We are very pleased to announce that Maria Sokolova has become Research Scientist at the Skoltech Center of Life Sciences.
Maria graduated with honors from Peter the Great St. Petersburg Polytechnic University in 2013 (Master of Science in Physics). In 2014, Maria started her postgraduate studies at Skoltech supervised by prof. Konstantin Severinov focusing on mechanisms of transcription. She has recreantly defended her thesis “Functional and structural analysis of a non-canonical multisubunit RNA polymerase encoded by giant bacteriophage AR9” evaluated by the international PhD defense jury as a biochemical research project of the highest caliber. In addition to conducting research during her postgraduate studies, Maria was solely responsible for transferring Skoltech basic molecular biology laboratory course to the research center at the Peter the Great St. Petersburg Polytechnic University where it is now offered for a third consecutive year to local undergraduates.
At Skoltech, in her new capacity, Maria will continue structural and functional characterization of non-canonical viral RNA polymerases. She also will develop Master and PhD level practical laboratory courses on “Molecular machines” and a research seminar on the same topic. Maria now is developing and will be running an upcoming summer practical course for bachelor students “Search for antibiotics produced by bacteria” (August 22-29, 2018, Skoltech Center for Life Sciences).