Math in Moscow: Difference between revisions

Math in Moscow is a one-semester course in advanced mathematics held at the Independent University of Moscow (IUM) in Moscow, Russia. The program is taught in English and is open to students from the United States, Canada, and Europe. The program was first offered in 2001. Over the program's duration more than 150 North American and European undergraduates have participated in it, including students from Harvard, Princeton, MIT, Berkeley, Cornell, Yale, McGill, Toronto and Montreal.

The primary curriculum is entirely mathematical, and the courses are divided into three groups according to the needed prerequisites. All courses, however, require at least a semester of analysis and linear algebra as prerequisites.

• Elementary courses:
  • Combinatorics
  • Programming: from an art to a science
  • Topology I
  • Advanced Linear Algebra
  • Basic Algebra
  • Geometric Foundations of Analysis
  • Non-Euclidean geometry
  • Ordinary Differential Equations
• Intermediate courses:
  • Advanced Algebra
  • Differential Geometry
  • Calculus on Manifolds
  • Complex Analysis
  • Ergodic Theory of Dynamical Systems
  • Knot Theory
  • Algebraic Number Theory
  • Topology II: Introduction to Homology and Cohomology Theory
  • Algebraic Geometry
  • Basic Representation Theory
  • Computability and Complexity
• Advanced courses:
  • Equations of Mathematical Physics
  • Introduction to Commutative and Homological Algebra
  • Mathematical Catastrophe Theory
  • Riemann Surfaces

In addition to the previously listed courses, students may take a few non-mathematics courses:

• Russian Language I, II
• History of Mathematics and Science (AD 1500-2000)
• History of Russia
• Russian Literature

The IUM is located in a building in the very heart of Moscow. The address is 11 Bol. Vlasievskii per., a small quiet street near the historic Arbat and within walking distance of the Kremlin, the Bolshoi, the Rumyantsev library, the Pushkin Western Art Museum, and the cathedral of Christ the Savior.

In addition to lecture halls and classes, the IUM building has a library, a computer class, a cafeteria, a small publishing house, and a book shop for math books. All the students have e-mail accounts, access to the Internet and to xerox machines, etc.

Each student will be provided with living quarters in a student dormitory at a reasonable distance from the IUM.

The courses deviate in structure from standard courses in the United States, Canada, and Europe. The Russian pedagogical tradition tries to develop active participation of students. Classes tend to be active dialogs between the students and the teacher. Each math course runs three hours once a week: an hour and a half of lecture and an hour and a half of exercises after a 15 minute break.

• The home page of the program
• The home page of the Independent University of Moscow (in English)

• Yu. S. Ilyashenko and A. B. Sossinsky: The Independent University of Moscow, EMS Newsletter, March 2010, 42.