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

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

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

1. Advanced calculus
2. Algebra
3. Geometry
4. Complex Analysis
5. Topology

• Moscow Center for Continuous Mathematical Education