ivan has worked very hard. I think that his achievements in physics should be attributed not only to his aptitude but also to his persistence and ambition.

I evaluate Ivan Ivanov among the top 2% of my students and highly recommend him for the graduate study at Princeton University.

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Ivan Ivanov entered the section of Elementary Particles, which is charged to me, at the Institute of Theoretical and Experimental Physics about two years ago. A closer acquaintance with him was made last winter when he had passed special exam, given by ITEP for the students who are going to work in theoretical physics.

The exam consists in solving quantum physics problems, including rather difficult ones, which are similar to those, arising from everyday theoretical work of scientist. Mr. Ivanov demonstrated profound understanding of underlying physical phenomena, good skill in using mathematical methods and ability to represent his results at high scientific level.

Now Ivan attends my lectures and seminars on Quantum Field Theory. He copes with the subject very well and shows clear comprehension of the theory structure along with aptitude for solving problems.

Concerning Ivan's relative standing, I consider him as the best one in his group of 19 MPTI students. He have worked a lot at theoretical laboratory of ITEP during half a year and has produced interesting results which will be published in leading scientific European journal. He works productively and intensively.

Therefore, I evaluate Ivan Ivanov as a person having a high potential to carry on advanced study in the field of Theoretical High Energy Physics and strongly recommend him for further education at the department of Phisics.

Prof. Petr P. Petrov

Principal Scientific Researcher

Institute of Theoretical and Experimental Physics,

Cheremushkinskaya 25, Moscow

117259 Russia

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I know Ivan Ivanov, who asked me to write in his behalf, since September 1991. In 1991/1992 academic year I gave a course of lectures on electronics in his department and also supervised his laboratory work on the subject. Although my acquaintance with Ivan wasn't too long, it was so close that I could well estimate his character and ability.

Ivan proved himself to be a very strong student. He showed his ability to learn quickly new concepts. The subject I taught was apparently an unusual and uncomfortable one for him at first but he managed with it very successfully for he organized and pursued his studies effectively and diligently. He is apt at solving problems on paper, besides Ivan possesses the knack of experimental work. In laboratory Ivan often demonstrated his ability to deal with the problems he encountered in experiments in non-standard way. His approach to his tasks can be best described as thorough and attentive. Such important for career success qualities as feeling of responsibility and ability to cooperate with people are also a credit to him. Ivan's knowledge of English is very good and certainly cannot create an obstacle to his studies in the USA.

By and large, I believe that Ivan Ivanov has excellent prospects of success and strongly recommend him for graduate standing at the Department of Physics and Astronomy of Dartmouth College.

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am glad to give my recommendation to Ivan Ivanov. He attended my lectures on quantum mechanics in the course of theoretical physics and we also discussed the same matter in a small class. I think I got to know him well and I hope that my opinion of Ivan could help him in entering California Institute of Technology graduate school.

I know Ivan as an able and promising student. He has got excellent knowledge of general physics, and solid preparation in mathematics as well. In my opinion, that helped and will help him to achieve success in advanced theoretical physics courses. Unfortunately, I cannot judge his experimental ability but he did very well in my theoretical course. Ivan has very high standing even at the Department of General and Applied Physics, the best one of MPTI. However, he does not feel content with the past accomplishments, does not stop working thoroughly and maintains his position as one of the strongest students of his year.

What perhaps is even more important than his preparation is Ivan's permanent interest in science. He is interested in high energy physics. From his enthusiastic approach to my subject I see that he enjoys quantum mechanics as well. Ivan is apparently planning to make a career in science, and this purposefulness is his very valuable quality. In my opinion, his even temper, discretion and friendliness will assist him in all his undertakings. Maybe, his being dissatisfied with himself sometimes grows into lack of self-confidence and hinders Ivan, but this is not an obstacle sufficient to inhibit his development.

Taking all the above into consideration, I would like to give Ivan Ivanov my wholehearted support.

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have known Ivan Ivanov for more than 4 years. In 1989 I was the leader of the USSR International Physics Olympiad Team. Among other winners of the USSR Olympiad Ivan Ivanov took part in winter (two weeks) and summer (one month) sessions of the team. The sessions included advanced lectures on physics; seminars devoted to theoretical problems and intensive laboratory courses were alternated with frequent rounds of problems solving contests designed to reduce the number of candidates from 15 to 5.

From the very beginning Ivan demonstrated his outstanding knowledge of physics , although he lacked some necessary experimental skills. Despite the spirit of competition that was present at the sessions Ivan easily communicated with other members of the team , managing to learn much from his fellows as well as help them with their difficulties. At the Olympiad itself , that was held in Warsaw, Ivan made one of the best experiments (19.25 points out of 20), which represented remarkable progress he made in 5 months. He also did well in theoretical part of the contest, rating 8th of 150 participants from more than 30 countries. His has the only gold medal retained by our team. I should add here that Ivan displayed surprising fluency in English, acting as an informal interpreter between our students and participants from other countries.

Since 1990 Ivan Ivanov has been participating in the sessions of the succeeding IPhO teams as an instructor. His help in correcting students' papers and conducting laboratory classes was very valuable to us. I was delighted at his ability to capture students' interest regardless of whether he is giving a lecture or taking part in an informal discussion. As I feel, Ivan is one of the people who enjoy teaching. His commitment was formally recognized in the beginning of 1992, as he was elected to the Board of the last USSR Physics Olympiad in Moscow.

I had too little time to discuss with Ivan his recent work at Kurchatov Institute of Atomic Energy and his latest achievements in studying physics at MIPT, but taking into account my knowledge of Ivan Ivanov as a brilliant, perseverant and intelligent student, I feel confident about his ability to realize his undoubtedly huge potential.

I highly recommend Ivan Ivanov for graduate study at University of Pennsylvania.

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van Ivanov has been studying at the Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology , Department of General and Applied Physics (DGAP) for almost 2.5 years. During this period he has been attending my seminars in General Physics thus I can say with no doubts that I know him well.

Ivan's outstanding abilities in physics were revealed very early. He has won the first diploma in the All-Russian schoolboy Olympiad in Physics three times, first diploma in the USSR schoolboy Olympiad in physics two times and he was the winner (first diploma) of the XXI International Physics Olympiad in 1991 (Havana , Cuba).Now he is third year student and he is definitely one of several best students in our Department.

From the very beginning of his study in MPTI Ivan demonstrated very good knowledge of General and Theoretical Physics as well as of mathematics. For 2.5 years he has taken a lot of courses ,and his level of knowledge rose significantly. Considering our collaboration on seminars I should stress such features as inventiveness in work and independence in thought. It is clear to me that Ivan is very persistent in achieving his aim, and he usually studies with such enthusiasm and energy that it is no wonder to me that for 2.5 years he has had only excellent marks and that during first year of his study he won the first prize in the MPTI students Olympiad in physics which was administered for the first-year students. I should stress that on that Olympiad he was the only person of all participants who solved the most difficult problem #7 and also he was the only person of all DGAP students who solved problem #2 on Electricity & Magnetism exam last year.

Ivan possesses a remarkable ability to grasp new ideas quickly as well as put them into plain words, which greatly contribute to our seminars. He can easily express himself orally and in writing. Among Ivan's drawbacks I can name some irregularity of his studies: sometimes he pays too much attention to particular topics of the subject (learning much more than required) while leaving some parts of the program intact until last week before the exam. I would like to mention that Ivan is very polite and outgoing young man. I think he could be a leader in the group.

I can say with no doubts that Ivan Ivanov is a truly exceptional person, one of my best students ( top 5% ) and strongly recommend him for the study at your Institution.

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Ivan Ivanov is third-year student at Moscow institute of Physics and Technology (MIPT). I have known him for more than two years. I am an assistant professor at MIPT and he has attended my seminars throughout 1991-92 and 1992-93. So I feel quite

capable of evaluating his physics abilities as well as comparing him with other MIPT students.

Ivan Ivanov demonstrated his aptitude for physics rather early. He has won the USSR Physics schoolboy Olympiad many times. Ivan is the winner ( gold medal ) of the XXII International Physics Olympiad (1991, Havana, Cuba). He also has won the first prize in the MIPT student Physics Olympiad in the first year of his study at MIPT. For the years of his study at MIPT he followed some additional courses in his major field of study (physics) (i.e.. Physics of Crystals ) and also in some related fields. I think these courses will be very useful for him. It is worth to mention that Ivan studies hard, he has only excellent marks, "fives" in Russian system. During our joint discussions on various problems in physics he showed good knowledge of general physics, theoretical physics and mathematics. He possesses a remarkable ability of grasping new ideas quickly and putting them into plain words.

As far as I now Ivan's knowledge of English was that of an average Russian first-year student when he was admitted to MIPT in 1991, i.e. he could hardly read and speak. Now he reads original English books and speaks English quite fluently. Knowing MIPT for many years I may consider that as further indication that Ivan has indeed worked very hard. I think that his achievements in physics should be attributed not only to his aptitude but also to his perseverance and ambitions. Unfortunately, sometimes I find him a little bit stubborn and unwilling to change his mind, but this can be easily attributed to quite common youth extremism.

I evaluate Ivan Ivanov as one of my best students ( top 5% of the whole of about 200 students this year ). Considering Ivan's abilities , I am confident he can study successfully at the graduate level. I strongly recommend Ivan Ivanov for the graduate study in Physics at the University of Chicago.

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The MPTI's students acquire grounds of physics and mathematics at Alma Mater for 2.5-3 years. Then they continue training at Research Institutes where they participate in practical work of Laboratories and specialize in some particular area of modern Physics. Kurchatov Institute for Atomic Energy is a place where some students have a practical work in experimental and theoretical physics.

Student Ivan Ivanov is working at Low Temperature Physics Lab one day a week during 6 month. This is adaptation period when one becomes to be acquainted with experimental work and equipment. The circle of problems at the Lab is relatively wide: -muon research of quantum crystals and liquids;

-electron kinetics and thermodynamics of HTS in strong magnetic fields (up to 25 T) and low temperatures (down to 20 mK);

-pysical phenomena at helium crystallization.

Mr.Ivanov was proposed to take part in the investigation of dielectric constant of the La2CuO4 single crystal in the vicinity of metamagnet transition where conductivity doubles. Is there a change of it at metamagnet transition or not? It is very important to know from the theoretical point of view.

I believe that by spring 1992 Ivan Ivanov will have interesting results for publication, his good grounding permits me to think so.

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RECOMMENDATION LETTER FOR IVAN IVANOV

I have known Ivan for almost a year and a half. Our Institute (P.N.Lebedev Physics Institute) has close links with Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology (MIPT). Not having our own students we arrange a broad range of lectures for MIPT students and invite them to participate in modern scientific researches carried out at our Institute.

Ivan Ivanov is one of such students. In September 1991 he was enrolled as a research assistant in scientific staff of Diode-Laser Spectroscopy Laboratory headed by me and chose me as his advisor. Since that time I have had an opportunity to observe Ivan approximately twenty hours per week. I often discuss some scientific problems with him as well as received results. I advise him which books and articles to read and explain arising abstruse questions. Due to good all-round education received at MIPT it wasn't very difficult for Ivan to study a rather big volume of literature concerning the topic of our work. He has also learned in short time how to handle with all existing in the laboratory equipment, that means operating with liquid He, vacuum systems, stroboscopic integrator, adjusting of an optical part of devices and many others. I can say that Ivan has an "experimental talent" to master complex equipment without any troubles.

Ivan tries to receive knowledge not only in Physics but also in many related areas. For example, he knows very well digital and radio-electronics. It is extremely useful for my group because we use a lot of specially made electronic equipment which sometimes requires repairing and modernization. Ivan is quite good in programming and computer science (he has even written a few chapters for one PC handbook). I should also say about a very high level of Ivan's English proficiency. He can easily read and write in English and he helps us to translate our reports and correspondence. It almost makes no difference for him to read articles in Russian or in English.

We appreciate Ivan's contributions in work of our laboratory very high. He is included now in coauthors of our new article "Isotope Effects in the Non-equilibrium Plasma-chemical Decomposition of Carbon Dioxide", which will be published in Journal "Sov. Phys. JETP" in 1993. Ivan is a modest, polite young man. He always performs his duties accurately and in time.

I am sure it would be very useful for Ivan to continue his education as a graduate student and I hope he will be accepted at your Institute.

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LETTER OF RECOMMENDATION.

I have known Ivan Ivanov for a year and half. Being a second-year student he attended my lectures on Electromagnetic Field Theory and in the next academic year - lectures on Quantum Mechanics I. Upon completing each course of lectures I examined him. It should be mentioned that they are two most difficult courses in physics in the first five terms. In spite of this in both exams Ivan showed deep understanding of the subject and I gave him excellent marks.

Year ago Ivan seriously decided to involve himself in theoretical physics. He was determined to join theory group, where he could be engaged in studying any field of theoretical physics most effectively. This group is not an ordinary one. The point is that from very beginning every undergraduate student is attached to a certain department (at the Faculty of General and Applied Physics) but he can rather easily change the department. But enrolment in theory group is based on the results of special examination. It required knowledge of some material which was not included in the curriculum and therefore had to be studied by Ivan himself. As the number of vacancies is much less than the number of students who wish to join the group the contention is really competitive: most students fail to pass the examination although they have enough knowledge to receive excellent and good marks at the ordinary exams in theoretical physics. That Ivan passed it successfully characterizes him as a person who has great will and the potential to study theory in physics.

Taking all this into account, I consider Ivan one of the best students I know and enthusiastically recommend him for graduate study at the State University of New Jersey, Rutgers.

Yours sincerely,

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van Ivanov has been studying at Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology for 4.5 years. I was his teacher on General Physics during 3 of these years. Reviewing our joint activity on labs and classes I can mention his high capacity for work and independence of conclusions. In scientific discussions Ivan revealed maturity along with power in defending his opinion, but he was also careful for opponent's arguments. He easily comes in contact with colleagues on any question he needs. I should note a number of his uncommon solutions on seminars on Solid State Physics. Ivan is active and impatient in study, always aimed at ultimate result, even a secondary school he completed a year earlier than the same age pupils. I believe that problems of both Theoretical and Experimental Physics are equally interesting for him.

Nowadays Ivan works on future thesis at Institute of High Energy Physics. The main direction of his researches is the computer simulation of physics beyond the standard model. In particular he investigated birth of new Z'-boson in process pp-> Z'-> l+l- on future SSC collider. Some parts of results obtained are under publication. All this shows that Ivan has chosen rightly principal way of his life - physicist-researcher. As for intellectual ability he is one of the top three students in the group of 20. Ivan's overall skills are similar to those of the graduate student XX who was the group mate of Ivan and has entered Harvard University last year.

I am sure that it would be very helpful for Ivan to take course of studies at your University and to work on experiments and theoretical researches at your laboratories.

Statement by MIPT Alumnus (11/2002)

The Biophysics Student admitted to Biology Departments at Harvard University

Statement of Purpose

Applicant’s name: Ivan Ivanov

It is noticed that science develops in splashes, each significantly advancing our understanding of the Nature. The 19th century was the time of rapid development of thermodynamics and electrodynamics; in the beginning of the 20th century quantum mechanics and relativity theory were born. In the search for secrets of nature science has reached extremely high and low energies as well as large and small length scales. Still until recently we knew very little about one of the most complex on everyday’s length and energy scales systems – life. Now we are at the dawn of efflorescence in molecular biology, which provides an excellent basis for application of modern physics, biochemistry and computational techniques. Revelations of molecular structure become extremely crucial, as they provide insights into the way molecules work.

My interest in the role of biomolecular structure in information processing and signal transduction pathways in the cell has developed during the last two years, while I have been a student of Molecular Biophysics sub-department of MIPT. Processing of biological information plays a crucial role in the existence and development of biological systems and its infringement often leads to different kinds of diseases. The structure and, consequently, the function of the involved biomolecules is an important key to the understanding of these processes. To further study processing of biological information and methods of structure determination I joined the research group of Dr. X, focusing on the structure and function of membrane proteins, lipids and lipid-protein systems.

In September xxxx I started my research in the group of xx, Small City, Russia. I studied the properties of xxx under various conditions. Work there not only deepened my knowledge about crystallisation and lipid systems, but also gave me knowledge and experience of strengths and limitations of structure investigation by neutron scattering. I became familiar with the theoretical background of small angle neutron scattering, experimental setup and data treatment techniques.

In March xxxx I continued my research in the group of Dr. X at the Institute of XX. The ultimate goal of our research is to explain all stages of signal transduction during the chemoand phototaxis. Currently I am involved in several projects on the structure and functioning of xxx, the specimen of microbial phototaxis system, in the complex with xxx as well as without it. My current task is to obtain crystals which xxx. During this work I acquired a broad range of experimental experience and theoretical background necessary for crystallisation and structure determination of membrane proteins. One of the most challenging tasks in my project was to find the best conditions for trapping intermediate states of xx in crystals. It was a combination of thorough theoretical analysis of spectral properties of the protein with further experimental examination and finally implementation of theoretical findings. As a result I obtained crystals of xxx which diffract to xx on a synchrotron.

Having succeeded in the current research, employing the knowledge from different fields of physics and biochemistry, I feel well prepared for the further challenging studies and research in the fields of molecular and structural biology, perhaps on very different topics, as well as on the topics I am familiar with. I regard structure investigations to be not only the method of

obtaining a particular structure, but one from the collection of methods of life sciences which together advance our understanding of molecular mechanisms of life. Therefore I want to study a range of biophysical, biochemical and computational techniques that are used to reveal function of biomolecules and information processing by biological systems. Spectroscopy, quantum chemistry and computational structural biology techniques, like molecular dynamics and Brownian dynamics are of great interest to me as they are hand in hand with structure determination methods. Therefore multidisciplinary training program in Molecular, Cellular and Chemical Biology perfectly suits my scientific interests. Research in these areas is very active in Dr. X's, Dr. X’s, Dr. X’s, and Dr. X’s groups at XX University.

I want to continue my education at the Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology of XX University. I am convinced that my participation in your Ph.D. program will give me thorough education and excellent research experience, which will advance me to my dream – discovering new secrets of Nature.

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Statement by MIPT Alumnus (01/2003)

The Mathematics Student admitted to UC Berkeley, NYU

This application is very important to me because completion of a PhD degree in Mathematics will be the best chance for a unifying career development with my labor of love - mathematics. I am confident that when I become a serious and mature researcher my desire to make a contribution to mathematics and to our understanding of this world will remain my main driving force.

I don't remember when I became keen on mathematics. At first it was only entrainment as I found it exciting to solve intricate problems. Later it became something more than a mere hobby. I particularly enjoyed the ineffable feeling of triumph when you realize that the problem is solved; that you have got the idea. I think it is the profundity of this feeling that made mathematics my chief enthusiasm. I have taken part in Olympiads and Conferences. The most valuable contribution of these competitions was a possibility to meet the same enthusiasts in mathematics. I was particularly impressed when I was invited to participate in an International Summer School and Conference in the ancient town of Pereslavl-Zalessky. There I had an opportunity not only to work on appealing research problems but also to interact closely with working mathematicians such as X and Y. It is difficult to describe the feelings that overwhelmed me but they did incite me to further progress.

Being a high school student I was doing a course on inequalities at Kiev State University where I conducted my first research work. It was essentially proof of Karamat inequality that utilized properties of convex functions and Murhead inequality. It was unforgettable, how the main idea of my central proof dawned upon me. That evening I went to sleep the happiest boy in the world. Although, relatively simple, I did something really innovative, something that no one had ever done before with elementary methods. That was my first moderate contribution to mathematics.

Later, while being a freshman at the Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology (MIPT), I refined the proof and presented it at the 52nd MIPT Scientific Conference where it was honored the first prize.

In my fourth year when students of our University get involved in research activity, Professor X suggested to be my supervisor. Under his guidance I wrote my thesis ”Integration of Multivalued Mappings“ and defended it with Honors. Essentially it consisted in a study of necessary and sufficient conditions under which there exists Riemann integral of multivalued maps. My task was to find some classes of sets of attainability and to investigate relation between Lebesgue and Riemann integral for Multivalued Maps. In this work I analyzed properties of spaces of compacts with Housdorff metric and properties of support functions of convex compacts and applied these theoretical findings to several problems of theoretical mechanics. During this work I acquired a broad range of research experience and background necessary for further research in convex analysis.

My current research work is devoted to differentiating of multivalued mappings and differential inclusions. The main task is to become familiar with ideas and approaches introduced in the Sci. D. thesis of Professor X and to improve the results that are obtained in it. One of the most challenging tasks in the project is to obtain Pontryagin maximum principle in Hamiltonian form from Lagrange form (in terms of tangent cones).

After graduation I plan to continue my scientific career in mathematics. Differential games, convex analysis and Optimization theory are of particular interest to me. I have the strongest incentive to advance as far as I can in this captivating science and feel confident that application to the University of Chicago is the best possible step to accomplish it. I would regard my admission to your University not only as a great honor but also as a great responsibility and an obligation to work hard.

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Statement by a student from India (12/2002)

The Computer Science and Electrical Engineering Student

“Conceiving ideas and developing systems that deliver that promise” is a personal goal that I have set for myself. When translated into actions this goal has reinforced my belief in leadership through creativity.

As a student in high school I had the idea of a drip irrigation system by a windmill. Using some old hose pipes, plastic tubes and a pulley arrangement I developed the model. This model won the gold medal at the prestigious Indian National science congress. While still in the third year of undergraduate program in Engineering I became the Technical consultant for a start up company. My technical idea won the first prize at Eureka 50K, India’s first Business Plan competition. For the past two and a half years I have been working in XXX corporation. The will to learn and the ability to spend long hours of cerebration on trouble shooting have made me a dependable team player.

Today as a 24-year-old individual I perceive that life for me has been a process of conscious evolution. The most integral part of this growth is the value system imbibed in me by my parents, teachers and my mentors and an intrigued liking for science. This played a vital role

in my decision making for the future. As I finished high school I was selected for the Indian Naval Academy with merit ranking in the Top 25 in the country. However my liking for science guided me into pursuing a Bachelor degree in Electrical Electronics and Power (EEP) Engineering. This decision gave me ample opportunity to consolidate my creative energies and harness my technical aptitude.

In college, I always enjoyed long hours in the labs. It gave me the opportunity to correlate theory to practical phenomena. This in turn gave me a better understanding of the subject and newer lines of thinking. The course in EEP covered a wide panorama of subjects. Besides the core Electrical Engineering subjects I also studied major electronics subjects like electronic devices and circuits, Linear Integrated Circuits and Pulse and Digital switching circuits. I learnt programming in ANSI C and by the time I was in final year I developed a fair amount of expertise writing complex pieces of code.

In the third year of my engineering studies I was introduced to the subject of Control Systems. The first session in the labs was devoted to developing simple programs for a Simatic PLC. A combination of AND, OR blocks generating a complete control circuit for a motor fascinated me. I took up an internship in the Controls Lab and got to interact with Prof. A, a professor of great repute in the field of Automation and Controls. He introduced me to the synergies of Information technology and Automation systems. Under his guidance I completed the thesis in PC based Load Flow Analysis and also worked with the Mechanical Dept for PC based control of Robotic Arm.

Working on the projects gave me a sound technical base. But the greatest advantage of involving myself in these activities was that I developed the ability to multi-task effectively. Besides the college academics I was actively involved in the extra-curricular activities. I represented my college at state level Table Tennis and Debate competitions. I wanted to selffinance my education and worked part-time. I was also an active amateur environmentalist. The driving force behind all this was my aim to develop all the facets of my personality. In this process I could not achieve the grades I wanted to in the first and second year. But soon I garnered the skill of judicious allocation of time and energy. I did well in the third year and final year of Engineering. Moreover I do not feel that the marks I scored are the sole indicators of my understanding of the subject. A cogent reason to augment my belief is the final year of my engineering.

XX ( my present employer) visited the college campus and offered me a job in the area of Process Automation and MES. I was among the twenty candidates selected from the best institutes across the country. I passed the six rounds of technical and personal interviews and I was the only student to be selected from the college. I decided to take up the job. For me it meant a chance to apply the knowledge gained so far in Controls and Automation systems and gain some industrial exposure. Besides this the job can help finance some part of my future education.

Unlike the milieu of the college, the corporate environment was very much different. The concept of learning on the job, accountability for the work at hand, conformance to inhousework flow standards gave me a greater focus. The most challenging aspect however was the rate of the learning, which was immense. In one year I developed competence in Real - time Energy management solutions. As part of my first project I developed software for Energy Management in a Cement Plant. The concept was based on the collection of Real-time Data from the DCS (Digital Control System) and populating a Database. With a certain degree of intelligence built into the software energy saving in the Cement unit was as high as 5%. This was a solution implemented for the first time by XX corporation in a Cement Plant. In

recognition of my work I was selected as a team member for the deployment of the XX Industrial IT platform solutions.

I deployed solutions in the field of Statistical Process control and Asset Optimization in Metals and Cement Industries. During these projects I got to interact with the R&D teams in XX and I also went through some research papers in my leisure time. The experience gained in the deployment of solutions and interaction with the technical teams of customers gave me a new insight. I realized that the business process decision making and the technical processes are not integrated in Real time. Although solutions like ERP aim to achieve this goal, information still exists in islands. In order to seamlessly integrate these areas a new architecture that links Automation systems and MES solutions needs to be developed. However this calls for comprehensive research. I cannot pursue this idea while still in a job. Besides an academic program under the guidance of able professors would help me identify my specific research interests. Hence I have decided to pursue my Master degree in a research-focused environment.

The Center for Intelligent Machines Industrial Automation Lab at YY offers the best courses in this domain. The application driven research and development carried out in this lab coheres to my liking. I would like to carry out my research under the guidance of Prof. B. I believe that under his supervision I can proactively contribute to the work done in the Lab. His areas of work are of great interest to me and I believe that I can prove to be an effective and reliable team member in carrying out cutting edge research in this domain.

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Statement by MIPT Alumnus (01/2003)

The Physics Student admitted to MIT, Princeton, Berkeley, Stanford

When I was a tenth-grade high school student, I used to always ask my teachers: "Why do different branches of physics seem so unrelated? They must be similar to each other!", but they didn't appear to be interested in the question. I believed that I was the only person trying to find the answer until I got acquainted with a professor of theoretical physics at XX University. He told me that analogies between different areas of physics do exist and that many scientists are exploring them. I cannot forget my excitement when I talked to him and found that I wasn't alone in my attempts to solve the puzzle. Since then every step in my life brings me closer to the answer.

In 1998 I entered Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology (MIPT). As a winner of XXIX International Physics Olympiad in Reykjavik, where I received Gold medal and a special prize for the best solution of a theoretical problem, I was admitted without entrance exams. There, in addition to a thorough standard course of study, I have taken a number of elective advanced physics and math courses. One of my hobbies was to solve complicated non-standard problems in physics, calculus and group theory. I also attended advanced lectures on topology and differential geometry at Independent University of Moscow. My hard work paid off: in 2000 I earned the highest score in MIPT's Physics and Mathematics Olympiads among all 2100 undergraduates of MIPT.

At the same time I gained my first research experience: I proved a theorem of high importance in calculus regarding Whitney's extension problem and my results were published in Mathematical Notes, one of the top Russian mathematical journals.

I spent my 3rd year at the Institute of Theoretical and Experimental Physics specializing in particle physics. I actively participated in weekly seminars on gravity and quantum field theory (QFT). I especially enjoyed making presentations on topics such as instantons in modern QFT, entropy of black holes, and conformal field theory.

I was fascinated by beautiful mathematical constructions of QFT and string theory, but I also became interested in deep interconnections between QFT and Condensed Matter physics. In order to get to the bottom of these interconnections, I decided to deepen my knowledge of Condensed Matter theory. Therefore in September 2001 I joined the theory group at the Landau Institute and spent my 4th year there. It was the most interesting year of my studies at MIPT as the requirements at the Landau Institute are extremely high. For instance, in order to pass the exam on Diagrammatic Techniques, I solved about fifty complex problems such as finding quantum correction to the conductivity of two-dimensional system with the help of diagrammatic methods.

Problems involving a combination of both High Energy and Condensed Matter Physics are of special interest to me, for example, quantum Hall effect, superconductivity, and modeling of cosmological phenomena in condensed matter systems. My Bachelor's thesis called "Even denominator Hall states" was in the field of fractional Hall effect. There I described the analogies between Moore-Read Pfaffian state and liquid helium. Currently I am working on a research project under the guidance of Prof. X. We are exploring properties of fermion zeromodes living on vortices in unusual superconductors.

During my years at MIPT I have acquired research experience not only in Condensed Matter, but also in QFT. About a year ago I met a graduate student who was working on asymptotically free theories. Soon we became collaborators. We have developed some aspects of principal chiral field model and are currently preparing a paper for submission to JETP Letters.

I am convinced that I should continue my education at Massachusetts Institute of Technology. First, I would like to get more experience with superconductivity and quantum Hall efect. Research in these areas is very active at Condensed Matter group of MIT. Study of strongly correlated systems by Prof. Lee, Prof. Wen and Prof. Levitov is of particular interest to me. Second, MIT High Energy group is also extremely strong. I believe that communication with such experts would be priceless for my education.

I am confident that graduate study at Massachusetts Institute of Technology would be a great step towards my goal and the experience gained at MIT will allow me someday to get to the core of connections between different branches of Physics.

Ivan Ivanov

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Statement by MIPT Alumnus (01/2003)

The Physics Student admitted to Yale University, UC Santa Barbara

What can be more interesting and exciting than the structure of the world surrounding us – the Nature? Physicists extract the most fundamental knowledge about Nature and make it serve the humankind. These aspects of being a physicist appealed to me since high school and are the major reason why I decided to be engaged in physics and entered Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology. While studying at MIPT I have chosen theoretical condensed matter physics as an area of specialization. Possibility to investigate microscopic properties of the world at macroscopic level is the issue that attracts me so much in this area in Physics.

I realize that research in theoretical physics is not an easy job nonetheless I think I have strong training and every quality to succeed.

I gained my first research experience as early as in high school, while participating in Young Physicist Tournament. This was a team competition that required a half-year everyday work on 17 problems that included experiments and theories far beyond the high school program. In the final round of All-Russian Tournament in xxx my team of 4 high school students took 1st place and represented our country at the International Young Physicist Tournament in City, Country, getting back with diploma of Excellent Performance.

Due to my victories in Physics Olympiads of different levels I was admitted to Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology without a requirement to pass entrance exams. There I spent 3.5 years in very competitive surrounding of best Former Soviet Union physics students. Although I am in average 1 year younger than other senior students, I always wanted to be on top. I studied a lot independently and my self-organization and interest helped me succeed. At the end of the first year I became and remained strong A -student.

During the xxxx/xxxx academic year I was also a student at the Institute for Theoretical and Experimental Physics (ITEP, Moscow), specializing in elementary particles. There I became acquainted with principles of Quantum Field Theory which has impressed me by its profoundness and beauty. At that time I made a firm decision to specialize in theory. However I realized, that pure high energy physics has little connection with “real” life. Thus I have chosen condensed matter physics to be my major, as an area where ideas and methods of QFT have brilliant application.

In spring xxxx I successfully passed “Landau Theoretical Minimum” Qualifying exam on Quantum Mechanics to Prof. X and was admitted to the theory group at Landau Institute for Theoretical Physics (ITP Landau). Among problems that I solved to pass that exam were energy levels of a roton in an oscillatory and Coulomb potential and hydrogen atom levels in high magnetic field.

My specialization in condensed matter physics at Landau Institute has begun this year. By June xxxx I will complete one year of courses there. Now I study lattice dynamics and theory of metals. I also attend weekly seminar on modern condensed matter physics, which helps me to learn more about current "hot" topics and trends in the field. Not long ago I myself presented a review on xxxx. While preparing the report I studied several articles (from PRL and RMP) about xxx. These areas became of interest to me.

Currently I am involved in a research project under the guidance of Prof. X. My problem is connected with xxx. I am investigating xxxx. Soon we will prepare an article with our results.

Since high school I got used to work in cooperation. Today collaborative work is an essential of my study and research at Landau theory group. I frequently and fruitfully discuss various questions with a number of professors, students and graduates.

Now being 19 years old and getting B.S. in Physics from MIPT in June xxxx I have serious intention to continue my education at the graduate level. Princeton University attracts me by its strong theoretical condensed matter group. I believe that studying at Princeton University would be a good chance for me to get a thorough education and great research experience and to become eventually a researcher in theoretical physics.

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Statement by a student from India (12/2002)

The Product Design Program Applicant admitted to Stanford

Write a brief statement concerning both your past work in your intended field of study and related fields, your plans for graduate study at Stanford, and your subsequent career plans. As this is an important part of your application, please describe the relevance of your past work and future intentions to the program for which you are applying.

STATEMENT OF PURPOSE

One evening in xxxx, as I was strolling on the deck of the Motor Tanker X, where I was serving as Chief Engineer, I came upon the anchor which had been heaved up the day before, when we set sail the across the Atlantic. A thrill ran through me, as the anchor had brought up with it loamy clay of the finest quality. I picked up a bucket load of this clay and hauled it off to my cabin to model into a sculpture, a favorite hobby of mine when I was ashore on leave. I enjoyed making that particular sculpture so much, first building a metal skeleton using various tools from the engineer’s workshop, I decided that if there was a career which could integrate engineering acumen and artistic creativity together, that would be the career I would be most happy pursuing. But over the years, I had come to believe that these two were disparate and irreconcilable interests and that one could only be pursued at the expense of the other, at least as far as a career was concerned. It was only when I came across the Product Design course description as offered at Stanford University, that it became evident to me this need not be necessarily so.

I always had a keen interest in the study of Mathematics & the Engineering Sciences, and was always among the top three students in class. On passing out of Higher Secondary School, I was awarded a Certificate of Merit from the Government of India for achieving a score within the top one percent of students all over India that year in Physics. This predilection for Applied Science & Engineering led me to the study Marine Engineering for my Bachelor’s degree, so that I could work with large, powerful and varied machinery in a single capsule unit, aboard a ship. At engineering college, I secured the first rank in Academics during the final two years of study. I was also awarded the Gold Medal from the Office of the President of India for all-round excellence and possessing qualities likely to make the Finest Marine Engineer from my batch.

Having completed 10 years of active service last year as a Marine Engineer aboard X oceangoing tanker vessels, with about 2 years in the capacity of Chief Engineer, I had gained a large

amount of hands-on, practical knowledge of marine & mechanical engineering systems, such as IC engines, steam & gas turbine machinery, cargo handling hydraulic systems, centrifugal pumping and purifying systems, advanced unmanned automation & control systems, etc. But I aspired to go beyond being a maintenance engineer to a design engineer, and realized I needed to gain a more research-based, theoretical foundation to complement my practical experience. I applied to and was admitted into the Master of Science degree program in Ocean Engineering at the University of California, Berkeley. At Berkeley, I was introduced to modern theory and practice of ship design and was specially fascinated by the field of Structural Reliability as applied to ship design. My final research project was the preparation of a report for a Reliability-based guideline, converting the deterministic Rules for determining structural scantlings for steel ships currently being applied by the American Bureau of Shipping, City, State. XX is a leading Ship Classification Society, a governing body that establishes and administers standards for the design, construction, and operational maintenance of marine vessels and structures. I am currently employed as a Ship Structural Engineer at XX, working on structural plan reviews for new buildings and creating Finite Element Models for analyzing dynamic and static loads on ships.

Yet, all through these years as a professional engineer, I fueled my passion for Art by devoting almost every moment of my leisure, at home and on board ship, to painting or sculpture or to the study of fine art. I created numerous paintings in oil and gouache, and many sculptures in clay, continually honing my creativity and artistic skill. I won many awards and prizes for painting and sketching at the school and inter-collegiate level. Although I could not find the time to learn painting in a formal art course, I have read extensively on various subjects in art and learned further by copying many works of great Masters such as Michelangelo, the preRaphaelite painters, and some ancient Indian Masters in Sculpture. I did finally realize a longstanding desire to study art formally when I did an intensive summer course in drawing at Berkeley.

The Product Design Course, especially in the form it is being offered at Stanford University, jointly by the departments of Mechanical Engineering and Art, seems to me to be the most perfectly suited to my dream of forging these two diverse interests of mine into a fulfilling new career. Though I have had no formal training in design, I have found that I could come up with innovative and original ideas for solutions to various problems faced during my career at sea, such as designing new types of tools for machinery maintenance, more efficient methods of overhaul or more effective automation systems. At leisure too, I have always enjoyed designing and building models, be they a set of rotating water fountains for ship-board decoration or a stable painting easel from the limited material available on board or architectural sketches for my future home.

I have also worked with keen interest in computer-based simulation models and training aids my father is currently involved in developing. I have designed numerous models for his company demonstrating lesson plans for the functioning of various mechanical systems such as principles of IC engines, fuel injection and fire detection systems etc., using software such as 3D Studio and Macromedia Director. I am currently engaged in developing a web-site for showcasing an exquisitely beautiful temple complex in Southern India, called X.

While I was studying at UC Berkeley, I had the opportunity of visiting the Stanford University campus and meeting with Professor Y of Design Division. He was very appreciative of my art portfolio and on his advice I visited the Design Loft on campus, which has left a lasting impression on me. There was a charged atmosphere of creativity in that room and it seemed ideas would almost shape themselves out in that melee of materials and tools and half-built models.

I am sure that formally studying Product Design can channelize my capabilities and enable me to come up with functionally efficient and aesthetically pleasing designs especially in the field of household consumer products and electronics. I would consider it an honor if I could study at Stanford University and assure you that I will put in my utmost effort into this domain.

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Statement by a Student from Bulgaria currently studying in US (01/2003) The Physics Student admitted to the University of Chicago

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I always think of my knowledge the same way a wealthy person thinks of his bank account, all he really knows is addition. My strong analytical abilities invariably attract me to unresolved theoretical problems either at the foundations of physics or at the frontiers of technology. Challenge intrigues and motivates me to discover unique solutions. The act of solving difficult problems not only provides an excellent way of gaining a significant amount of knowledge per unit time but also enables me to derive a deep sense of pride and satisfaction from my hard work.

Before entering Sofia University, I studied at one of the best specialized science high schools in Bulgaria. XX, a well-known in Bulgaria high school physics teacher, profoundly impacted my intellectual development at that time by engaging me in the school’s physics center and teaching me calculus, linear algebra, and differential equations at the university level. In addition, he instilled in me a spirit of competitiveness and intellectual curiosity. While preparing to represent Bulgaria at two International Physics Olympiads, I realized that being good in physics requires constant effort. Like an athlete training his or her muscles for the championship game, I refined my abilities to solve complicated problems through many hours of daily practice. The fact that I was awarded a bronze medal at the 1991 International Physics Olympiad in Cuba, gave me a deep, long - lasting confidence in my abilities. Due to the high level of expertise in undergraduate physics that I acquired during my preparation, now I am confident in my abilities to be an effective Teaching Assistant. In fact, I am currently a grader for the honors physics class at the X State University and look forward to the challenges awaiting me as a Teaching Assistant next quarter.

Following my graduation from Sofia University, I engaged in further development of my analytical skills from 1998 to 2000 while being a Research Assistant in the field of theoretical optical pattern recognition at the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences. I was responsible for developing mathematical methods to obtain a scale and rotation invariant correlation filter that may have exciting applications for image recognition of fingerprints, faces, cells, etc. The problem has remained unsolved for over 30 years. I worked on an independent basis, since no one in Bulgaria had theoretical expertise in the field. This unyielding work contributed in developing my intellectual persistence. My adviser, Prof. X, frequently remarked, “I am amazed you have not given up yet!” Although I was unable to find the

general solution, I succeeded in both generalizing the existing methods and finding two new partial solutions. The results of my strenuous work were published in the two attached articles. I am especially proud of the last article, which will appear in the January 2003 issue of Applied Optics. It presents an analytical derivation and computational test of a new scale-only invariant filter that has shown one of the best performances in the field.

I am currently concentrating in elementary particle theory, including string theory. My interest in this topic stems from numerous discussions with a friend who works in the field as well as numerous Internet searches on the subject. A book from Stephen Hawking, The Universe in a Nutshell, further struck my imagination with its powerful ideas about strings, quantum gravity, black holes, and time travel. The mathematical demands and richness of new physics concepts attracted me to explore this field in greater detail.

In the summer of 2001, my interest led me to the CDF (Collider Detector at Fermilab) experimental high energy group at X State University. My task in the group was writing C++ software for data analysis. The CDF’s software is very good although not perfect. For example, the analysis programs usually crash when the structure of the input file is not of the type expected. Such failures motivated me to write the first program that was able to probe the structure of the input file and not try to read nonexistent data. My program never crashed and the members of the group started using it extensively.

My major project in the group was developing xxxx. I was specifically responsible for writing the routines that selected the tracks pertaining to a common vertex. I developed and implemented two completely new methods for xxxx. I performed a substantial amount of analytical work and computational tests to complete the design. My enthusiasm for the project, often translated into working until the early morning hours. The result was great in that I substantially raised the efficiency of the primary vertex finder to the level of vxprim (the standard vertex finder) and above. I presented the results in the talk I gave at Fermilab in August xxxx (attached).

While exploring the experimental side of high energy physics, my interest gradually shifted towards elementary particle theory. The recent advances in the field are promising - the Grand Unified Theory is closer than ever, gravity may be reconciled with quantum mechanics, and the extraction of details about the superstring theories at the Large Hadron Collider seems plausible. In addition, my personal experiences listed above have enabled me to realize that I have a natural inclination towards analytical work. I have already taken one course unit in quantum field theory and three units in particle physics. Studying the Standard Model and mastering the math machinery behind it fascinated me. Despite being a successful theory, it has too many phenomenological constants such as the quark and lepton masses and there is a great deal of work for a researcher. The enthusiasm I felt during these courses convinced me that I had made the right choice of subject. Additionally, my time here at the X State University has enabled me to attend some impressive talks in superstring theories by leading lecturers in the field that have also further stimulated my interest.

I tested my general theoretical preparation in September xxxx when I passed the Qualifying Exam at the X State University with a score of 89% (results attached)

compared to an average of 47% among my student colleagues. Next quarter, I will continue to strengthen my background by taking the last units of the quantum field theory as well as any course offered on superstrings. I have also been studying group theory on an independent basis. In my opinion, a good theoretician must have expertise in areas outside of the major field. That is why, led by my intellectual curiosity, I took a course in superconductivity during spring quarter 2002. Furthermore, next quarter I will be enrolled in courses on general relativity, nonlinear dynamical systems and chaos, and a nuclear theory course that will discuss applications of effective field theory to many body systems.

The intensive and more advanced level of research in elementary particles theory at the University of California at Berkeley has strengthened my belief that your program provides better opportunities for me to continue my studies of the Standard Model and the superstring theories. The Berkeley’s first-class faculty and the presence of a competitive student body that more appropriately matches my own high level of preparation would certainly stimulate me more to achieve the highest standards of academic excellence in physics. Furthermore, I find the research conducted at Berkeley more contemporary and intriguing. Of particular interest to me in my field is the research of Prof. Lawrence Hall in physics of extra spatial dimensions and symmetry breaking and that of Prof. Petr Horava in string theory. Graduating from Berkeley would have a profound impact on my future career in physics by providing better opportunities for professional realization in the academic sphere.

In conclusion, my comprehensive background in theoretical and computational physics, my strong interest in theoretical particle physics, and my proven abilities to independently obtain solutions in highly unyielding theoretical areas (optical pattern recognition), give me the confidence that I have the appropriate potential and motivation to meet to your high academic standards while being an innovative

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Statement by Russian Student (01/2003)

The Chemistry Student admitted to Florida State University, Auburn University

STATEMENT OF PURPOSE

I am seriously interested in Chemistry from the time when I was a schoolboy. Not satisfied with standard school program, in the last 2 years of high school I studied in Moscow Chemical High School which had a strong science and mathematics training. This greatly developed my skills and helped me to win three School Chemistry Olympiads.

After graduation school I entered the Mendeleev University of Chemical Technology – one of the best educational institutions for Chemistry in Russia. By March 2003, I will complete 5 1/2 years of undergraduate studies and receive a University Diploma. In our Physical Chemistry Department students are required not only to take undergraduate courses, including chemical engineering, but also to carry out research in one of the major research centers in

Moscow or at the University.

I intend to continue my research work in chemistry. The main goal of my future education is to gain valuable research experience and deepen my knowledge of chemistry. I have chosen Florida State University because it provides excellent opportunities to pursue research in various areas of chemistry.

Since 1999 I have been doing research work at the Division of Chemistry and Technology of Crystals of the University. My research for the most part is related to areas of Physical Chemistry such as Solid State Chemistry, Crystal Growth, Surface Chemistry and others. My first project was synthesis and determination of thermometric parameters of luminophors based on Zinc Sulfide doped with Bismuth. I synthesized and analyzed 19 luminophors with different additives such as Eu, CdS, LiCl and others. As a result of this work, I presented a paper entitled “Non-traditional application of luminophors” at the General Chemistry Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences student conference in 2001.

In Fall 2001, I switched to research in the field of crystal growth. My second project concerned the single-crystal growth of Calcium and Barium Tungstates (CaWO4, BaWO4). This work I accomplished at the General Physics Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences. I grew these crystals by flux growth (Czochralski technique). Such single-crystals are important as nonlinear solid-state components for lasers of stimulated scattering.

In addition, I have done work on deposition of thin films. This interesting laboratory practice was lasting during the one of my favorite elective courses “Technology of Heterostructures”. The subject of my research was physical and chemical thin film deposition of Lead Tellurium (PbTe) and Gallium Arsenide (GaAs) from gas phase, thus I have gained practical experience in deposition of thin films of A3B5 and A2B6 heterostructures in vacuum on silicon substrate. Such films are used in the electronic industry as semiconductor layers.

In Spring 2002, I began a project that set the basis for my graduation paper. This research deals with the powder and nanoparticles of Aluminium Oxide (Al2O3) which I analyze by adsorbtion measurements and Monte Carlo simulation. I determine the pore size distribution of the materials based on the compound that is essential for creation of non-organic filters.

Moreover, during the 2001/2002 academic year, I had an important experience as an instructor for freshmen at the General and Inorganic Chemistry Laboratory. Also, I often help foreign students to learn the Russian language. I should say that I enjoy teaching.

During my study I dealt with different research projects and I have various research interests, but the major area in which I would like to specialize, if I will be accepted at your graduate school, is Physical or Theoretical Chemistry. I hope that my research work (including research program) will be beneficial for the University and myself. I am very interested in doing research work at Florida State University.

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Statement by MIPT Alumnus (01/2003)

The Computer Science Student

This application is very important for me because completion a PhD degree in Electrical and Computer Engineering is the best chance for a unifying my interest in information

technologies and my natural inclination to mathematics. I am confident that when I become a serious and mature researcher my desire to make a contribution to science and to our understanding of this world will remain my main driving force.

It took a long time until personal computers became widely available in this country and until then my only single interest was mathematics. At the age of 14, during my school holidays, when my classmates had a rest, I willingly got up at about 7 in the morning and till the evening was absorbed by mathematics. At that time these were mostly Olympiad problems, but two years later, still being a High School student, I attended a course on inequalities in Kiev State University and conducted my first research work. Essentially it was a proof of Karamat inequality that utilized properties of convex functions and Murhead inequality. It was unforgettable, how main idea of my central proof dawned upon me. Although, relatively simple, it was something innovative, something that no one had ever done before with methods of elementary mathematics. That evening I went to sleep the happiest boy in the world. Later I refined the proof and being a freshman at the Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology(MIPT) presented it at the 52nd MIPT Scientific Conference where it was honored the first prize.

In the third-year at MIPT I started working at the Institute of System Programming (ISP), which is a part of Russian Academy of Sciences. Lectures on computer science at the ISP expanded my knowledge in many important fields such as complexity of algorithms, parallel computing, compiler technology, software engineering and so on. Especially I enjoyed studying new Autonomous Adaptive Control (AAC) method under the guidance of Prof. X. The essence of the AAC method is in simultaneous solution of such problems as pattern recognition, knowledge obtaining, presentation and decision-making. During my work in the ISP I had rare opportunity to interact closely with scientists who stood at the origin of computer science in Russia: Prof. X, Dr. Y and Prof. Z.

In my fourth year I joined Moscow office of NetCracker Corp. that selected several students for training. NetCracker produces software for modeling, analysis and interpretation of complex telecommunication networks. My work in NetСracker gave me solid practical knowledge of many technologies and concepts such as Java, Oracle, XML, Object-Oriented Design and Programming. But much more important is that the project required extensive knowledge of both mathematics and computer science. I personally wrote some modules to NetCracker where actively utilized graph theory, parallel computing and discrete mathematics. Moreover sometimes generalization of classical algorithms was required. For example, I extended Dejkstra algorithm to allow multiple search of optimal paths.

Along with my study of computer science I am involved in research activity in fundamental mathematics. Under supervision of Professor X I conducted research in convex analysis, wrote my thesis ”Integration of Multivalued Mappings“ and defended it with Honors. Essentially it consisted in a study of necessary and sufficient conditions under which there exists Riemann integral of multivalued maps. During this work I acquired a broad range of research experience and strong background necessary for further research. My current research work is devoted to differentiation of multivalued mappings and differential inclusions and is mostly concerned with nonconvex case. One of the most challenging tasks in the work is to obtain Pontryagin maximum principle in Hamiltonian form from Lagrange form (in terms of tangent cones).

My research topic is closely related with and often serves as a background to theory of optimal control and theory of decision making that are widely used in network optimization and graph algorithms - areas that are of great interest to me. Moreover my work on network performance

in NetCracker adds up to this framework. Investigations in these fields, in discrete mathematics and in the theory of compilers are widespread at the department and it makes admission to your University particularly desirable. I have strongest incentive to advance as far as I can in this field and to discover something that has not been known before. I am certain that application to Carnegie Mellon is the best possible step to accomplish it and I would regard my admission not only as a great honor but also as a great responsibility and an obligation to work hard.

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Statement by Indian Student (01/2003)

The Biomedical Engineering Student

Draft version. Some of my comments are left in italic.

I am interested in Biomedical Engineering as a field to pursue my career in. I find its unique mix of Engineering, Medicine and Life Sciences very exciting. It is a fast growing area with tremendous potential for research and also an increasing number of applications in today's world of medicine and technology. I am paricularly interested in the application of microsystems technology and the latest microelectronics technology in developing implanted biomedical devices and other medical products. My research interests lie primarily in the areas of Smart Sensors and Integrated Microsystems. My parallel areas of interest are the design and fabrication of Biomaterials and determining the mechanical, transport and biocompatability properties of implantable artificial materials and the applications of Biomedical Instrumentation. To help you understand my current professional goals and research interests better, I would like to first explain my educational experience up to this point.

I have recently graduated from the Electrical and Computer Engineering department at XX University where I completed a non-thesis Masters program in Computer Engineering. My decision to pursue graduate studies in Computer Engineering was the natural culmination of my undergraduate coursework in Electrical and Electronics Engineering where I majored in Computer Organization and Microcomputer Systems. Also, I wanted to broaden my horizons and gain relevant exposure in the field of Computer Hardware.

During the one and a half years of my graduate studies I gained a deep understanding of various fields in Computer Engineering mainly microarchitecture, VLSI System Design ,Analog Electronics and the fundamentals of computer networking and communication. As part of my graduate coursework, I received a number of opportunities to work closely with semiconductor technology through various design, implementation and research projects. Working on key projects like the design of a 4-bit slice microprocessor, 6-bit FLASH Analog- to-Digtal Converters and a number of simulations and experiments to design and determine the performance of computers at the microarchitecture level, I got the opportunities to use state-of-the-art hardware design and simulation tools like the Cadence , Synopsys, Hspice and Verilog.

It was during this phase that I developed an interest in exploring the areas of application of semiconductor and microsystems technology in non traditional fields like the Medicine and life sciences. My studies revealed to me both a high research potential and a significant growth in the application of microelectronics and microsystems in the field of Biomedical

Engineering. What I discovered significantly improved my understanding of the subject and further enhanced my fascination for it.

[Have you worked on any particular research projects? If yes, definitely elaborate on this. Are you interested in any particular faculty at W.University? If yes, definitely mention it.]

I look forward to a career in committed research where I can not only use my academic background to achieve my research goals but also make original scientific contributions to my field of interest and to mankind in general. I believe that graduate studies would provide me with the opportunities to attend advanced courses and be the stepping stone to my career in research. Graduate study at Wayne State University holds this promise for me. The quality of the faculty, flexibility of the graduate program, the diverse areas of ongoing research, the carefully designed depth and breadth of courses, cultural diversity in the graduate school, seem to me as the right ambience to nurture my research interests and work towards my goal. It would be a matter of great pride for me to be a part of this rich interdisciplinary interface

[This is all very general ideas and your statement needs to be personal, about you. Plus next paragraph gives praise to the university and one paragraph is plenty, so I would suggest eliminating this paragraph altogether or partially adding it to the last one]

My strengths are a strong academic background, sense of teamwork, integrity and ability to put in sustained quality effort consistently . It is my desire to have a mutually beneficial association with your University and to contribute my best to the field of Biomedical Engineering .I am aware that X University has high standards for admitting students to its graduate programs. I believe that my academic credentials together with my research interests and potential would help me gain admission to the esteemed Department of Biomedical Engineering at X Universuty. I hope that on reviewing my application package, the University would be convinced of the same. [You might want to change your last paragraph, especially last two sentences. It needs to be more powerful, not hopefull. See examples on my website. I would rewrite this paragraph altogether.]

Ivan Ivanov

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Statement by MIPT Alumnus (01/2000)

The Biophysics Student, admitted to MIT, Caltech, Princeton

When I was a schoolgirl my parents and I would go hiking all over Russia. Traipsing through the middle of the untamed nature I realized that the most intriguing and complicated objects in our world are living creatures. Now, having studied for four and a half years at Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology and having broad research experience, I am sure that improvement of our understanding of living world is essential for successful existence of our civilization and is the most important thing one can accomplish during his or her life.

During last two years I have spent most of my time carrying out research and attending a number of extra-curricular lectures and seminars in biophysics. My favorite lectures were Biochemistry of the Cell and Biophysics of Membrane Processes part of which was devoted to model problem solving. Of great interest to me was also the inter-institutional seminar on modern problems and phenomena in biophysics. Prominent biophysicists from Russia and other countries participated and told us about their current research and its applications to life. All these significantly improved my understanding of the subject and further enhanced my interest in it. I found cellular physiology to be of the greatest interest to me. My extensive

knowledge of physics and mathematical modeling proved to be very useful in understanding the principles that underlie biological phenomena in cells. Consequently, one of my research project involves the investigation of cytoplasmic membrane structure and another deals with study of potassium channels in cardio myocytes.

I carried out my first research project in biophysics at Lebedev Physical Institute of Russian Academy of Sciences in the biokinetics research group under the guidance of Prof. A. The ultimate goal of our research was to check the change in permeability of lipid bilayer for O2, glucose, K+, Na+, Ca++ and in membrane structure of the human cells under pressure. Working in this laboratory I performed a number of experiments, got acquainted with laboratory equipment and further studied mathematical modeling of biological processes. This research was especially interesting because we worked in collaboration with clinicians who used our findings in treatment of cancer and diabetes. By the end of the year I successfully defended a bachelor of science senior honors thesis on the topic "The Change of Erythrocyte's Membrane Permeability for Glucouse and Oxygen in Normal Conditions and Under Pressure."

Currently I am working on a second research project under the guidance of Prof. B at Cardiological Research Center (where the Russian president Yeltsin underwent his heart surgery). This laboratory deals primarily with treatments of atrial flutter and fibrillation. Specifically, we investigate the new Russian Class III antiarythmic drug Nibentan. It was invented in collaboration with this laboratory and is currently being used in clinics. Our current aim is to improve the existing formula. For the last year I have been investigating the effects of Nibentan and other drugs on the potassium ion channels of guinea pig and rabbit atrial and sinoatrial cells using the whole cell patch clamp technique. By May of 2000 I will have enough results in order to defend a masters thesis one year ahead of time.

After graduation I plan to continue my scientific career in the field of cell physiology. Successful research requires modern equipment and facilities which in current financial situation Russian laboratories cannot afford. These has forced me to look for other opportunities to continue my education. Department of Biophysics at Harvard University has excellent facilities and leading laboratories in which I can fully realize my scientific interests. Study of molecular physiology of potassium channels in the laboratory of Prof. Gary Yellen and study of acetylcholine receptors in the laboratory of Prof. Jonathan Cohen are of particular interest to me. I would regard my admission to Harvard University not only as a great honor but also as a great responsibility and an obligation to work hard.

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Statement by MIPT Alumnus (12/2000)

The Physics Student

It is noticed that science develops in splashes, changing our outlook. 19th century was the time of rapid development of thermodynamics and electrodynamics; in the beginning of the 20th century quantum mechanics and relativity were born. Now we seem to be at the dawn of efflorescence in nonlinear science and the study of complex systems. These systems are now identified in nearly all areas of science: information theory, biology, condensed matter physics, electronics, astrophysics, and so on.

I became interested in science when I was a high school student. Physics, Biology and Chemistry were fields of my special interest. I realized that one who wants to become a scientist must have not only an excellent grounding in theory but also wide research

experience. At that time I became interested in nonlinear phenomena in biophysics. I worked with a group of high school students studying propagation of nerve impulse under the effect of high concentrations of detrimental compounds. As a result, we prepared a report to the allUkrainian high-school students’ Physics Conference. Simplicity and clarity of designed physical model along with importance and originality of the obtained results impressed me greatly.

My interest in nonlinear systems appeared when I was a first year student at Kiev University. Under the supervision of Dr. A I set about research on the characteristics of chaotic oscillations in Kiyashko-Pikovsky-Rabinovich generator. Our goal was to simulate oscillations produced by the system under different conditions and to modify the theory explaining statistical properties of oscillations produced in the studied regimes. Soon I developed computer simulation of the system. After a short period of investigations we discovered several new types of behavior of the generator. Lamerey's diagrams and phaseplane portraits were constructed for each new regime. From these results we reconstructed the overall bifurcation sequence leading to stochastic regimes and regions of parameter space, where the different types of oscillations exist. Results of the work were published in the Bulletin of Kiev University as well as presented at MIPT Scientific Conference and allUkrainian Student Scientific Conference.

After transferring to MIPT I started studies in nonlinear quantum optics. I took advanced theoretical and laboratory courses on the subject. In 1999 I began to work as a research assistant in Dr. B’s laboratory in Lebedev Physics Institute, Moscow. Along with two other MIPT students, I designed an arrangement for generation and detection of light with hidden polarization. Our ultimate goal was further improvement of squeezed light characteristics produced by parametric generator. As a part of the work I studied chaotic behavior of this system. This research gave me the extensive experience, since I had to familiarize myself with different aspects of theoretical, experimental and computational techniques. Later I found another application of optical systems with chaotic behavior while working on dynamics based computation project with Prof. C.

Last year I became interested in interconnection between chaos and information theory and joined Prof. C’s research group, which works in the field of information and communication technologies based on dynamical chaos. At the same time I took several courses on nonlinear dynamics, chaos, complexity and theory of self-organization. My first research project was “Dynamics Based Computation”. Plenty of information that I learned while working on it improved my understanding of such phenomena as self-organized criticality and information processing by chaotic map. Currently I am engaged in research on “Chaotic Map based Associative and Random Access Memory”. We have already designed Matlab program that records multiple text strings on one chaotic map and then identifies and restores recorded string on the basis of its substring. Now I am working on improvement of the effectiveness of this model.

I started my teaching practice as soon as I entered Kiev University in 1997. I conducted additional physics studies for gifted high school students in Ukrainian Lyceum of Physics and Mathematics in Kiev. I enjoyed this kind of work greatly so after transfer to MIPT I joined Prof. D's group that provides trainings for Russian International Physics Olympiad Team. This experience has convinced me that I would enjoy simultaneous teaching and research in the case of having TA position.

In the summary, my interest lies in the field of nonlinear dynamics and its applications, namely nonequilibrium physics, complex systems, self-organization, dynamics of neural

networks. Research in this areas is very active at California Institute of Technology, namely at Physics, CNS, CDS and other departments. Therefore I want to continue my education at California Institute of Technology. I am sure that your PhD program will finally lead me to my dream – discovering of a secret of nature.

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Statement by MIPT Alumnus (01/2002)

The Economics Student

In this essay I am going to concentrate mostly on the incentives that stimulate me to pursue further studying, and reflect the motives for my choice of Princeton University as well as state my future career objectives.

I have chosen to work in the area of international microeconomics because it has such a demand for new ideas. At the same time it requires a good mathematical background and has obvious implications in real life.

My education suits this field very well, I have Master of Science with Honors in the field of applied mathematics and physics and a Master of Arts in economics with a specialization in international economics. I already have extensive research experience both in applied sciences and economics, know basic economic models and have strong background both in abstract modeling and data manipulation. All this probably makes me an economist, but my objective is to become a good one.

I have been taught by very good lecturers. After course I took with Professor Branson I decided that there is nothing more interesting than international economics. Professor A made issues of monetary economics and government policy fascinating. Lectures delivered by Professor B attracted me to labor market problems. I enjoyed listening to them and want to teach my mind to operate in a similar manner -- attention is paid to every individual fact and each formal problem solved reflects a real economic situation.

While writing my master's thesis I had a chance to see that a simple look at a graph can be more useful than application of sophisticated economic techniques. One of the reasons I want to study further is to reach at least the same level of intuitiveness and panoramic view of the subject as my teachers have.

My Master of Arts degree was in the field of Health Economics, which I am very interested in. It was mostly empirical dissertation. My dissertation was titled ".." and I worked under the guidance of Professor C. The greatest part of my work was devoted to macroeconomic crosscountry econometric (panel data) analysis. The task was complicated by the necessity to work with omitted variables and low quality data as well as the low reliability of data for developing countries and countries in transition.

We also made efforts to build a model that explains the impact of macroeconomic parameters on health deterioration and the probability of death. My master's thesis has been presented at the "Russian Economic And Political Institutions In Transition" conference and currently we are preparing it for publication.

At this time I am also doing empirical research devoted to inflation and monetary policy. I feel cautious specifying which area of economics interests me most for further study, but I do not think that this is a drawback. I find economics particularly attractive for the fact that it is

broad, and has not yet been split into a set of narrow sub-branches -- economists all speak almost the same language. I also think that in the face of complexity we face in this discipline, it would ineffective to specialize too narrowly.

This year I realized as I had not before that I wish to continue my studies. Being a teaching assistant in Professor A's Macroeconomics and Advanced Macroeconomics classes, I understood a lot of effort must be applied for a good student to turn into a good teacher. I feel that a similar gap lies between a good student and a good researcher.

I am a hard-working and determined person, and I am ready for a new leap in my economics career. I will work hard in hope that the quantity of the effort I put in will result in high quality knowledge. The fact is that the best possible supervisors and a highly competitive atmosphere are necessary for this quality. The only reasonable decision for me was to aim for such a place. All this gives me the motivation to apply to Princeton University.

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Statement by MSU Alumnus (01/2000)

The History Student, admitted to Rice

«Why in the world do you want to become a historian? Heaven knows Russia doesn’t need professional historians! » Having studied for five years at the department of history at Moscow State University, I was constantly surprised by how frequently I have been asked that particular question. Many have urged me over the years to make a change, to align my career with more basic interests. Unlike these people I have a firm believe that every person can create his happiness with his own hands, and my happiness is in history.

An intense interest in history has always been a trademark of mine. I grew up in a family of historians, so since early childhood I got used to the sounds of disputes in history, in which later I took part myself: Some day I grew to challenge my parents and win, using my own rules of logic and argument, in spite of their influence on my theories about history.

It was time when the USSR began its painful transformation into the new Russia; the time, full of revolutionary events and ideas, hopes and expectations for a new life after crush of communism. Conceptions, opinions and ideas, freedom of speech and opening of archives created favorable mental atmosphere, which inevitably stimulated my interest in history and aspiration for cognition. When I read books of Walter Scott, I was fascinated by Scotland. Soon my interest of Scotland became more concrete — I tried to examine actual resources of economic growth and rapid formation of capitalist system in XVIII century Scotland in order to find «remedies» for the diseases of Russian economy. My decision to become a historian followed logically the desire to grasp the meaning of the present and the perspectives of the future through understanding of the past.

Entering the department of history at Rostov State University (in my native city) was the first important step in my life. But after the first year of studies I realized that Russian «wind of change» didn’t influence «soviet» ideological approach to history, at least in the Russian province. At this time I have chosen the opinion of English philosopher Joseph Priestly as my motto: «We have to make our lives ourselves.» Inspired by the idea, I decided to do the next important step in my career: to change the kind of education and the way of life. I transferred to Moscow State University, the best institution for getting education in history in Russian Federation.

This year I graduated from Moscow State University and faced the dilemma of choosing the best way to continue my education. Today, standing on the threshold of the next vitally important period in my life, I am going to follow my principle in shaping my own life.

To help you understand my current goals better, I would like to explain my educational experience up to this point. While studying I was interested in modern British history, my research work was devoted to the British Enlightenment. The first course paper with the title «Political ideal of Joseph Priestly» had won recognition as one of the three best student’s works of the year at the department. Later I narrowed my focus to a particular problem of the Scottish Enlightenment, because my early interest to the Scottish Enlightenment was born of passion for Scotland. So in my next written works I investigated a contribution of Adam Ferguson, a famous Scottish philosopher, to development of political economy. The graduation paper had the title: «Social and economic thoughts of Adam Ferguson» and it took its place in the department’s library of the best graduation papers.

During educational process I had different experiences connected to history. For some time I was lucky enough to teach at school and work in archives and libraries (see attached Student report summary of academic records). Also my educational background and scientific importance of the theme helped me publish articles in historical magazines and to take part in conferences.

In terms of career, my goals are to teach history, conduct research projects, and publish results of the projects. To achieve my aims means to become a specialist with high qualifications. Unfortunately, the latest changes in Russia brought about not only positive democratic reforms and political freedom but also reduction of employment possibilities for scientists and curtailment of stable government subsidies for scientific projects. As a result, history suffers from this situation as all other fields of science do.

To my mind it is of key importance to have possibilities to obtain excellent education and to conduct certain research projects independently that is why I consider doctoral studies at Princeton University as the next professional stepping stone in my career. First of all, teaching assistantship program could provide me with the practical teaching experience. My desire is to learn in practice how to guide others in their explorations of the world through history, to encourage them to see in history all I see in it: the whole of human experience and the power of human intellect and imagination.

Further, earning a Ph.D. in history would advance my other goals by adding to my creative and analytical skills in history as well as in working with language. Development of history as a science in Russia depended on ideological strategy of the only ruling political party for the last seventy years. Inevitably it left traces on the main approach to history. With certainty I can assert, that manifestations of such approach are still very powerful in historical education in Russia. Apparently, we should take not only external democratic institutions, but rather change our approach to life, which can affect our approach to history. However it may be, Russian historians should use experience of colleagues from the countries with democratic traditions. I still feel I have so much more to learn about different approaches to history.

Taking all the circumstances into consideration, I came to the conclusion, that the best opportunity to pursue my «chosen path» would be to continue my education as a graduate student at Princeton University. The facilities, scholarship, and traditions of your university, combined with the caliber of the student’s body, make me confident that I will be stimulated throughout the course of my studies. Upon graduating from your program, a variety of options are available for pursuing my objectives.

In conclusion I must say that I would regard my being admitted to the graduate program not only as a great honor but more as a high responsibility and obligation of hard work.

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Statement by MIPT Alumnus (01/2000)

The Physics Student, admitted to UC Berkeley, Cornell, Caltech

When I was a child, my parents and relatives called me "Mister Why-man". All that surrounded fourth-year-old kid aroused his great interest. I demanded to explain all things I saw. I wondered, why snow is cold and boiling water is hot, why there is fall of the leaves and how it is possible for airplanes to fly, why sky isn't green but blue and what stars are. In school I got answers to many of my questions by studying geography, biology and history, but the most of the precise, logical and harmonious answers I received at the classes of physics. That is why I am very fond of this beautiful science and aimed to continue my studying of physics.

After my sixth grade in high school I passed entrance exams to phys-math school, headed by brilliant pedagogue A. He taught physics at very high level and he encouraged me to improve my knowledge and understanding of physics. He practiced with gifted pupils in addition in the weekends and explained complicated themes that he omitted in the main classes. I learnt solving of complicated problems and conducting of physical experiments in school laboratory. He also recommended me a bunch of literature, which I found very cognitive. Our math and chemistry teachers were also very professional and wanted students to acquire the very best education.

With such teachers it wasn't difficult for me to win regional olympiads in physics, mathematics and chemistry. That time I had to decide, whether my future specialty would be physics or chemistry. I chose physics. After Russian school physics olympiads, where I received 2nd diploma in 1994 and 1995 I was chosen to represent Russia on 27th international physics olympiad in Oslo, where I took Bronze Medal. During the time of preparation to all these olympiads I gained not only much new knowledge and experience but also confidence that I had made right choice of my subject.

After high school I entered Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology, which, as I knew, could offer the very best education in the fields of physics and mathematics. Lectures and seminars were very interesting, and experiment practices gave me final perception that I want to become a physicist-researcher. Among all fields of modern physics I chose solid state and condensed matter physics. Along studying of general and theoretical physics I started profound study of my major at the Institute of Solid State Physics (ISSP) in Chernogolovka.

I have listened to several specialized courses of general aspects of the theory of solid state, spectroscopy and now I am listening the courses of physics of metals, semiconductors and some others. Besides, there were several experimental courses where I gained experience with handling of modern equipment of present-day physics.

Now I work at ISSP as a part-time research assistant in the laboratory of superconductivity under guidance of Dr. B, the head of laboratory. Our current work concerns creation and investigation of P-contact (foundation for future quantum computers) and its properties. It is rather new thing in physics of solid state, there is a lot of work for researcher and it is very interesting. I quite enjoy making experiments and interpreting data obtained. Dr. B often gives

me his or other scientists' recent articles of nowadays researches or just recommends to read them in magazines like PhysRev. These activities give me so valuable experience as well as satisfaction of hard work.

Summarize all written above, I believe that my serious intention for study, my past lab work, academic background in various areas of physics and mathematics will be beneficial for my graduate studies and research. I think it would be a good chance to receive high-level education under guidance of strong scientists and excellent teachers and with the help of firstclass equipment presented at Your University.

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Statement by MIPT Alumnus (01/2000)

The Physics Student, admitted to Rutgers, Boston University, PennState

Being born in a family of physicists I was fond of science from my childhood. Even when I was a little girl, my favorite toys have all been mechanical. Their inside was always a tempting mystery for me. Later on, the questions I asked myself have progressed to more sophisticated ones, usually dealing with nature phenomena around me - like why the sky is blue, how clouds or rainbow form, what the lightning is and so on. Fortunately, my parents were able to help me with providing the answers to some of those questions, or in some cases providing me with references on how to manage myself. Since we had a pretty extensive library at home, soon I was reading books like Swarz “Unusual physics of usual phenomena, Walker’s “Flying Circus of Physics”.

After finishing high school phys-math lyceum in 1994 I entered Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology (MIPT) with a strong intention to expand my knowledge of physics and mathematics. MIPT has proved itself to have the best and most uncommon educational system in our country. A lot of its alumni are now world-known prominent scientists. Here I have chosen the Department of General and Applied Physics as the most prestigious and close to my interests.

My group belongs to the sub-faculty of Quantum Radio-physics. Due to the fact that it included people who after their winning the Olympiads had had a right to enter any Russian University without exams my group was a very strong one. The spirit of competition made me study independently a lot. When I was taking special laboratory courses on advanced optics, I was struck by our teacher Prof. A’s so-called “golden hands” - very often the laboratory equipment obeyed only him. My interest in optical phenomena deepened when in 1996-97 I joined the MIPT optical laboratory of Prof. B. I joined this group mainly because they had had interesting ideas of what and how to do and were going to assemble a proper setup. Then we were assembling and tuning optical interferometers and other optical devices, investigating pumping of neodim laser.

In 1997 I was able to find the area that was of the most interest for me in physics and started to work as a research assistant in Molecular Luminescence group of Prof. C at P.N.Lebedev Physical Institute. From the beginning I was actively involved in research in our laboratory. I especially enjoyed its experimental part when I was making something with my own hands and could see the result of my work. I have assembled and mastered a Langmuir-Blodgett mini-trough and managed to obtain good quality films of fat acids and close materials. I have also got acquainted with spin-coating technique of film deposition and have fabricated polymer films for the devices. Apart from technical problems it is interesting to me to be involved in experimental investigation of energy migration in the films and complicated

chemical compounds. In this lab I have gained experience of work with the equipment for absorption, polarization and luminescence spectroscopy, time-resolved electrical and fluorescence measurements, various methods for data analysis.

Along with my study and work in the lab I also worked part-time at MIPT Correspondence School (grading schoolchildren works on physics and mathematics) and at MIPT Phys.Tech.School (as an English teacher for schoolchildren) along with working as a private teacher. I enjoyed this job greatly. I enjoy communicating with people and I have got much from my students as well as my students have got from me. I believe this experience will significantly help me both in my teaching assistant assignments and in my future academic career.

Now my interests in science lie in the area of molecular, optical and chemical physics. After completing my PhD program I would like to work as a researcher and as a teacher in this field. I also believe that my serious intention for study and research, my past laboratory experience and academic background in various areas of Physics and Mathematics will be beneficial for my graduate studies. I have chosen Massachusetts Institute of Technology for continuing my education because as I know it provides excellent opportunities for studying physics and mathematics as well as for the research in the area of my interests.

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Statement by MIPT Alumnus (01/2001)

The Physics Student, admitted to Rutgers

To discover new things and to set relations between phenomena is the main destination for a scientist. There is no boundary for discovery, whether one deals with subatomic phenomenon or the explanation of the origin of Universe. It is still a mystery if we have a right concept of nature surrounding us. For instance, it can still be questioned whether the Standard Model is valid or not.

From my parents’ point of view I have been a very bustling and curious girl in my childhood. A lot of toys and different devices were disassembled and destroyed to perceive a nature by a childish mind. The desire for knowledge of how nature operates accompanies me all the time. I have been seriously interested in physics since the high school. After reading “Elementary particles and symmetry” by Lewis H. Ryder and “Quantum electrodynamics” by R. Feynman I realized that the study of elementary particles is especially appealing to me. To extend my knowledge of physics I entered Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology (MIPT). I took several special high-energy physics courses there. I found “The theory of interaction with matter“ and “Elementary Particle Physics» to be the most exiting and useful for me. The theory inspired me for further deep study of this subject and made me familiar with the modern concepts of particle physics.

During my third year I started to attend lectures and to work as a research assistant at ITEP (Institute of Theoretical and Experimental Physics), specializing in elementary particles. At ITEP I have chosen a career of an experimentalist. Experiment on double beta decay attracted me because the search for the neutrino less double beta decay is very important. It gives the unique possibility to investigate many phenomena beyond the Standard Model. I began to work in group of Prof. A, that is trying to explain the possible nature of neutrino’s mass and prove the violation of lepton number conservation in weak interactions.

One of my tasks was to separate the detrimental data, such as muon cosmic radiation, from the

useful one. When experiment was ready for taking data, I took part in preliminary tests of amplitude and time measurements using the cosmic trigger. Then I took characteristics of admixture contents of industrial methane. My current project is to investigate the main types of the background in the experiment. One of them is the “external” background, connected with external radiation flux: the photon can imitate two-beta events through the double Compton scattering in the Xe-target. Measured spectrum was used for Monte-Carlo simulation of two-electron background with vertex at the Xe volume. The results of this research were presented at the annual MIPT Scientific Conference. Soon these results will be published.

I am interested in elementary particles and I would like to study strong interactions. Physics Department at Yale participates in leading high-energy experiments in which I can completely realize my scientific interests. The Relativistic Heavy Ion Group, headed by John W. Harris, is of particular interest to me. I also would like to investigate the phase transition from ordinary nuclear matter to quark-gluon plasma.

I am sure that my curiosity and research skills will enable me to succeed in the greatly claiming program to become an experimentalist. Eventually, I deeply believe that the excellence of your program, along with my capabilities and motivation, will help me to attain my destination.

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Statement by MIPT Alumnus (01/1999)

The Physics Student, admitted to UC Berkeley, Caltech, Cornell

To discover something new is the only destination for a scientist. Nowadays in the race for revealing secrets of the nature physicists have reached extremely high and low energies. Further advancement is connected with the use of very expensive methods. Still many unexplained nonlinear phenomena are lying on ‘every-day world’ energy scales, mainly in the fields of condensed matter and biophysics. For example, such widespread phenomenon as turbulence is yet to be adequately explained.

My interest in nonlinear and complex physical systems arose rather early, when I was in high school. Behavior of the oscillations in Toda’s and other models of lattices struck me. The results obtained in my research dealing with simulations of nonlinear atomic lattices awakened my interest in such things as integrability and the theory of solitons. Later, when I was at the International Physics Olympiad in Oslo, Norway, an article I read in daily IPhO’s newspaper piqued my interest in quantum chaos. To satisfy my interest and to expand my knowledge of physics and mathematics I entered Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology (MIPT).

During the period of 1996-98, I took several special courses in nonlinear dynamics, chaos and self-organization. Several books about chaotic systems also fascinated me. My interest in quantum chaotic systems proceeded with reading a web-book “Classical and Quantum Chaos” by Predrag Cvitanovic’. Professor in the Theory of Self-organization A encouraged me further with a book by Hans Meinhardt on the formation of patterns on the seashells. I found the theory developed in this book elegant, but its solutions were proposed for a limited set of parameters only. Therefore, I modified the author’s program by introducing new parameters and obtained several new patterns.

In 1997 I began my studies and research at the Kapitza Institute for Physical Problems (IPP). I found my experience there very useful. The lectures on advanced statistical physics at the IPP

improved my understanding of many important statistical concepts such as disorder, critical phenomena, phase transitions etc. Moreover, in the special course of Prof. B on data analysis I have studied in detail a new method of analysis – wavelet transform, that is widely used in investigations of chaotic systems.

Last year I became interested in the properties of condensed matter and began to work at the IPP as a research assistant under the guidance of Prof. C, investigating the models of muonium formation in condensed media. After extensive work with data analysis and computer simulations we managed to explain the results of the experiment on charges behavior in liquid helium carried out by Dr. D (Kurchatov Inst.) I studied properties of superfluid helium and methods of SR spectroscopy along with new approaches to computer simulations. On the basis of this research I made the report entitled "The study of muonelectron pairs motion in liquid helium under the influence of external electric field" at the 1998 MIPT Scientific Conference. By the end of the spring, our results will be published.

The investigations of nonlinear phenomena are very widespread at Physics Department of the University of California at Berkeley, especially in CMT, Nonlinear Dynamics and Plasma Physics groups. Therefore, I want to study physics at Berkeley in order to get a thorough education and research experience in theoretical and computational studies of nonlinear phenomena in different physical systems and particularly in condensed matter. I hope this experience will allow me to explore different chaotic and disordered systems and to find new regularities in their formation and behavior. In addition, I would like to investigate chaos in quantum analogs of classically chaotic systems in order to detect novel connections of quantum mechanics to the classical one. The possibility of getting a TA position also attracts me. The satisfaction and valuable scientific ideas I have derived from my tutoring experience have convinced me that I would enjoy simultaneous teaching and research.

I would regard my admission to the University of California at Berkeley not only as a great honor and success but also as an obligation for hard work.

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Statement by MIPT Alumnus (01/1998)

The Engineering Student

When I heard that theoretical strength of a material is higher than its practical strength as much as hundreds times and that is all only because of presence of cracks, I was surprised. I decided to learn this phenomenon and carried out great number of various investigations to understand how cracks grow and how to predict demolition of materials with cracks. Now I can definitely say that I approached the final explanations of these questions.

I have been interested in science for a very long time. In high school, I attended additional physical course that included theoretical training as well as work in a school laboratory. There I first tried myself as an experimentalist making a simple hologram. When I started my studies at Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology (MIPT) my interest in experimental physics only increased. MIPT opened great opportunities for my growth. After close acquaintance with laboratories of our department and their researches, I decided to work in field of experimental mechanics.

Investigations of mechanical properties of materials attracted my attention. In my second year I had spent all my spare time in the laboratory and it allowed me to make great progress in my investigations. My first research project was about stress concentration, especially at the top of

the crack. My oral topic at Final Exam in physics was "Determination of stress concentration at the top of the crack". Later my interest shifted to more complex problem - investigations of crack creep growth and creep fracture. With results of this research, I took part in Scientific Technical Conference of MIPT with report "Investigation of kinetics of cracks by polarization-optics method". I was the only student from my Department who took part in this Conference. My work won third place award in the section "Physical Mechanics" and as one of the best works of the Conference will be published in the collection "Transactions of MIPT 1997". Currently I prepare my latest work for publication in scientific journal "Applied Mathematics and Mechanics".

Work in the laboratory gave me many qualities that will be needed for successful Ph.D. study. The strongest is skill to work with laboratory equipment. Participation in Scientific Conference developed my public speaking skills. That all and Bachelor of Sciences that I will receive next June will help me in graduate study at Your University. Another skill that work in the laboratory gave me is skill to communicate with people and as a result I became the captain of my department soccer team and later the captain of my institute soccer team. In addition, I think my participation in the Students' Theater helps to form my personality. I think I will not only enhance scientific potential of Your Department, but also enrich cultural and sport life of Your University.

Unfortunately the latest changes in Russia brought about not only positive democratic reforms and political freedom but also reduction of employment possibilities for scientists and curtailment of stable government subsidies for scientific projects. As a result the concerns about students suffered a lot. All this encouraged me to look for possibilities to continue my study in the USA. I think it would be a good chance to receive high-level education under guidance of strong scientists and excellent teachers and with the help of first-class equipment.

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Statement by MIPT Alumnus (01/1999)

The Physics Student, admitted to Rochester, SUNY-Stony Brook, University of Minnesota

Dear Professor,

Thank you for taking time to read my application. I believe that having read my materials, you will have a good idea of who I am. Before starting about myself I would like to write a few words about my school: Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology (MIPT), where I study, then I will set forth my goals to and reasons for wanting to study at Your University.

MIPT is the foremost educational institution of the former Soviet Union in physics, (this is not a boast but a valid generalization of many facts). It provides preparation comparable to US educational standards; independent study being emphasized. It is my hope that you have already met other MIPT students who can confirm its reputation. If so, I would like you to consider me as an applicant from MIPT, not from somewhere in Russia.

My first acquaintance with physics occurred at the age of 7: I saw a science fiction movie. For the aliens in their spacecraft time passed much slower than for people on the Earth. My childish imagination was so struck by this fact, that with help of my parents I read my first book in physics: Gardner’s “Theory of Relativity for Millions". After that I started was and still constantly reading a variety of different books in science with my main interest in physics.

Since the 7th grade I started to take part in Physics Olympiads. These Olympiads were held on different levels of competitions. Not satisfied with these standard school programs at the age of 13 I passed entrance competitions and entered school that specialized in physics, math and computer sciences. New school gave me an opportunity to communicate with other young students who also had a keen interest in physics and math. And the spirit of competition among my peers made me study a lot by myself in order to be the best I could be.

In 1994 I entered MIPT, as a student in the Department of General and Applied Physics. I was automatically exempted from the entrance exams in physics as a previous winner of Regional Olympiad in Physics. At MIPT I continued to work hard. I spend a lot of time doing research. I have always dreamt of doing physics research myself and MIPT offers me this wonderful opportunity.

My first-year at MIPT I started to work at the Solid State Institute which is part of Russian Academy of Sciences. Under guidance of Dr. A I held my first real experiments. In his laboratory I am doing a lot of things myself: tune installations, take measurements, treat the results on computer. Generally our experiments concern exploration of the structure and phase transformation of the amorphous semiconductors under pressure. For me this is very interesting branch of Condensed Matter Physics. Work in the laboratory of Dr. B is very useful for me, because I independently read many books on the subject trying to understand better problems on which I am working.

During my second year of studies at MIPT I also started to work in one of MIPT laboratories under guidance of Professor A . Last year I held very interesting experiments in which I measured coherent characteristics of different light sources. For that purpose I designed special optical interferometer. Currently I am researching optical pumping of neodimium glass in the laboratory of Dr. A . I am usually so busy and fascinated with my research work that sometimes my transcript contains more B's than I desired. Still I always receive an increased fellowship (125% of usual).

Regarding my interests in science, my specialization at MIPT is Optics, though I am still working in Solid State Institute (for more than two years) concentrating in the field of Condensed Matter Physics. I know more in these fields and find them very interesting. Despite that I still have required courses which I must complete and they last until the end of this academic year. These include General Physics, Theoretical Physics as well as a big deal of courses in Mathematics, Chemistry, Electronics, Computer Science and Philosophy. These courses will help create an excellent base of knowledge from which I plan to choose the topic of my future study. I will make a decision upon my future course of study as I come to know both the subject and the faculty of your department better.

Of course the main purpose of my longed-for studies at Your University is getting excellent education to launch myself on a career in physics. I feel and, I hope you also do, that I have been able to convince you along with my supporting materials, that this is a field I can excel in.

My second reason to apply to Your University is my desire to join the community of outstanding student, faculty and alumni of Your University. At MIPT I have mixed with the brightest students and some of the best scientific minds of Russia. I can well see that contacts with such people are the best way of intellectual development, which is, in my opinion, indispensable to real professional perfection. Your University is a famous place of concentration of the most prominent and creative people. I am sure that contacts with the

brilliant people of your current staff could make the most valuable part of my education.

In conclusion I must say that I would regard my being admitted to Your University not only as a great honor and success but more as high responsibility and privilege. I will work hard to uphold and further the reputation of such a fine University. As to whether I shall have this honor is your decision but if I do, I will spare no pains to justify it.

Again thank you for your time and consideration. I feel that I can be a student you can be proud to say that I attended Your University.

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Statement by MIPT Alumnus (01/1998)

The Physics Student, admitted to Harvard, Caltech, Cornell

My motto has always been “The first and the best”. I follow it since high school. In seventh grade I started to win different contests, and in eleventh had the highest score at Russian National Physics Olympiad. I have three strong points that help me to win.

The first feature is ability to approach the target gradually and inevitably. If I set a long-time goal, I always get it, step-by-step, never reducing it or ceasing. That allowed me to graduate from high school in my fifteen with Gold medal. By this time, I have already used this idiosyncrasy in actual research. I participated in Young Physicists Tournament that required a half-year everyday work on about fifteen problems that included experiments and theories far beyond the high school program. In ninth grade I collected my team, and in eleventh we got the third prize at Russian National Round. It was funny to find in the January 97 issue of Notices of AMS the words of Richard Feynman about being the genius, as I used the twelve- problems-in-mind technique since my eighth grade of high school.

I continue to benefit from that feature in college. I have only excellent grades. I found myself having a very high physics motivation. On my first year I attended the Institute for Low Temperature Physics and Engineering and under Dr. A strenuously prepared for theoretical studies of low-dimensional systems. Once Dr. B gave me a problem on laser cooling, and I found it appealing. I have read many reviews and decided to dedicate some part of my future research to Bose condensation. To get prepared for the field I entered MIPT quantum radiophysics group, and at once started research in related areas. Under Dr. C I took part in He-3 experiment at Lebedev Physics Institute, my task was analyzing the mode structure of lasers used. That half-year practice gave me an extended knowledge of various instruments and techniques, and labs on advanced optics added experience. Recently I have discovered another applications for that trait. These are extracurricular activities. I search for some innovative idea, develop it and organize people to implement it. Due to my energy and constancy, it is brought to life.

The second trait that helps me to adhere to my motto is the unique brainstorming aptitude. I fully unfolded it in Olympiads. Solving fixed set of problems in short time, especially in competition – I love that passionately. Procrastination is a bad trait, but it is sometimes delightful to see that I can collect all my power and solve a two-month’s assignment in one big strike.

The third quality is good analytical and mathematical thinking. In high school I took Analysis, Geometry and Differential Equations at university level. I won my first XX Region Olympiad on Mathematics in seventh grade, and in 10th and 11th I was a candidate to National one. On

my first year I attended Department of Mathematics lectures and seminars and especially enjoyed Abel Theorem special course. My grandfather always provides me with different books on group theory and mathematical physics. At MIPT in 1997 I won highly competitive Math Problem Solving Contest conducted for students of all years.

All the above will help me much in pursuing my career of researcher. My career decision has formed in early childhood. Both my parents hold Ph.D. in physics and mathematics and are active researchers; my living example was not someone distant but my own grandfather, member of Russian National Academy of Sciences. My most favored field has always been Condensed Matter. At Institute of Solid State Physics, preparing a report, I first came across quantum dots, and enjoyed the subject. Next semester I will have a ten hours per week of solid state lab sessions at ISSP, and I hope to get ready to study that issue.

I am very well prepared for experimental science. I am confident that I have the greatest background among all MIPT students. In addition, I am the first to perform all lab assignments, I had the best experimental scores on all olympiads, and think I will be very good in experiments. However, my family still sees me as theorist in Fields and Particles, and I always keep in mind careful theory preparation.

My interests are English language and computers. I think I have rather good experience in both. For example, in 1996 I won XX City Olympiad in English, and was offered admission to Foreign Languages Department of XX University. I three times was a candidate to XX team to National Olympiad on Informatics, and the material self-studied in high school allowed me to write unofficial GRE Computer Science for 60% rank. I also worked with Dr. D, the Institute for Low Temperature Physics leading programmer, in developing the applications for data analysis. Now my computer interests shifted to networks and Internet resources, and I think that practice will be very helpful in my future research.

Though I see myself as a researcher and would prefer RA as a source of funds, I am well prepared for Teaching Assistantship. I worked as an instructor in the School by Correspondence, assisted in conducting contests for the IPhO team candidates with Prof. E, and organizing committee of Young Physicists Tournament annually invites me to consult the teams and judge the rounds.

People sometimes doubt the ability of 18-year old person to cope with life problems. My parents first received a job abroad when I was fourteen, so I live on my own for the last four years and I am financially independent for the last two. I am sure I am ready for graduate studies, and my experience of everyday English usage in my month-long trips to Australia and the USA, combined with English study since age of four, gives me assurance I will have no problems of language barrier or cultural shock.

The latest changes in fSU countries have brought about a dramatic decrease in R&D funds. As experimental science requires intensive funding, I wish to continue my education in the USA. I think it would be a good chance to receive the top level education under guidance of prominent scientists and excellent teachers, and to have access to first-class equipment.

I understand that the above statement is rather immodest, and will require an outstanding performance after admission. I am absolutely sure I will justify your hopes.

Statement by MIPT Alumnus (01/1995)

The Physics Student

I believe that having read my materials, you got a good idea of me . I think, it is no use to claim here my advantages, but I would still like to write a few words of Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology ( MIPT ), where I study, before I set forth my goals and reasons for applying to Harvard.

MIPT is the best educational institution of the former Soviet Union in physics ( it is not boasting, it is a valid generalization of many facts ). It provides adequate preparation comparable to US standards, independent study being emphasized. I hope that you have already met with MIPT students and they confirmed its reputation. If so, I would like you to consider me as an applicant from MIPT, not from somewhere in Russia.

As regards my interests in science, I know more about elementary particle physics and I find it more attractive than any other branch of physics ( and at MIPT I study in the group specializing in high energy physics ). Of course, it is too vague, but I don't want to put myself in the position of Buridan's donkey and try to choose somehow one of many topics, equally interesting to me at present. I would be glad to work on string theory, or supersymmetry theories, or, maybe, on their application to cosmology. And it would give me pleasure to search for Higgs or Z' bosons, or sparticles. All problems in this field attract me. On the whole, what to do is a less important question to me than how to do it, and I don't think it is a fault of mine. I plan to choose the topic of my future work later, as I come to know better both the subject and the faculty of the Department.

Of course, the main purpose of my longed-for studies at Harvard is getting adequate education to enter on a career in physics. I feel, and, I hope, you will be able to believe me, judging from my supporting materials, that this is a field I can be good in (although the last real successes I achieved in the field date back to my high-school years, when I was among the winners of some Byelorussia and USSR competitions on physics, and, maybe, are not relevant to my promise as scientist ). In the course of communication with many people working in science I got some idea of this work and I would be glad to engage in it myself. I like more and, I believe, I am more suited for research than for instruction. Although I have no serious experience in the former and only a slight acquaintance with the latter ( I used to work as a teacher in correspondence courses for prospective MIPT students and helped organize contests on physics and mathematics among high-school students ), I have the impression ( maybe, I am wrong ) that there exists a remarkable contrast between the enthralling nature of a researcher's work and the monotony of the work of teacher. In spite of my bias towards research career I understand the value of teaching assistant's experience and will be very grateful if you offer me such opportunity to continue my education ( although a fellowship or an assistantship in research still looks preferable to me ).

In all things I appreciate completeness and perfection. Probably that is why I like mathematics and prefer theory to experimental physics. Nevertheless, the difference doesn't seem very radical to me, and I would ask you not to deny my application further consideration if you find me not qualified for admission to specialization in theory.

Upon receiving the Ph.D. degree in physics I plan to get a job in a US research institution. It is probably easier said than done, but the development of SSC, LIGO or space programs and the immense research expenditures of US universities let me hope that this goal is attainable. And, I think, a Harvard degree could be of much help in my search for employment. I am sure that will and vigor can overcome the difficulties I may face, seeking such a job in the USA, which one cannot say of an analogous situation in Russia.

My second reason to apply to your university is my desire to join the community of

outstanding people, a part of which Harvard faculty and student body are. At MIPT I have mixed with the brightest students and some of the best scientists of the former USSR. I can well see that contacts with such people are the best way of intellectual development, which is, in my opinion, indispensable to real professional perfection. Harvard is a famous place of concentration of the most prominent and creative people. Anyone who has something to do with physics can't help noticing how many great names and achievements are connected with Harvard. I am sure that contacts with the brilliant people of your current staff could make the most valuable part of my education.

Stating my goals and reasons for applying to Harvard, I can't fail to mention my firm intention to escape from Russia. Collapse of the economy and rapid decay of science in this country ( I am afraid, astrology is the only natural science the Russian public sees any sense in ) puts in danger the completion of my education and makes it quite impossible for me to find a job on graduation that would suit my interests and abilities. And for me it is not so difficult to endure any material hardships as my rejection of Soviet mentality and way of life ( Shakespeare's 66th sonnet is not a bit exaggerated picture of today's Russia ).

In my opinion, this personal motive is an advantage of mine: it is a strong incentive to take most seriously my would-be studies at Harvard. However, I don't want you to consider this aim of mine to be the main one: I am applying to the best US universities, not just to the USA (which would have been much more simple and sure ).

In conclusion I must say that I would regard my being admitted to Harvard not only as a great honor and success but more as a high responsibility and beginning of hard work. I don't know whether I shall have this honor but if I do, I will spare no pains to justify it.

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Statement by MIPT Alumnus (01/1996)

The Physics Student, admitted to Rochester, Rice

Everyone, sooner or later, should decide which career path to take. As for me, I have chosen Physics.

My interest in Physics has been developed during my school years, when I used to participate in Physics Olympiads. They gave me an opportunity to communicate with other boys also interested in Physics. On the other hand , the spirit of competition made me study a lot by myself. It is due to Olympiads that I developed self-discipline of regular studies. In 1991 , when I was in the 9th grade of my studies at school, I took part in Olympiad as a 10th-grade student. That year I had the best score at the Ukrainian and the 2nd prize at the USSR Physics Olympiad and was invited to the sessions of the International Physics Olympiad (IPhO) Team of the USSR. It made me realize, that no matter how young you are ,you are able to learn anything - all you need is enough will and willingness.

After that I have participated in two consecutive Ukrainian PhO and won the 1st prize in both. I was also the absolute winner of the last USSR PhO'92 In July, 1993 I took part in XXIV IPhO, which took place in the USA, Williamsburg,VA. 210 students from 42 countries participated in that Olympiad. I won silver medal there.

In 1993 I entered Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology ( MIPT ), Faculty of General and Applied Physics, being automatically exempted from the entrance exams. Studying at

MIPT I especially enjoyed General Physics and Laboratory Courses. I was awarded P.N.Lebedev Physical Institute Fellowship for the Spring Term' 94 and " Excimer " Fellowship for the Fall Term' 94. These two awards are traditionally given to two students out of approx. 80 students on the basis of academic achievements. For the academic year 1994-95 I was awarded ISSEP (Soros) Student Grant, which is awarded to undergraduate students all over the former Soviet Union.

As an ISSEP stipendiat I was offered a position in the Executive Committee of Soros Schoolboys Physics Olympiad. I also participated in the IPhO sessions as an instructor. Both these occupations include responsibilities such as teaching, grading ,giving individual assistance to students, inventing theoretical problems as well as experimental assignments, work in labs and so on. Five of my problems invented for the sessions were also accepted to publication by student magazine "Quant". I believe that this kind of work is extremely useful, because teaching as well as inventing new problems always helps me understand better some concepts of Physics.

In 1992 I started research work at the Department of Molecular Photoelectronics of the Institute of Physics, Kiev. After six months of introductory courses I was affiliated with a Condensed Matter Research Group. Together with another graduate student I investigated extremely amazing, from my point of view, phenomenon in Physics of Liquid Crystals - the behavior of so called zigzag-declination. While working as a Research Assistant, I have learned how to handle with laboratory equipment and had an excellent opportunity of attending some scientific seminars, devoted to the latest researches done at the Institute. So I was able to know what was going on at other departments.

I am interested in Experimental Physics and planning the career of a physicist-researcher. I have decided to continue my education in the USA and would be glad if you can provide me with one.

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Statement by NSSU Alumnus (12/1997)

The Physics Student

I would like to do experimental research in Condensed Matter Physics. In particular, I am interested in Ultra Low Temperature Physics. Conceptual issue that attracts me in this area is a possibility to observe quantum effects at a macroscopic level. It also gives an opportunity to study extremely pure substance while adding impurities in a controlled manner.

Stanford University is one of the few universities in the world that have strong research groups in experimental Ultra Low Temperature Physics and provide powerful and welldesigned equipment for ultra low temperature experiments. In addition, the Stanford Physics department gives an opportunity to take outstanding advanced graduate courses in various areas of physics and exposure to new views and methods from world-class scientists.

I was introduced to physics by my mother, inventor and Professor of Physics at Nizhniy Novgorod Technical University (NNTU) at a very early age. She advised me on interesting physics books and we had discussions after I read them. She pointed out peculiar aspects of a phenomenon, then asked me questions to make sure I understood the concept behind the problems. We also discussed school physics when I started taking it. As I grew, she taught me pedagogical issues in physics and gave me a lot of good advice on how to make an effective presentation.

Understanding that it takes a good mathematician to be a good physicist, I went to Specialized Math & Physics High school, where I took courses in math more advanced than regular requirements, such as introductory calculus, introduction to differential equations, numerical methods, introduction to group theory and computer programming courses. In addition, I was enrolled in a correspondence course in mathematics at Moscow State University.

During winter and spring quarters of my last year of High school I performed a research in physics under advise of a researcher from Nizhniy Novgorod State University. The purpose of the project was to understand some methods of acoustical investigation of the bottom of the ocean; more specifically, what parameters of the bottom can we extract from reflected acoustic signal so we could determine the composition of the ocean bottom. I won the Second Prize in Physics among High school students of Nizhniy Novgorod region for a presentation of these results at student competition. The project was very educational: I had my first experience learning how to approach a research problem, using reference materials and checking the validity of results.

I graduated from Nizhniy Novgorod State University (NNSU), Department of Radio-Physics and Electronics. This science-oriented school gave me an extensive background in physics. The curriculum of the department covers a wide range of knowledge in theoretical and experimental physics as well as non-linear dynamics theory and electrical engineering courses. It included 9 semesters of lab courses (5 - 11 hours per week) where we started with learning basic techniques (oscilloscope usage, measurement of emf, measurement of capacitance, measurement of magnetic field using Hall effect etc.) and studying key phenomena (measurement of elementary electric charge in oil drop experiment, Fraunhoffer diffraction, light interference experiments, spinning tops, Cp/Cv measurement, longitudinal ultrasonic waves in a wire, etc.) As we acquired basic skills in measurement and broadened our theoretical knowledge, we performed more advanced experiments: properties of n-p junction in application to semiconductor devices, Zeeman effect, electron paramagnetic resonance spectroscopy, electromagnetic field measurements in the wave guide, antenna measurements, measuring the wavelength of surface waves on deep and shallow water, parameters of waves propagating in media, etc.

During my second year, I performed theoretical research on the stability of waves on deep and shallow water when the free surface is the lower one and the gravity introduces instability into the waves. In terms of the boundary conditions, I obtained an answer to the question: How narrow the neck of the container should be so the water won't spill out when it is flipped upside down? I enjoyed the opportunity of presenting a talk on my research at a physics seminar in our department.

Our department formed an extraordinary school for non-linear dynamics and wave theory, which was the emphasis of three years of my independent study. After an oral presentation, my Diploma Paper "Spatial Chaos in an Inhomogeneous Medium with Diffusion" was recommended for publication by State Examination Committee. The model described in this paper (a one-dimensional, one-component, periodically-inhomogeneous medium, described by the diffusion equation with a source) is very interesting and has several possible applications. It may be applied to semiconductor physics, to biological processes, and to some chemical reactions.

After graduation, I collaborated with A and B at Radiophysical Research Institute (NIRFI), Russia on the article "Near-field Scanning in the Time Domain" (paper in progress). This

article describes methods of time-domain field calculation and far-field reconstruction by near-field measurements in the time domain on an arbitrary scanning surface.

In the years 1995-97, I worked as a Production Engineer/Programmer at Microtech Conversion Systems, Inc. (Belmont, CA). I developed accounting, security and tape-analyzing software using the C language. I was involved in assembly, testing and design improvement of a high-capacity unattended CD-R duplication equipment run by a PC.

I want experimental research in physics and teaching to be an outline of my future career. I would like to become a professor in academia in my future. I believe that my serious intention for study, my past lab work, academic background in various areas of physics and mathematics and industrial experience will be beneficial for my graduate studies and research.

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Statement by MIPT Alumnus (01/1995)

The Physics Student

I am seriously interested in Physics from the time when I was a schoolboy. Not satisfied with standard school program I attended additional classes on Physics and Math at the nearest university and studied at the two correspondence Physics schools. This greatly developed my skills and helped me to win in three successive USSR School Physics Olympiads (1st diploma in 1986,1988 and 2nd diploma in 1987). I also participated in 19th International Physics Olympiad at Bad Ishl, Austria and won the Silver Medal there (2nd degree diploma, 21st position).

After graduation school with the Gold Medal I entered the Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology -- the best educational institution in Physics in Russia. I continued to work hard there. It may be confirmed by the fact that I was among the winners of MIPT Physics competitions in 1989,90 and 91 (the 2nd position in 1989 and the 1st in 1990).

The education at MIPT assumes a deep study of one branch of Physics and I have chosen Optics as my main subject because I think it is a rather interesting area. Maybe it is not so modern and impressing as, for example, High-Energy Physics but it is quite perspective and has many practical applications. Despite the fact that my main is only Optics I have listened a full course of General Physics and Theoretical Physics as well as a big deal of courses in Mathematics, Chemistry, Electronics, Computer Science and Philosophy. My grades were almost only '5'('excellent' - the USA equivalent is 'A'). While studying I received an increased fellowship (125% or 150% depending on term grades).

After studying for 3 years I became research assistant at P.N.Lebedev Physics Institute of Russian Academy of Sciences as a part of my education. I gain there the laboratory skills which are so necessary for researcher. Now I work among the scientists whose objectives are observation and investigation of processes occurring in nonequilibrium molecular plasma with the help of tunable infrared diode laser.

Unfortunately the latest changes in Russia brought about not only positive democratic reforms and political freedom but also reduction of employment possibilities for scientists and curtailment of stable government subsidies for scientific projects. As a result the concerning about students suffered a lot.

All this forced me to look for possibilities to continue my study in the USA. I think it would

be a good chance to receive high-level education under guidance of strong scientists and excellent teachers and with the help of first-class equipment.

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Statement by MIPT Alumnus (01/1995)

The Physics Student, admitted to Princeton

Anatoli Karpov, former world champion in chess, said one day: chess is my life, but my life is not reduced to chess. I can apply the same words to physics. My father showed me the rules of chess when I was 2 years old. Since then my life was full of chess. I played a lot and even became a champion among pupils of my home town Rustavi. My interests led me to the problems of artificial intellect and the language Prolog. Later, as a student of MIPT (Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology), I wrote a computer program that played the game "Reversi". Its partner was chosen to be an analogous program of Microsoft Corporation (Microsoft Windows, Games) at its master's level. I can not forget everyone's surprise when my program won 37:27.

But of course, my chief interests are in physics. By the time when I was 13 I had won 2 consecutive Olympiads of young physicists of Georgian Republic. I passed all final exams at my secondary school 3 years earlier, received a certificate of full secondary education and was admitted to the Department of Physics at Tbilisi State University. In recognition of my achievements I was not required to pass entrance exams. I studied there for 2 years and then transferred to MIPT. I will receive Bachelor's degree in June 1996.

I have two main areas of concentration: field theory and condensed matter. I spent 1994/95 academic year in ITEP (Institute for Theoretical and Experimental Physics) specializing in elementary particles. There I chose a career of a theoretician. To be admitted to the theoretical group at ITEP a student must pass two exams: on quantum mechanics and quantum field theory. I passed the first exam to professor Termartirosyan and I am now preparing for the second.

My specialization in condensed matter began this year when I passed an exam on quantum mechanics to professor Feigelman and was admitted to the theoretical group at Landau Institute. By June 1996 I will have completed one year of courses there. I am now studying magnetism, the theory of metals. Attending the weekly seminar on condensed matter gives me an opportunity to learn more about modern physics. I can mention two areas which became interesting to me, these are mesoscopic phenomena and spin glass. Not long ago I myself presented a review on mesoscopic phenomena at the seminar.

I am very interested in both field theory and condensed matter. That is why I concurrently attend lectures on Condensed Matter Theory and Magnetism and lectures on Quantum Field Theory. In my opinion I have had sufficient training to continue my graduate study in either of these two areas. I would like that my work be concerned both with field theory and condensed matter. So, I might choose something like superconductivity for my Ph.D. dissertation.

Let me list honors that I received: two 1st prizes at two Olympiads of young physicists of Georgian Republic; 1st prize at physics Olympiad among the students of Georgia; 1st prize at physics Olympiad among MIPT students; a reward at the annual MIPT conference on calculation methods; fellowship of the fund "Dar" - Russian organization for support of gifted children; Soros Fellowship - as a Soros Student; 1st degree in chess; a certificate with honors of 7 years of education in music (the piano). In conclusion I would like to draw your attention

to the fact that all those achievements in physics I have are due to my interest and ability to learn by independent study. This fact assures me that I will be able to work successfully toward my Ph.D. degree at your University.

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