History of the Program
The “Math in Moscow” program was founded in 2001 as a math study abroad program. Over 400 students from 200 universities have participated in the program. Over 100 of them have already got their PhD degrees. In 2020 the program had to switch to online instruction. Now you can pick any courses from the list we offer for each semester.
“Math in Moscow” is a joint project of the Independent University of Moscow, the Higher School of Economics, and the Moscow Center for Continuous Mathematical Education. You can now gain from the expertise of Moscow mathematicians without learning Russian: all courses are taught in English.
Our Mission
Depending on your background, the program may help you to achieve one of the following goals.
If you begin studying math, we will show you how a mathematical theory is constructed and what mathematicians mean by proof. All our courses are proof-based. And we encourage you not to memorize theorems and proofs but to discover mathematics yourself. We hope that after taking MiM courses, you can decide whether you feel excited to continue your journey in pure math.
If you are preparing to apply for PhD school, we will be thrilled to help you cover a possible gap between college courses and what you will face on a graduate level. Also, you might understand better what area you wish to specialize in.
That being said, we will be still happy to teach you if your goals differ from the ones we mentioned. Some of our participants need our courses for their work, and some take them a few years after graduating.
Classes
Our semester lasts 15 weeks, see the program calendar. In each semester, we offer a specific list from our wide range of mathematical courses. Every mathematical course is taught in two classes per week, and each class lasts for one hour and a half. Depending on students’ and professors’ preferences, those two classes may be put on the same day or two different days of the week. All classes are taught in English.
Groups in our courses are small. We guarantee that each group is not greater than six students. That allows you to be active, to ask questions, and to discuss problems with your peers. Our professors are also focused on an individual approach to every student. Math courses are taught with an emphasis on building the theory yourself rather than memorizing lecture notes. A mathematical theory is regarded as a set of problems that we happen to call theorems and propositions.
Because the groups are small, we usually succeed in arranging the timetable according to everybody’s preferences. If you do not mind studying on Saturday or Sunday, that will increase possible time slots.
Our Zoom classes are recorded by default. And you will have lifetime access to the corresponding unlisted playlist. But if the students prefer some classes (for example, homework problems discussion) to be unrecorded, we do not mind.
Online settings provide several benefits: you may study from the place you prefer, use convenient interactive boards, share links with your peers, and revise video recordings whenever you need. But we have noticed that sometimes our students become less engaged because of other commitments. Each course may require from you 3-6 hours of work in addition to 3 hours of classes. The main advantage is that you can bring all your questions from your home study to a professor or discuss them in class.
Prerequisites, Textbooks
Most of our courses are original ones. Your professor may recommend more books in addition to the ones that are mentioned in our list of courses.
The prerequisites essential to almost all our courses are one semester of both Real Analysis and Linear Algebra. We recommend the following Linear Algebra textbooks:
S.Axler, “Linear Algebra Done Right” and S.Friedberg, A.Insel, L.Spence, “Linear Algebra” (very thorough),
and Real Analysis textbooks:
S.Abbott, “Understanding Analysis” and T.Tao, “Analysis I”.
Credits & Transcripts
Please check with the Department of Mathematics of your college or university if you will get credits for the courses successfully completed in the “Math in Moscow” program. And we are glad to assist you in that communication. One “Math in Moscow” course transfers to four semester hours. The transcript will be issued by the Faculty of Mathematics of the National Research University Higher School of Economics (here is a copy of the translation of the state accreditation certificate of the National Research University Higher School of Economics). Our office will send an official transcript of all completed courses to your home institution. We stay in touch with our students, and additional transcripts to other addresses are available upon your request for free, no matter when you need them.
Applying for the Program
If you are willing to study math, have good academic standing, and have completed at least one semester of Real Analysis and Linear Algebra, you are welcome to apply. The application is free. For details please click here.
Note that we consider all payments as final, and you will not be able to get a refund if you decide to withdraw from the program. To learn more about the program, feel free to ask our recent alumni and to read our alumni testimonials. Check out the videos in which the IUM and the HSE leaders speak about the MiM mission. A few years ago the “Math Horizons” magazine published a paper about MiM written by our alumnus.. Another good option is to email us at mim@mccme.ru.
Home Schools, Affiliated Programs
Since 2001 we have established good working relationships with a lot of universities. With some of them we have formal agreements, see the list of our affiliated programs.