Skoltech Center for Stem Cell Research

Knowledge is the foundation of innovation, economic progress and prosperity. No wonder that many countries invest in scientific research. But what if you want to set up an internationally competitive research environment from scratch? Some countries spend a lot of money to attract scientists to bring their knowledge and kick start a research environment. 

In Moscow they have a new strategy: involve the most prominent research institutes in the world to help with the building of specific research centers and the training of the people who will work there. Thus create a globally distributed campus and a collaborative research network between leading scientists. After training abroad you bring back students and Faculty to Russia to work in Research Centers at the newly constructed science city of Skolkovo.

Out of 129 proposals from scientific institutes all over the world, only a few were selected to join this unique programme. The very first that has been given the green light is The Skolkovo Center for Stem Cell Research, a collaboration between several Research Institutes in Russia, the Whitehead Institute in the United States, initiating partner ERIBA and the Hubrecht Institute in the Netherlands.

In stem cell biology it is now possible to reprogram normal cells into pluripotent cells, which can be manipulated for a variety of studies. The question the collaboration wants to address is: how to differentiate pluripotent cells into specific adult stem cell types?