Applicant: Ivan Ivanov

Recommender: Prof. Petr P. Petrov

I have known Ivan Ivanov since February 2000. Being a second-year student, he attended my
lectures on XX, and the next academic year - on YY. While attending my lectures, he showed
himself as an active and hard-working student. We frequently discussed various physics problems
beyond the scope of my course, and I was surprised by his remarkable analytical abilities and
originality of his ideas.

After completing my courses Ivan continued to keep in touch with me.

In 2001 he joined Landau Institute Theory group. In order to be admitted to this group, Ivan
successfully passed a highly competitive and difficult Landau Theoretical Minimum exam on
Quantum Mechanics. This fact characterizes Ivan as a purposeful person with a great ability for
independent work. He has also successfully passed non-obligatory Landau Theoretical Minimum
exams on General Relativity, Statistical Mechanics and Electrodynamics of Continuous Media.

By now, Ivan's background in theoretical physics is strikingly deep and wide. In his bachelor thesis,
which was in the field of quantum Hall effect, he used sophisticated techniques of modern Quantum
Field Theory as well as Condensed Matter theory. Ivan’s profound knowledge of Quantum Field
Theory is also proved by the fact that he has translated into Russian several chapters of XX's book
"Quantum ...". His translation will be published in a few months by ‘Nauka’, the most respectable
Russian scientific publishing company.

I regard Ivan's academic and research abilities as excellent. I'm sure that he is one of the top 2%
of MIPT students. I strongly recommend him for graduate study at Massachusetts Institute of
Technology.

Yours sincerely, 11/12/02

P.P. Petrov

Corresponding member of

Russian Academy of Sciences.

Department of XX

Institue for YY

City X, Moscow region

Russia, 111111

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 Dear Colleagues,

I am very pleased to write on behalf of Ivan I. Ivanov who asked me to recommend him for
admission to Florida State University.

Ivan has been working under my supervision over the last year and was the student attending my
lectures on course XX in Fall, XX. He is currently a X year student of the Mendeleev University of
Chemical Technology. The University is one of the best, largest and oldest academic institutions
for Chemistry in Russia. Since January XX, Ivan is undertaking a graduation paper under my
guidance. His work in the Laboratory of XX covers that part of Physical Chemistry which is basically
related to Surface Chemistry.

In our research he deals with such important direction in Chemistry as the research of XX. During
this work he gained valuable experience working with equipment of electron microscopy and X-ray
analysis. I should emphasize here that he is very accurate and diligent in his experimental work as
well as in treating the results. Ivan evolved as a dependable, intelligent, erudite, emotionally stable
person who is able to generate new ideas, to find untraditional solutions, and I can add that it would
not be an exaggeration, if I describe him quite assertive and sophisticated. I have no doubt that
Ivan would be a good instructor thanks to his accuracy and clearance in oral expression. Also, he
has a good attitude and capable of working in a group as well as acting independently. I can say
that he is the best student among the ones I had supervised for the last years.

In addition, Ivan has very good knowledge of the English language because for the most part he
uses English-written materials (e-libraries, data bases, articles from foreign magazines, etc.) as
theoretical support for our investigations.

Seeing his serious yearning for further education, persistence and striving for purpose, I think that
he will realize his huge potential and inevitably obtain excellent results in his future scientific career.
I also believe that it will be very beneficial for both Florida State University and Ivan to continue his
education in your graduate program. Thus I strongly recommend him for admission.

Sincerely,

P.P. Petrov 10/31/2002

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 As a member of the Board of the Russian school Physics Olympiad I have known Ivan Ivanov
since XX, when he was in high school. His prominent knowledge of Physics revealed even then.
He became a winner of the Russian school physics olympiad three times in a raw that allowed him
to become one of the 16 candidates to, and later one of the members of the Russian team on the
Xth IPhO in Country X, where he was awarded Gold Medal and a Special Prize for the best solution
of a theoretical problem.

Among other winners of the Russian Olympiad Ivan took part in winter (two weeks) and summer
(a month) sessions of candidates to the team in XX. The sessions included advanced lectures on
physics. Seminars devoted to theoretical problems and intensive laboratory courses were
alternated with frequent rounds of problem solving contests designed to reduce the number of
candidates from 16 to 5. Even though initially he had been placed 14th in our unofficial rating, his
perseverance, purposefulness and diligence enabled him to enter the final membership of Russian
team. During the time of sessions Ivan showed ability of quick perception of new ideas and using
them in future, high intelligence and capacity for work.

When Ivan entered MIPT, he continued working hard. During his studies Ivan has been the best
among all MIPT students of his age. Being in his second year, he became the absolute winner of
Physics and Mathematics Olympiads among all undergraduates of MIPT. He was awarded Landau
Institute fellowship, ITEP fellowship (awarded to 2 students among 80) and Lenin grant, which is
awarded to one student out of 500. I believe that with his persistence and capacity Ivan will
maintain the way he started.

There is an established tradition that students who have won the IPhO in previous years work as
instructors in the sessions of the succeeding IPhO teams. Ivan Ivanov is one of such students.
Being the leader of the training team I highly appreciate Ivan's activity. Students invent problems
to solve, give seminars, laboratory classes and examine schoolboys' knowledge of physics. Ivan
demonstrated brilliant mental abilities and theoretical skills, so we decided to try him as a member
of the Board of Russian PhO in XX. I was impressed by his performance, so Ivan was invited to
the Board permanently. He is one of a few students who is a permanent Jury member of such a
high-level olympiad. I have no doubts that this activity gave him an excellent teaching practice. I
would also like to notice that Ivan has perfect collaboration skills. It was a great pleasure for me to
work with him.

Working at MIPT for many years I can compare Ivan's abilities with those of other MIPT students.
For the last 10 years I have known only several students like Ivan quite well. For example, XX and
XX (both are graduate students at Harvard now), XX and XX (they are graduate students at MIT),
XX (now he is a graduate student at Cornell), XX and XX (they are graduate students at Princeton),
XX (he is a graduate student at University of California at Berkeley).

In sum, I am confident that Ivan is the best among approximately 500 MIPT students of his year.
He has outstanding potential and motivation to succeed in a career as a physicist. He is diligent,
bright-minded and trust-worthy in every way. I'm deeply convinced that students displaying such
talents as Ivan’s, are able to study at graduate level successfully. Thus I enthusiastically
recommend Ivan Ivanov for further education at Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Sincerely yours,

Petr P. Petrov 11/14/02

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 To whom it may concern:

Dear Colleagues,

It is my pleasure to recommend a 6-th year student of the Mendeleev University of Chemical

Technology, Ivan I. Ivanov who is applying for admission to the graduate program in Chemistry at
Florida State University. Ivan has been working in my laboratory since 2000. As a Chairman of the
Division of XX, at which he has been studying specialized courses, I have known him from the
beginning of his study in our Division from 1998. During his study he showed good academic
results and did not have any troubles with studies. I should emphasize that it is not a simple task
to maintain the high level of records at one of the best and esteemed academic institutions for
Chemistry in Russia - Mendeleev University of Chemical Technology requires strong intellectual
abilities and assiduity. Ivan is a student who attended my Lectures on courses ‘XX’ and ‘XX’. On
the final exams of these classes, he proved high theoretical background of crystal structures and
processes and methods of crystal growth.

As a student who has worked in my research group, Artem has gained significant experience in
single-crystal growth. Part of experimental work he undertook was at one of the laboratories of the
XX Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences. He dealt with such contemporary materials as
laser single crystals. Under my supervision, he has done the research term paper entitled ‘XX’
which is valuable for our University. I think that such strong characteristics as his high intellectual
potential, perseverance and his excellent ability to work independently is the serious motivation to
be successful as a graduate student. I’m sure that his potential as a teacher is also very high.

I must mention Ivan’s proficiency in English. Almost all materials I gave him to study (articles from
different scientific journals, proceedings of conferences etc.) were written in English. He has no
difficulties with understanding such papers.

In addition, on the final interdisciplinary state exam which is carried out in our University in the last
semester (prior degree work) covering all specialized courses, he proved high scientific
attainments in various areas of Physical and Theoretical Chemistry. In my opinion, Ivan is one of
the best students in his class.

As a recommender, I consider the applicant as a gifted and promising student. Ivan Ivanov is
comparable with my best students of previous years. I highly recommend him for a program leading
to the PhD degree. I am sure that he will successfully accomplish a program of graduate study. I
do believe that both Florida State University and Ivan would most certainly benefit from him
studying at your graduate school.

Sincerely,

Petr Petrov

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 LETTER OF EVALUATION

for Ivan Ivanov

I have known Ivan Ivanov for approximately four years. During first two years he was attending my
lectures and seminars in XX, XX and XX. Ivan is very active and sociable. We used to discuss
different mathematical problems several times a week. During our discussions Ivan displayed great
ingenuity and profound knowledge of mathematics far above the scope of MIPT program.

Ivan is one of the best students of his year. Two times he won highly competitive Mathematics
Olympiad among MIPT students and Math Problems Solving Contest. He has always been a hard-
working student. He attended many advanced lectures on modern mathematics at MIPT as well
as at the Independent University of Moscow, a very strong Russian mathematical institution.

Ivan has excellent research abilities. He is extremely strong in solving non-standard problems in
various areas. During his undergraduate studies he himself explored a scientific problem
connected with XX problem. His solution of the problem was very elegant and I wasn't surprised
when his article was accepted for publication in Mathematical Notes.

I consider Ivan as one of the top 2% MIPT students. He proved himself to be an organized and
responsible person. Besides, Ivan is a very pleasant person to communicate with. I believe these
qualities along with brilliant intellectual capacity guarantee Ivan's success in his future work. I highly
recommend Ivan Ivanov and strongly support his application to Massachusetts Institute of
Technology.

Sincerely yours, 11/13/02

Petr P. Petrov

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 LETTER of RECOMMENDATION

Dear Sir or Madam,

I am pleased to introduce Ivan I. Ivanov to you. I know that he is particularly interested in the
graduate program in Chemistry at Florida State University so I will try to characterize him in details.

Ivan worked in my research laboratory for about 2 years, since XX. During our research work he
evolved as a creative, assertive, and intelligent personality who has shown himself a goal-oriented
and hardworking student with an adequate response to the most challenging tasks in very
complicated Russian conditions. Our research work concerned a non-stoichiometry as a part of
my Course ‘XX’. Under my supervision he did a research term paper entitled ‘XX’ in which he
considered medical and geological applications of luminophors that he synthesized. Ivan is really
imaginative and innovative person. His investigations I can summarize as efficient and significant.
In February 2001, he presented a paper at the General Chemistry Institute of the Russian Academy
of Sciences student conference and showed exceptional oratorical abilities.

Ivan is a good team-worker and bears his duties with high willingness to accept responsibility. He
is always enthusiastic about explaining difficult matters to his fellow-students. In my opinion, Ivan
would be a good instructor for undergraduate courses. He also possesses a comprehensive and
advanced personality and is able to achieve desired goals. I certainly should mention a very high
level of Ivan's English proficiency and the fact that he is among the best students in his class.

Due to the economical situation in Russia nowadays, adequate financing for institutions of the
Russian Academy of Sciences and a science on the whole is quite unstable. In existing conditions
it is rather hard for our students to reveal entirely all their talents and potentials. Therefore, I fully
agree with Ivan’s decision to apply to graduate school in the USA. I am convinced that his capability
of independent creativity and hard learning will make his future studying successful and scientific
activities effective.

Dr. Petr P. Petrov, D.Sc. 11/30/2002

Assistant professor, Mendeleev University of Chemical Technology

XX Department

XX Street, Moscow, Russia 111111

Phone: 7 (095) 111-1111

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 Letter of Recommendation Applicant: Ivan Ivanov

I am delighted to support Ivan Ivanov's application to Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

I have known Ivan for more than 3 years. Initially, he was among 30 students out of approximately
600 who were exempted from entrance exams to MIPT due to their excellent performance on
Russian Physics Olympiads. During his years at MIPT Ivan showed himself as a purposeful, self-
organized person with very high intellectual capacity. He has been receiving extended scholarship
from the Institute and was awarded with Landau Fellowship as a promising student-theorist. Being
the Head of the State Examination Board at 3rd year students’ Final Exam on General Physics, I
highly appreciated Ivan’s prominent knowledge of the subject.

Now Ivan specializes in theoretical physics at Landau Institute theory group. It is the most
advanced theory group at our department. To enter this group one should pass highly competitive
Landau Theoretical Minimum exam in Quantum Mechanics, based on Landau Theoretical Physics
course and only a few students are able to do this. As for Ivan, he passed the exam half year
before the deadline and was the 1st to be admitted in his year. This fact particularly emphasizes
his outstanding potential and motivation to carry on advanced study in Physics.

Ivan gained excellent teaching experience at our Institute. He voluntarily worked as an instructor
in physics and elementary mathematics at the School by Correspondence of MIPT, where he
supervised about 30 schoolboys and schoolgirls during 2 years. As a responsible and very sociable
person Ivan was chosen to be a monitor of his group, so he also has some public activity
experience. I am sure that his ability to communicate easily will help him greatly in his future carrier
of a physicist.

Ivan’s academic achievements should also be emphasized by the fact that he is the youngest
student at our department at his 4-th year. During 3 years I monitored Ivan’s academic and
personal growth and now I am convinced that Ivan belongs to top 2% of all MIPT students.

I have no doubts, that Ivan Ivanov would be a great addition to graduate program at MIT. He has
my highest recommendation.

Sincerely, 11/18/02

Prof. Petr P. Petrov

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 Letter of Recommendation Applicant: Ivan Ivanov

Ivan Ivanov has asked me to write a letter of recommendation to accompany his application for
PhD program in Mathematics at XX. I am pleased to provide a reference for such a gifted student
who is at the very top of his highly competitive and highly talented class. I would like to stress
particularly his thirst for knowledge which is intensified by Ivan's strong determination, and his
deep interest in science. Ivan is an outstanding researcher and person.

I have known Ivan Ivanov for two years. Being a third-year student he attended my lectures and
seminars on The Theory of XX and in the next academic year - lectures and seminars on XX. While
he was studying my course I was surprised by his remarkable abilities of learning and grasping the
essence of new ideas. Upon completing each course of lectures students pass an examination,
which consists of completing complex homework and later an oral interview. Ivan showed deep
understanding of the subject and was given an excellent mark for his performance. I would like to
emphasize that he was allowed to pass these exams before the appointed date, although it is a
rare practice and is only granted to excellent students. To be precise, there was only one other
student of similar level in his class.

Ivan's brilliant teaching skills and his natural talent of getting along with people made him a top-
ranked teacher at ‘Phystech-College’- an extracurricular High School intended to help
schoolchildren in studying the sciences at levels beyond regular school program. Thus, I rate
Ivan's potential as a teacher as rather high.

From our discussions concerning Ivan's plans I could conclude that Mr. Ivanov has strong
motivation towards academic career in mathematics. He is very much involved with ..., and yet he
has the background to answer .... I think that it would not be overestimation to assert that Ivan
belongs to the top 2% of MIPT students. I strongly recommend Ivan Ivanov for graduate studies
toward Ph.D. degree at your University.

Sincerely,

Prof. Petr P. Petrov

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 Being the Leader of the Russian IPhO Team, I have known Ivan Ivanov since xxx, when he was
studying in high school. In xxx he was a winner of the International Physics Olympiad (IPhO) in
City, Country, and was awarded silver medal there. Also Ivan was a winner of All-Ukrainian PhOs,
Young Physicists Tournaments during 1994-1997.

His first year of undergraduate studies Ivan spent in the XX Department of XX National University.
Next year he continued his study at Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology (MIPT). I was not
surprised when Ivan was admitted to our institute as a second year transfer student. It is necessary
to notice that no more than five students are admitted in such a way per year. For that they have
to pass thorough examinations and show substantial irreproachable knowledge of physics and
mathematics, as well as high clarity of thoughts.

Studying at the Institute is very hard but Ivan became one of the top students here. This judgment
is supplied by the fact that Ivan was a winner of MIPT Undergraduate students Physics Olympiad
(2nd position in xxx), successfully participated in All-Russian students Theoretical Mechanics
Olympiad. He has got only the highest grades on all subjects, thus his GPA is 4.0 so far. For such
excellence in studies and research work Ivan was selected two times as a Soros Student.

Every year a small group of students and MIPT professors conduct winter and summer sessions
of the Russian IPhO Team. The aim of the sessions is to select and to train the team of 5 high
school students. For this reason we turn to students of MIPT, generally former participants of
IPhOs, who proved themselves to be excellent students. They invent problems to solve, give
seminars, laboratory classes and examine high school students’ knowledge of physics. Ivan Ivanov
belongs to this small group of students. I have to mention that Ivan started his teaching practice
as early as while studying at XX University. He conducted sessions, training high school students
for All-Ukrainian and International PhOs. So when he joined our group he started work at full
capacity. He demonstrated brilliant mental abilities and experimental skills, so we decided to try
Ivan as a member of the Board of the Final Stage of Russian PhO in xxx. I was impressed by his
performance, so I invited him in xxx as well. I have no doubts that this activity gave him an excellent
teaching practice.

Working at MIPT for many years I can compare Ivan’s abilities with those of other MIPT students.
For the last 8 years I have known several students like Ivan quite well. For example XX, XX and
XX (all of them are graduate students at Harvard now), XX, XX and XX (they are graduate students
at MIT), XX (University of California at Berkeley). I am sure that all of them (including Ivan Ivanov)
belong to the top 2% of MIPT students. Those listed above are, of course, very different and every
one of them is unordinary person in his own way. Still they have one feature in common, namely,
it is their independent, maybe sometimes erratic, way of study. Due to this feature their knowledge
of physics is often far greater than required. For example, XX, XX and XX were offered graduate
admission by several U.S. Universities while being in their second year of studies at MIPT.

Ivan has a strong and motivated desire to be a scientist. He is diligent, bright-minded and trust-
worthy in every way. I highly recommend Ivan Ivanov for further education at your department.

Sincerely Yours,

Petr Petrov

Letter of Recommendation for MIPT Alumnus (01/2003)

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 The Physics Student admitted to Yale University, UC Santa Barbara

LETTER OF RECOMMENDATION

Applicant: Ivan Ivanov

Recommender: Prof. Petr P. Petrov

I am pleased to write this letter of recommendation in support of Petr Petrov’s application to

Princeton University.

I have known Ivan for almost two years. He attended my lectures on XX on his 2-d year at MIPT,
and lectures on XX on his 3-rd year. Many times we had discussions that lay beyond the scope of
my lectures and Ivan showed profound understanding of the material and proficiency in these
areas. I personally examined him and gave him excellent marks on both courses.

Ivan has remarkable ability to grasp quickly the essence of new ideas and complicated concepts,
such as those of Special Relativity and formalism of Quantum Mechanics, which distinguishes him
from many others MIPT students. I should also mention his strong background in mathematics,
which is very important for future theorist.

Upon finishing his 3-rd year at MIPT Ivan joined theory group at Landau Institute for Theoretical
Physics.

Enrollment to this group is highly competitive and based on the results of special examination on
Quantum Mechanics, called Landau Theoretical Minimum. The exam requires the knowledge of
large amount of material which is not included into the curriculum and had to be mastered by a
student independently. The fact that Ivan passed Theoretical Minimum successfully characterizes
him as a very ambitious person with great potential for future specialization in any field of
theoretical physics.

I consider Ivan as one of the top 2% of all MIPT students. His ability for independent learning, quick
mastering of sophisticated material and mathematical skills make him an excellent candidate for
Graduate program in Physics at Princeton University. I strongly recommend him for admission.

Yours sincerely, 12/11/02

P.P. Petrov

XX Titles

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 Letter of Recommendation Applicant: Ivan Ivanov

I have known Ivan Ivanov since ... and I am writing this letter to give him my highest
recommendations (or truly pleased to give him my recommendations ) . As Ivan's research
supervisor I often had an opportunity to observe his unusual abilities, creativity, capacity for deep
analytical thinking and amazing mathematic intuition.

It was not accident that Ivan became my research student. I was the head of the Jury of The
Department of Mathematics at MIPT Scientific Conference, where I noticed high level of his
research work in the field of Convex Analysis and it was agenda for Ivan’s future research. I also
was in the Jury of student Olympiad, where he showed exceptionally high for his age results, and
I was the head of the State Examination Board at Ivan’s Final Exam on Mathematics, where he
has shown prominent knowledge of the subject and his answers was highly appreciated by the
Board.

I was very pleased that he had chosen me as a research supervisor for his BS dissertation. In his
research work Ivan is active and goal-oriented; he reveals diligence and accuracy along with
satisfaction by his work. His first work under my guidance was his bachelor thesis in the field of XX
which included investigation of properties of such mappings including conditions under which they
are Riemann integrable and support functions of convex compacts. Here I should emphasize that
this branch of mathematics has attracted exceptional research attention in the two recent decades,
and one has to possess great mathematical erudition to work here. Ivan shows distinguished
capacity of learning new concepts and high level of knowledge in XX. He has not only coped with
highly complex and somewhat erratic material, but also found some important classes of sets of
attainability using this theory. For example, he thoroughly investigated some applied problems
from theoretical mechanics that involve integration of XX.

The work was highly appreciated by the Diploma Committee and Ivan was awarded BS degree
with Honors. Currently Ivan is successfully working on his master thesis project in the field of XX,
which is the development of our previous investigation. To get necessary knowledge in optimal
control Ivan attends lections in Moscow State University at the Department of Computational
Mathematics and Cybernetics.

I am sure that Ivan will become an excellent researcher and will produce serious work of
international quality. His outstanding mathematical abilities place him in the very top 5% of MIPT
students. Considering his achievements, I highly recommend him for the graduate study at your
University.

Sincerely,

Prof. Petr P. Petrov

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 Letter of Recommendation for MIPT Alumnus (01/2003)

The Physics Student admitted to Yale University, UC Santa Barbara

Letter of Evaluation

Applicant: Ivan Ivanov

I have been teaching physics at Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology for 30 years. I also
take part in developing laboratory assignments and practice exercises for all MIPT students. Ivan
Ivanov attended my weekly lectures and seminars on XX Physics during his 3-rd year of education
at MIPT, so I know him quite well to give him proper evaluation.

Ivan is very creative and broad-minded student. He always proposed original ideas and presented
non-standard approaches to the problems discussed on my seminars. He possesses a brilliant
physical intuition the most important skill of a good physicist, which allows him to choose an
appropriate physical model to tackle effectively most complicated physical problems. I am sure he
is the strongest 4-th year student at MIPT now.

The course of Solid State Physics was especially interesting for him. He surprisingly fast mastered
the ideas of quasi-particles and Bose and Fermi distribution, which are usually understood rather
hard by other students. For his Final Physics Examination in June XX he has studied several
articles on Quantum Hall Effect and presented an excellent report. He accomplished this rather
difficult for a junior task on his own will, so I think he has a real interest and high potential for
research in modern physics. By now Ivan has decided to specialize in theory, and I think his
excellent abilities for qualitative analysis of physical problems will be of great help to him in his
future theoretical research.

I should also mention here that Ivan is a very nice, tactful person and easy to communicate with,
thus he would be good at collaborative work. I am confident that he will succeed as a graduate
student in Physics.

I regard Ivan’s intellectual abilities as truly exceptional and highly recommend him for graduate
study at UC Berkeley. Please feel free to contact me if I can be of further assistance.

Sincerely, 15/11/02

Prof. P.P. Petrov

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 Letter of Recommendation Applicant: Ivan Ivanov

Ivan Ivanov has asked me to write a letter of recommendation to accompany his application for
PhD program in Mathematics at XX. I am pleased to provide a reference for such a gifted student
who is at the very top of his highly competitive and highly talented class. I would like to stress
particularly his thirst for knowledge which is intensified by Ivan's strong determination, and his
deep interest in science. Ivan is an outstanding researcher and person.

I have known Ivan Ivanov for two years. Being a third-year student he attended my lectures and
seminars on The Theory of XX and in the next academic year - lectures and seminars on XX. While
he was studying my course I was surprised by his remarkable abilities of learning and grasping the
essence of new ideas. Upon completing each course of lectures students pass an examination,
which consists of completing complex homework and later an oral interview. Ivan showed deep
understanding of the subject and was given an excellent mark for his performance. I would like to
emphasize that he was allowed to pass these exams before the appointed date, although it is a
rare practice and is only granted to excellent students. To be precise, there was only one other
student of similar level in his class.

Ivan's brilliant teaching skills and his natural talent of getting along with people made him a top-
ranked teacher at ‘Phystech-College’- an extracurricular High School intended to help
schoolchildren in studying the sciences at levels beyond regular school program. Thus, I rate Ivan's
potential as a teacher as rather high.

From our discussions concerning Ivan's plans I could conclude that Mr. Ivanov has strong
motivation towards academic career in mathematics. He is very much involved with ..., and yet he
has the background to answer .... I think that it would not be overestimation to assert that Ivan
belongs to the top 2% of MIPT students. I strongly recommend Ivan Ivanov for graduate studies
toward Ph.D. degree at your University.

Sincerely,

Prof. Petr P. Petrov

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 It is my pleasure to write a letter of recommendation on behalf of Irina Ivanova. I have known her
since 1998, when she started to work as a research assistant under my guidance. For more than
a year I have close experience of Irina’s work and can state unequivocally that her academic and
professional skills place her in the top 5% of the students I have worked with during my 50 years
of work at Lebedev Physics Institute of Russian Academy of Sciences.

Some of the main credits of Irina are her persistence and diligence sometimes even ranging with
obsession with work. I will give you an example. When I first met Irina in September 1998 she was
a 4th year student at MIPT and possessed a solid background in physics and mathematics, though
she lacked some knowledge in biology and chemistry necessary for successful research in the
field of biophysical kinetics which our laboratory is primary concerned with. It took her only a few
months to read a rather large number of books and articles in Russian as well as in English and
become proficient in this field. From that time she started to attend extra-curriculum lectures and
seminars on different topics in biophysics (such as Biophysics of Membrane Processes,
Biochemical Physics, Physical aspects of Biological Processes) at MIPT as well as at Moscow
State University.

I must admit that now Irina possesses a unique combination of solid academic knowledge in
physics, chemistry, biology and mathematical methods. In scientific discussions and during
colloquia Irina revealed maturity, excellent analytical thinking and clarity of thought. She often
proposed original ideas and made outstanding conclusions.

As a member of our laboratory Irina investigated permeability of erythrocyte membrane for glucose
and oxygen in normal conditions and under pressure. This was an important part of our major
research concerning influence of pressure on permeability of cytoplasmic membranes. Irina took
part in construction of theoretical model and then carried out a lot of independent research. I should
mention her accuracy and thoroughness in carrying out experiments and an ability to pay attention
to nuances, which often play crucial role. Her findings were very important for confirmation of our
theory of structure of cytoplasmic membrane. As a result of this work in June 1999 Irina
successfully defended her thesis and got BS with Honors. Recently she has reported these results
at Biophysics section of MIPT Scientific Conference. This report was made at the top level.

In summary, Irina distinguished herself as an individual who exhibits an organized, scientific

approach to research, and with a high degree of motivation, innovation and initiative, can
accomplish her goals. Therefore, I evaluate Irina Ivanova as a person with high potential to carry
out an advanced study in the field of biophysics and strongly recommend her for further education
at Biophysics Department of California Institute of Technology.

Petr P. Petrov, D.Sc. 12/07/99

Professor, Lebedev Physics Institute RAS

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 I am very pleased to write on behalf of Irina Ivanova who asked me to recommend her for
admission to Harvard University. I know Irina for almost 3 years during which I am her scientific
advisor at P.N.Lebedev Physical Institute RAS (LPI).

The major research subjects of Vavilov Luminescence Department of LPI are

luminescence of the organic and crystalline substances and fundamental aspects connected with
that. Irina’s work towards Master’s Degree in Physics is currently proceeding in the framework of
NATO ‘Science for Peace Project Novel Molecular Electronics Materials with unusual Electron and
Exciton Dynamics. Our first results are going to be published soon.

Mainly she is connected with experimental work concerning creating thin solid films such as
Langmuir-Blodgett films, spin-coated and self-assembled films. As a Physics teacher at Moscow
Institute of Physics and Technology (MIPT) I should admit that her theoretical knowledge on the
subject was exceptionally strong even in the Department of General and Applied Physics, the best
one of MIPT. Although in the beginning Irina certainly lacked experience in this field, but now she
undoubtedly possesses remarkable skills in spectroscopy, nanotechnology and advanced
microscopy techniques.

Irina has shown herself a goal-oriented and hardworking student with an adequate
response to the most challenging tasks in very complicated russian conditions. She revived the
ruined Langmuir-Blodgett facility in our lab with practically no support from the trained personnel.
I should notice here that in our men community she manages to co-operate and even be a leader
when achieving her objects. Her intuitive feeling for the spectroscopy experiments was of great
help through the everyday activity of our laboratory.

I should also mention her excellent proficiency in English, which is always of great support to our
laboratory. She helps the staff in communication with foreign collaborators and what is more
important in the text preparation for the English-language publications as well as grant application
materials.

Due to the economical situation in Russia nowadays adequate financing for the Academy
of Sciences is quite unstable. In existing conditions it is rather hard for our students to entirely
reveal all their talents and potentials. Therefore I strongly advise Irina to apply to graduate school
in the USA. I am convinced that her capability of independent creativity and hard learning will make
her future studying successful and scientific activities effective.

Sincerely yours,

Prof. Petr P. Petrov

Tel: (095)555-55-55

E-mail: [email protected]

LPI

Telegram: @Study2020Canada
 As a member of the Board of the Russian school Physics Olympiad I have known Ivan
Ivanov since 1997, when he was in high school. His prominent knowledge of Physics revealed
even then. He won 1st diploma at the Russian school physics olympiad in 1997 and 1998 that
allowed him to become one of the 16 candidates to, and later one of the members of the Russian
team on the 29th IPhO in Reykjavik (Iceland), where he was awarded Gold Medal.

Among other winners of the Russian Olympiad Ivan took part in winter (two weeks) and summer
(a month) sessions of candidates to the team in 1998. The sessions included advanced lectures
on physics. Seminars devoted to theoretical problems and intensive laboratory courses were
alternated with frequent rounds of problem solving contests designed to reduce the number of
candidates from 16 to 5. From the beginning he had been placed first in our unofficial rating, and
his perseverance, purposefulness and diligence enabled him to enter the final membership of
Russian team. During the time of sessions Ivan showed ability of quick perception of new ideas
and using them in future, high intelligence and capacity for work.

When Ivan entered MIPT, he continued working hard, therefore his grades, despite very high
requirements to students, were only excellent. Ivan was awarded Landau Institute of Theoretical
Physics and "Eximer" Fellowships (both of which are awarded to 2 students among the faculty of
some 80 students). He has twice become the winner of Physics Olympiad among students of
MIPT. He was also awarded Soros student grant. I believe that with his persistence and capacity
Ivan will maintain the way he started.

There is an established tradition that students who have won the IPhO in previous years work as
instructors in the sessions of the succeeding IPhO teams. Ivan Ivanov is one of such students.
Being the leader of the training team I highly appreciate Ivan's activity. Students invent problems
to solve, give seminars, laboratory classes and examine schoolboys' knowledge of physics. Ivan
demonstrated brilliant mental abilities and theoretical skills, so we decided to try him as a member
of the Board of the Final Stage of Russian PhO in 1999.I was impressed by his performance, so
Ivan was invited to the Board permanently. He is one of a few students who is a permanent Jury
member of such a high-level Olympiad. I have no doubts that this activity gave him an excellent
teaching practice.

Working at MIPT for many years I can compare Ivan's abilities with those of other MIPT students.
For the last 10 years I have known several students like Ivan quite well. For example XX and XX
(both are graduate students at Harvard now), XX and XX (they are graduate students at MIT), XX
(now he is a graduate student at Cornell), XX and XX ( they are graduate students at Princeton),
XX (he is a graduate student at University of California at Berkeley). All of them participated in the
USSR Physics Olympiad and IPhO brilliantly, and used to work as instructors in the sessions of
the previous IPhO teams. I think all of them (including Ivan Ivanov) belong to the top 2% of MIPT
students.

Ivan has a strong and motivated desire to be a scientist. He is diligent, bright-minded and trust-
worthy in every way. I'm deeply convinced that students displaying such talantes as Ivan's, are
able to study at graduate level successfully. Thus I strongly recommend Ivan Ivanov for further
education at your University.

Sincerely yours,

Petr P. Petrov 14/11/01

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 Letter of Recommendation for Irina I. Ivanova

It is with a great pleasure that I write this letter of recommendation for Ms. Irina Ivanova. I first met
Irina in January 1999 when one of my colleagues recommended her for research work at my
laboratory of Heart Electrophysiology at Cardiological Research Center of Russian Ministry of
Health. The main problems of our research include electrophysiological aspects of spontaneous
initiation of atrial flutter and fibrillation, which we investigate using microelectrode recordings,
patch-clamp technique and electric mapping.

The first Irina’s tasks were to master the procedure of cell isolation and to make the existing patch-
clamp device to work, since these facilities were out of use for some time but we really needed
them for our experiments. That was rather time-taking task and required a lot of effort and
persistence from Irina. First of all she had to study a rather large amount of literature on the subject
and then use her knowledge in practice. I was pleased to see enthusiasm and insistence with
which Irina managed this task. That was mostly due to her remarkable assiduity and great zeal
that soon she was able to proceed with actual experiments. For the last five years our laboratory
deals with refinement of new class III antiarrhythmic agent nibentan. Irina currently works on right
ventricular cells using whole-cell patch-clamp configuration. The overall goal of Irina’s work is to
characterize a role of nibentan on ionic channels in atrial and sinoatrial cells of rabbits and guinea-
pigs. By now she already has some important data concerning effects of nibentan on potassium
outward currents and in May 1999 she plan to defend the Diploma of Higher Education on this
topic.

I would also like to mention here Irina’s ability to cooperate with colleagues and her responsibility,
both of which are important for professional success. She is one of the best students whom I have
worked with. I think that her achievements are attributed not only to her aptitude but also to her
perseverance and ambitions. She is active and thorough in research, always goal-oriented.

I highly recommend Irina Ivanova for admission to Massachusetts Institute of Technology. It is my

unconditional belief that Irina will realize her huge potential and grow into a prominent scientist.

Dr. Petr P. Petrov December 10, 1999

Professor, Member of Russian Academy of Sciences

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 Letter of Recommendation

Applicant: Irina I. Ivanova

I have been a Dean of Department of XX for more than twenty years and have been teaching
physics for more than thirty years. I have known Irina Ivanova for almost six years, beginning with
her brilliant entrance examinations in spring 1994. Our Department has the highest admission
standards and we often have as many as 10 well-qualified high-school graduates competing for
each admission spot. Unfortunately the department consists of mostly male students (we happen
to admit only about 3% of women). So I believe that Irina deserves high respect for her hard will
and perseverance. As someone who has worked at MIPT for more than thirty years I can well
estimate Irina’s potential and level and compare her abilities to those of other MIPT students and
would say she belongs to the top10% MIPT students I have ever taught.

I have been Irina’s teacher in General Physics during her first year of studies. Irina has
distinguished herself from other students with her diligence, persistence and ability to work
independently. I should also mention her easiness in communication with colleagues, readiness to
help and capability to clearly explain her ideas. I have been the head of examination committee
during both her General Physics and Theoretical Physics Qualification examinations. Those two
exams are the two toughest exams at MIPT since the committee has a chance to test a student's
knowledge in all areas of General and Theoretical Physics. I must admit she has solid academic
knowledge in both subjects and I enjoyed her brilliant answers.

I am one of the heads of MIPT Correspondence School where Irina has worked as a teaching
assistant. I can point to her excellent work as a teacher. Now she is continuing to work as a teacher
at MIPT Phys. Tech. College, an MIPT organization that gives high-school students additional
education. She handles her task very well, takes her teaching responsibilities very seriously, but
what is even more important - she truly enjoys teaching.

Therefore I believe that Irina possesses an excellent basis for further success in graduate studies
at MIT and highly recommend her for admission

Prof. Petr P. Petrov December 17, 1999

Dean of the Department of XX,

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 I am pleased to give my recommendation for Ivan Ivanov. I am the head of the laboratory
of XX of the Institute of Radio Engineering and Electronics (IRE) RAS. I have known Ivan for a
year and a half since 1999 when he began to attend my lectures on XX. During the course he
showed strong capability to grasp new material quickly and great background on the subject. He
became interested in our research and joined our group a year ago.

Soon he started his first research project in our laboratory. Our goal was to analyze the
ability of lattices of coupled chaotic maps to perform computations and to develop a computer
simulation of a simple chaotic processor. Ivan had to study a lot of literature and a number of
publications on chaos based computations, information theory and self-organized criticality. Here
I should notice a very high level of his English proficiency, since papers he has read were mainly
original publications from Phys. Rev., Phys. Rev. Letters and he had no problem reading them.
Soon a program was constructed.

This year Ivan became involved in a project on Chaotic Map based Associative and Random
Access Memory being held by our group. He is responsible for the construction of the map and
now for this purpose he is developing a special research computer program. From our
collaboration I concluded that Ivan entirely devotes himself to work and due to all-round education
his mind is opened for any task I set. It deserves mentioning that he always takes an active part in
scientific discussions, demonstrating maturity, strong ability to defend his ideas while paying
careful attention to opponent’s remarks. He is also a very sociable person and easily finds common
language with people.

As for his experimental abilities, Ivan is accurate and attentive, and always well prepared
theoretically. He has a solid experience in dealing with common equipment as well as high
comprehension of new complex devices. He is now taking the special laboratory course on
simulation of nonlinear dynamical systems using digital signal processors and his instructor is fully
satisfied with his performance.

In summary, Ivan proved himself as an active and goal-oriented person. Evidently, his
scientific attainments are gained not only with his aptitude but also with thirst for knowledge,
perseverance and ambitions.

I highly recommend Ivan Ivanov for admission to your university.

Petr P. Petrov, D.Sc., Professor, 12/14/2000

Head of the laboratory of XX,

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 Applicant: Irina I. Ivanova

I have been a Dean of Department of XX for more than twenty years and have been teaching
physics for more than 30 years. I have known Irina Ivanova for almost six years, beginning with
her admission to MIPT without entrance examinations due to her outstanding performances at
Physics and Math Olympiads of different levels.

During all six years of Irina’s studying at MIPT I have close experience of her academic and
scientific life. Irina has distinguished herself from other students with her persistence and
enthusiasm in achieving her goals. She started work as a Research Assistant at Optics Laboratory
when she was only a second year student. From that time she is constantly involved in research
activities first in the field of Optics and now in the field of Biophysics.

Last year when Irina has changed her specialization to biophysics she started to attend extra-
curriculum lectures and seminars on different topics in biophysics (such as Biophysics of
Membrane Processes, Biochemical Physics, Physical aspects of Biological Processes) at MIPT as
well as at Moscow State University.I must admit that now Irina possesses a unique combination of
solid academic knowledge in physics, chemistry, biology and mathematical methods. During our
discussions of scientific problems Irina revealed maturity, excellent analytical thinking and clarity
of thought. She often proposed original ideas and made outstanding conclusions.

I would also like to mention here Irina’s ability to cooperate with colleagues and her responsibility,
both of which are important for professional success. She is one of the best students whom I have
worked with. I think that her achievements are attributed not only to her aptitude but also to her
perseverance and ambitions. She is active and thorough in research, always goal-oriented.

In summary, Irina distinguished herself as an individual who exhibits an organized, scientific

approach to research, and with a high degree of motivation, innovation and initiative, can
accomplish her goals. Therefore, I evaluate Irina Ivanova as a person with high potential to carry
out an advanced study in the field of biophysics and strongly recommend her for further education
at Biophysics Department of Your University.

Dr. Petr P. Petrov December 11,1999

Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology

Tel. 7(095)555-5555

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 Applicant: Irina I. Ivanova

Recommender: Prof. Petr P. Petrov

I have known Irina Ivanova since 1995. For the past 3 years she was enrolled in a series of
advanced-level courses Advanced Topics in Optics taught by me, consisting of lectures, laboratory
assignments and independent research projects. During those years I have got to know her well
enough to evaluate her outstanding abilities, character and tremendous potential for research
work.

The Advanced Topics course I taught included new theoretical concepts, as well new experimental
techniques, and quite understandably certain parts of the course can be quite challenging for many
students. However, because of her diligent and hard-working approach, she was soon well ahead
of the class. I have to admit that her interesting and often difficult questions, often outside of the
course description, made this experience as challenging for me as it was for my students. Irina has
also proved to possess a knack of experimental technique. In the laboratory she demonstrated the
ability to deal with the problems she came across in experiments in a non-standard way. Her overall
approach to new tasks can be best described as careful and thorough.

Moreover, during the theoretical analysis of experimental work she showed a remarkable talent to
quickly grasp any new concepts and apt at solving problems on paper. Besides, she is simply a
very pleasant person to cooperate and communicate with.

I regard Irina as a very strong student among the top 5% of all the students I have taught during
the last 20 years at Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology (MIPT). Taking into account that
our Institute’s undergraduate enrollment consists of less than 7% of female students, I am
especially glad to see Irina performing so well. I could only wish we had more students with as
much genuine interest in math and sciences as her.

I believe Irina to have excellent prospects of success in a physicist-researcher career and strongly
recommend her to continue her education in the field of Physics at the graduate level at Boston
University.

Prof. Petr P. Petrov

Department of Quantum Radiophysics, MIPT

9 Institutskyi pr., Dolgoprudnyi 141700

Russia

Tel.: (095) 555-55-55

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 Letter of Recommendation for MIPT Alumnus (01/2001)

I have been the Dean of the Department of XX at Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology
(MIPT) for more than fifteen years and have been teaching physics for more than thirty years. I
have known Ivan Ivanov for about two years and a half, beginning with his admission to MIPT. He
was admitted as the second year transfer student from Kiev University due to his outstanding
performance at the entrance exams. Only truly exceptional students are allowed to enter our
Institute in such a way.

During his study at MIPT Ivan confirmed his excellent knowledge and proved to be an outstanding
student. His GPA is 4.0; he is the winner of MIPT students Physics Olympiad. I am sure Ivan
belongs to the top 2% of MIPT students.

Ivan Ivanov started to carry out his own research surprisingly early. He became interested in
nonlinear phenomena during his studies at Kiev University. Under the guidance of Prof. XX he
studied the behavior of Kiyashko-Pikovsky-Rabinovich generator. Results of this work were
presented at several conferences. His work has won All-Russian Student Best Scientific Work
Contest. In addition, I would like to mention his report at the Nonlinear and Quantum Phenomena
section of MIPT Scientific Conference in 1998. In discussions following presentation he revealed
broad background in physics and his arguments were always precise and clear.

Continuing his active participation in research projects Ivan joined Prof. YY’s group that deals with
the information and communication technologies based on dynamical chaos. At that time Ivan was
a third year student although in our Institute students are expected to start their research work only
on the fourth year of study.

Teaching experience is very important for future scientist, and Ivan has an extensive teaching
practice. I know him to be a member of the group that trains Russian International Physics
Olympiad Team and a member of the Board of Russian Physics Olympiads at different levels. In
addition he is a teacher at Phystech-College a high school that provides advanced trainings in
sciences for high school students.

During all these years I have watched Ivan’s personal growth and development, and I know the
tremendous focus he has upon his studies and research. It is my firm belief that his maturity,
initiative, and self-reliance will only lead to success in Graduate school, and that his strength of
character will lead to an outstanding contribution to humanity as physicist.

I enthusiastically recommend Ivan Ivanov for admission to your graduate school.

Petr P. Petrov, D.Sc.

Telegram: @Study2020Canada
 As a member of the Board of the Russian school Physics Olympiad I have known Ivan Ivanov
since 1994, when he was in high school. His prominent knowledge of Physics revealed even then.
He won 2nd diploma at the Russian school Physics Olympiad in 1994 and 1995 that allowed him
to become one of the 16 candidates to, and later one of the members of the Russian team on the
27th IPhO in Oslo, where he was awarded Bronze Medal.

Among other winners of the Russian Olympiad Ivan took part in winter (two weeks) and summer
(a month) sessions of candidates to the team in 1996. The sessions included advanced lectures
on physics. Seminars devoted to theoretical problems and intensive laboratory courses were
alternated with frequent rounds of problem solving contests designed to reduce the number of
candidates from 16 to 5. Even though initially he had been placed sixth in our unofficial rating, his
perseverance, purposefulness and diligence enabled him to enter the final membership of Russian
team. During the time of sessions Ivan showed ability of quick perception of new ideas and using
them in future, high intelligence and capacity for work.

For his great achievements Ivan has been admitted to MIPT without entrance examinations, where
he continued working hard. His grades, despite very high requirements to students, were only
excellent. He was awarded Soros grand and Eximer fellowship (The latter is given only to two
students among 80). He has taken the third prize of Physics Olympiad among first-year students
of MIPT in 1997 and second prize among all students in 1998 and 1999 .

There is an established tradition that students who have won the IPhO in previous years work as
instructors in the sessions of the succeeding IPhO teams. Ivan Ivanov is one of such students.
Being the leader of the training team I highly appreciate Ivan's activity. Of course, guidance and
experience of those who themselves have got through both these sessions and the IPhO are
extremely useful in our work. Ivan has offered numerous theoretical problems and designed
several labs which were used in training of the team. I hope that the time spent for the preparation
of Russian teams gave him an excellent teaching practice.

Also I have to mention Ivan's participation as a member of the Board of the Russian school Physics
Olympiad in 1997. He was responsible for conducting and grading experimental round among 9th-
grade students. He showed great proficiency in managing with both equipment and students.

Working at MIPT for many years I can compare Ivan's abilities with those of other MIPT students.
For the last 7 years I have been knowing several students like Ivan quite well. For example XX and
XX (now they are graduate students at MIT), XX, XX and XX (Harvard), XX (Cornell), XX (Yale),
XX (Princeton). All of them participated in the USSR Physics Olympiad and IPhO brilliantly, had
extremely high intelligence, persistence and potential for future scientific work. I think that Ivan
Ivanov and these students belong to the top 2% of MIPT students.

I'm deeply convinced that students displaying such talents as Ivan's, are able to study at graduate
level successfully. Thus I strongly recommend Ivan Ivanov for further education at your university.

Sincerely,

Dr. Petr P. Petrov

Professor of Physics,

Recommendation letter

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 for Ivan Ivanov

I work in Molecular Luminescence group of P.N.Lebedev Physical Institute since 1994. Ivan Ivanov
works in our group since May 1997, so I know him for 3.5 years. He works under my guidance
under experimental investigation of J-aggregates luminescent properties and this is about a half of
his work in the laboratory. We talk often not only about the research and I know him well.

Ivan is an assiduous, hard-working student. His background in optics, general physics and
mathematics is very high. He easily learns new material and can answer a posed question very
quickly. He is responsible and can work independently.

His work in the laboratory was very fruitful. He became familiar with various experimental
techniques. Particularly he has a lot of experience in steady-state absorption and luminescence
spectroscopy, sub-nanosecond time-resolved luminescence measurements, deposition of LB and
spin-coating films of organic materials. This year Ivan gains an experience in Near Field
Microscopy and in operating with helium cryostat. As a result he became a co-author of two
published articles and one article in progress.

To his shortcomings I can ascribe some haste in the work resulting sometimes in inaccuracy. I
think his forthcoming work under Ph.D. thesis will help him to improve this. It is maybe concerned
with his aspiration to do too much work per day.

About his English I can mention that it is rather well. Ivan express thought in English easily both in
written and oral form. He worked for a month in a research lab of the Catholic University of Leuven,
Belgium speaking only in English and had no difficulties in communication.

As a whole I rank Ivan very high. I cannot compare him with the students of his group but I can
approximately compare him with the students of his department of MIPT, which I also finished. I
think he is comparable to the best students of the department.

I recommend him for admission and think he will be successful in the Ph.D. program of your
university.

Dr. Petr P. Petrov,

Senior Researcher

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 Letter of Recommendation for MIPT Alumnus (01/2000)

The Physics Student admitted to Berkeley, Cornell, Caltech

Applicant: Ivanov Ivan

Recommender: Prof. Petr P. Petrov

I am pleased to give my recommendations for Ivan Ivanov. I am the head of the laboratory of
superconductivity in the Institute of Solid State Physics (ISSP) RAS. Ivan has worked under my
guidance as a part-time research assistant for the last year, therefore I know him rather well to
evaluate his talents.

When I introduced Ivan in the field of Josephson junctions, SNS and SFS contacts I am dealing
with, he demonstrated extensive academic background, ability to grasp new difficult concepts
quickly and express them in simple words. In our discussions Ivan showed maturity along with
power in defending his opinion, but he was also careful for my arguments. His intelligence and
urgent zeal for knowledge enabled him to gain profound understanding of the subject and join our
research.

Facilities in the laboratory are modern complex devices. I was surprised when Ivan has learnt in
short time how to handle with them, that means operating with cryostats and insertions, SQUID
devices and LOCK-IN amplifier, current sources, voltmeters and many others. He has also learnt
data handling on a computer using program Origin 4.1

In conducting of experiments and data processing Ivan is active and goal-oriented, he reveals
diligence and accuracy along with satisfaction of his work. He has obtained valuable experience
with handling of present-day equipment and has learnt very much about work of physicist-
researcher. Ivan has already made remarkable contribution in our research. He independently has
mounted several samples (CuNi thin films) on the cryogenic dipstick and made some
measurements. Data, he has obtained, related -phase state in Josephson -junction will be
reported soon.

I must mention Ivan's proficiency in English. All materials I gave him to study (articles from different
scientific journals, proceedings of conferences etc.) were written in English. He has no difficulties
with understanding such papers. Also he easily communicated with guests from other countries,
demonstrating his abilities in spoken English.

Seeing his serious yearning for further education, persistence and striving for purposes I think that
he will realize his huge potential and inevitably obtain excellent results in his future scientific career.
I also believe that it will be very beneficial for both your university and Ivan to continue his education
in your graduate program. Thus I strongly recommend him for admission.

Sincerely yours,

Prof. Petr P. Petrov, Dr. Sc.

Head of the laboratory of superconductivity,

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 Letter of Recommendation for MIPT Alumnus (01/2002)

The Physics Student admitted to Harvard

LETTER OF RECOMMENDATION.

Applicant: Ivan Ivanov

Recommender: Prof. Petr P. Petrov

I have known Ivan Ivanov for two years. Being a second-year student he attended my lectures on
Electromagnetic Field Theory and in the next academic year - lectures on Quantum Mechanics I.
While he was studying my course I was surprised of his remarkable abilities of learning and
grasping the essence of new ideas. Several times we discussed problems beyond the scope of
my courses, and Ivan demonstrated proficiency in this areas, as well as strong analytical abilities.
Upon completing each course of lectures I examined him. In both exams Ivan showed deep
understanding of the subject and I gave him excellent marks.

Year ago Ivan seriously decided to involve himself in theoretical physics. He was determined to
join Landau Institute theory group, where he could be engaged in studying any field of theoretical
physics most effectively. This group is not an ordinary one. The point is that from very beginning
every undergraduate student is attached to a certain department (at the Faculty of General and
Applied Physics) but he can rather easily change the department. But enrolment in Landau
Institute theory group is based on the results of special examination, called Landau Theoretical
Minimum. It requires knowledge of some material which is not included in the curriculum and
therefore had to be studied by Ivan himself. As the number of vacancies is much fewer than the
number of students who wish to join the group the contention is really competitive: most students
fail to pass the examination although they have enough knowledge to receive excellent marks
at the ordinary exams in theoretical physics. By now Ivan have passed Theoretical Minimum
exams in Field Theory (Electromagnetic and Gravitational) and Quantum mechanics. That Ivan
passed them successfully characterizes him as a person who has great will and the potential to
study theory in physics.

Taking all this into account, I consider Ivan as one of the best students I know and enthusiastically
recommend him for graduate study at Your University.

Yours sincerely,

P.P. Petrov 19/11/01

Corresponding member of

Russian Academy of Sciences

Letter of Recommendation for MIPT Alumnus (01/2000)

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 The Physics Student admitted to Boston University, Rutgers, PennState

Applicant’s Name: Irina I. Ivanova

Recommender’s Name: Prof. Petr P. Petrov

I know Irina Ivanova for more than 4 years. I have been her teacher on General Physics during 2
years and also supervised Irina’s work on a program of experimental preparation in General
Physics Laboratory of Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology (MIPT). Since our first
seminars I was surprised by Irina’s great and unweakening interest in physics. She is actively
interested in contemporaneous problems of physics, problems in applied mathematics and also
has obvious inclination to experimental work. Irina works independently a lot, she is very
disciplinary and can easily communicate with her colleagues. From my point of view, she is well
oriented in physical models, can clearly formulate conditions of physical problems and interesting
for her questions in the problem. Due to her clarity of thought Irina can readily explain her ideas to
the listeners.

Irina is spending a lot of time on optional work in physical laboratory of MIPT. By her own initiative
she carried out two experimental works in my laboratory. During one semester of her 3rd year of
studies she assembled and tuned an optical interferometer for measuring coherent characteristics
of light fields whereby I managed to create a new laboratory work for MIPT students. With the help
of this interferometer she measured coherent characteristics of the laser and thermal sources of
light. During next semester Irina was engaged in experimental research of optical pumping of
neodim glass. I should emphasize here that she is very accurate and diligent in her experimental
work as well as in treating the results.

I am absolutely sure that Irina is ready for the graduate work. I strongly recommend her as a
Research Associate as well as Teaching Assistant for graduate study at your Institution.

Sincerely,

Petr P. Petrov

Ass. Professor

MIPT, Institutsky pr., 9

Letter of Recommendation for MIPT Alumnus (01/2002)

The Physics Student admitted to Harvard

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 November 16, 2001

Applicant: Ivan Ivanov

I have been the Dean of the XX (XX) at Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology (MIPT) for
more than fifteen years and have been teaching physics for more than thirty years. I have known
Ivan Ivanov for about four years and a half since his successful admission to our department. He
was admitted without entrance exams due to his exceptional performance at the entrance interview
and his winning a gold medal at the International Physics Olympiad in Iceland, 1998.

I have been communicating with him on different subjects during all this time. Ivan indeed became
one of the best students at our institute. To prove the fact I can mention his outstanding results in
MIPT students Physics Olympiads. Though studying at our University is hard enough, his GPA is
4.0. Being the Head of the State Examination Board at 3rd year students’ Final Exam on General
Physics, I highly appreciated Ivan’s prominent knowledge of the subject.

After completion of this Exam every student can apply to Landau Institute for advanced study of
Theoretical Physics. To enter this Institute one should pass Landau Theoretical Minimum exam in
Quantum Mechanics, based on Landau Theoretical Physics course. Only few students are capable
of this, and Ivan was one of them. He passed all necessary exams half a year prior to deadline,
and began to attend lectures on Quantum Field Theory and Nonlinear Hydrodynamics, being a
third-year student. Recently I discussed Ivan’s progress with head of his department and my
perception of Ivan as a hardworking and highly motivated person has confirmed.

Teaching experience is very important for future scientist, and Ivan has an extensive teaching
practice. I know him to be a member of the group that trains Russian International Physics
Olympiad Team and a member of the Board of Russian Physics Olympiads at different levels.

During all these years I have watched Ivan’s personal growth and development, and I know the
tremendous focus he has upon his studies and research. It is my firm belief that his maturity,
initiative, and self-reliance will only lead to success in Graduate school, and that his strength of
character will lead to an outstanding contribution to humanity as physicist. I am sure Ivan belongs
to the top 2% of MIPT students.

I enthusiastically recommend Ivan Ivanov for admission to your University.

Sincerely yours,

Petr P. Petrov

Letter of Recommendation for MIPT Alumnus (01/1999)

The Physics Student admitted to Berkeley, Caltech, Cornell

Letter of Recommendation

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 Applicant: Ivanov Ivan Ivanovich

Recommender: Dr. Petr P. Petrov

I am pleased to give my recommendation for Ivan Ivanov. I have known him since 1996 when he
began to attend my lectures and seminars on the analysis of experimental data. This two-semester
course involves use of complex mathematical formalism such as functional analysis and is
generally hard to understand for the first time. Only in his second year of studies, Ivan has
demonstrated an excellent knowledge of advanced mathematical methods and proved to have a
good receptiveness. He gained a profound understanding of the subject and, moreover, studied
independently one of the covered topics, wavelet analysis, in full.

After this course he showed an interest in the topic of research I am engaged in. Due to a good
well-rounded education it was not difficult for Ivan to study a rather large amount of literature on
this topic. Therefore, since May 1998 Ivan has taken part in the research of muonium formation in
liquid helium. He is responsible for computer modeling and data processing of the results of
experiments carried out at the muon factory of Paul Scherrer Institute by our collaborator
E.P.Krasnoperov (Kurchatov Institute) et al. Currently Ivan is working on the simulations of charges
motion in liquid helium under the influence of external field and his assistance is truly
indispensable.

After reviewing our joint research activity I affirm that he has a high capacity for work and that his
conclusions are very original. In scientific discussions Ivan reveals maturity, defends well his
convictions, though he also pays an attention to my arguments. For instance, recently he proposed
and applied very original solution to one of the problems, which had arisen in computer modeling
of muonium formation.

Also a credit to Ivan are his ability to cooperate with colleagues and his responsibility, both of which
are important for professional success. He is one of the best students whom I have worked with. I
think that his achievements in physics are attributed not only to his aptitude but also to his
perseverance and ambitions. He is active and thorough in research, always goal-oriented. I should
also mention a very high level of Ivan's English proficiency.

Therefore, I evaluate Ivan Ivanov as a person with high potential to carry on an advanced study in
the field of Physics and strongly recommend him for further education at the Physics department
of University.

Petr P. Petrov, D.Sc. 12/08/98

Associate Professor of Physics, Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology

Senior scientist, Head of the Computing Department,

Tel. 7(095)555-5555

Letter of Recommendation for MIPT Alumnus (01/1999)

The Physics Student admitted to Urbana

Telegram: @Study2020Canada
 Applicant: Ivan Ivanov

I’m very pleased to write some words about Ivan Frolov. For almost two years he has been taking
a course of intensive study at the Institute of Solid State Physics, Chernogolovka. Under guidance
of me and my colleagues Ivan attended lectures on fundamentals of solid state physics, performed
laboratory practice on x-ray analysis and high-pressure physics, participated in colloquium on
experimental physics, where he has made several repots on low-temperature techniques.

I have early noticed Ivan’s great interest in superconductors. During the observational lecture on
this topic he asked many questions and expressed his wish to become more familiar with theory
of superconductivity. I gave him advanced literature, including Schmidt’s Superconductivity
textbook, edited by our laboratory. In our conversation he showed excellent knowledge of
Josephson junctions and vortex lattices. So I can affirm his high-level skills in the subject.

I must also mention Ivan’s experience in computer science. Here is the example. It was necessary
for us to obtain Fourier of SEM pictures. Ivan easily solved this problem of data processing,
including Fast Fourier Transformation of an image, low-pass filtering etc. The program written by
Ivan has friendly interface and is very suitable for us.

At the moment Ivan is busy with the project of STM construction at XX laboratory. I believe this
task will be very useful for Ivan. It will allow him to look inside real laboratory devices, to sense the
newest scientific technology by his own hands.

In the nearest future we are planning to use new microscope for more efficient imaging of vortex
lattices in superconductors. Thus, Ivan’s interest for superconductivity as a pure science and his
technical experience will be unified. No doubt, being able to manage with such a complex and
embracing project is Ivan’s important benefit.

That’s why I strongly recommend him for graduate study at your University.

Sincerely Yours,

Prof. Petr P. Petrov,

Institute of Solid State Physics

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 Letter of Recommendation for MIPT Alumnus (01/1997)

The Physics Student

I am pleased to offer this letter of recommendation for Mr. Ivan Ivanov, who has applied for
admission to Your Graduate Program. I got to know Ivan Ivanov in September, 1992. I taught him
course of General Physics.From 1993 I began to give labs and seminars in his group.

I may say that I was surprised by his very high level both in theoretical physics and corresponding
mathematical formalism. His ability to analyze difficult physical problems are outstanding. He is
known as a student who can generate his own original and unusual ideas. Ivan Ivanov was
awarded a lot of grants for his excellent study, such as Landaw's grant (1993) and President's
grant (1994). I think that such strong characteristics as his high intellectual potential, perseverance
and his excellent ability to work independently is the serious motivation to be successful as a
graduate student.

His potential as a teacher is also very high. When he was a first-year student he worked at the
College of Physics and Mathematics attached to MIPT. Undoubtedly he is one of the best students
at his educational level I have ever known. His general all-around academic ability is truly
exceptional. Ivan has clear vision of his educational goals. His interests lie in the field of state solid
body where he studies now in Chernogolovka in the Institute of State Solid Physics. I understand
Ivan's intention to continue his education in Your University. He demonstrated a good
communication skills outstanding candidate for your graduate school.

I strongly recommend Ivanov Ivan for Doctoral Program in Physics. I am sure that he is able to get
the advanced study in physics and achieve successful results in his professional career. This
opinion is based on my deep knowledge of this person. I believe that graduate study at Your
University will greatly enrich applicant's knowledge of physics and help him in his further scientific
life.

Sincerely yours,

Petr P. Petrov

Professor of Physics,

Department of General and Applied Physics,

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 Letter of Recommendation for MIPT Alumnus (01/1999)

The Physics Student admitted to Berkeley, Caltech, Cornell

Applicant: Ivanov Ivan Ivanovich

I know Ivan Ivanov as a student of MIPT who has been following his research assistantship
program at the Institute for Physical Problems since 1997. He participated in my colloquia on
Experimental Low Temperature Physics for half a year and attended a course of lectures on
Advanced Statistical Physics this year.

Considering our collaboration at the colloquia I should point out his excellent analytical thinking,
strong mathematical skills and clarity of thoughts. His brilliant report on the contemporary problems
in nuclear fusion has revealed his ability to grasp concepts that were unknown to him quickly and
to explain them clearly. All these qualities helped him to succeed in the study of Advanced
Statistical Physics and other theoretical courses. However, I have to mention that sometimes he
is unsatisfied with himself and some lack of self-confidence arises from it. But I think this is not an
obstacle to his development and, on the contrary, a kind of his motive power.

This spring Ivan became involved into research connected with the behavior of charges in liquid
helium. The results of this work he has reported recently at the Low Temperature Physics section
of MIPT Scientific Conference, being held at our Institute. He took an active part in subsequent
discussions vividly expressing his thoughts at the top level.

I know Ivan as a teacher of physics at Phystech-College a high school intended to help schoolboys
in studying the sciences at high level. This position is highly competitive, as only a few students
are allowed to work there along with professional tutors. Thus, his potential as a teacher is also
rather high.

From our discussions concerning his plans I could conclude that Ivan has a strong motivation
towards career in physics. He is able to carry out an independent research and definitely has a
promise of professional success. Undoubtedly Ivan is one of the best students at his educational
level I have ever known. His overall skills are similar to that of Sergey Dzhosuk who is now a
graduate student at Harvard University. I strongly recommend Ivan Ivanov for graduate studies
toward Ph.D. degree at your university.

Petr P. Petrov, D.Sc. 12/04/98

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 Letter of Recommendation for MIPT Alumnus (01/1997)

The Physics Student admitted to NYSU Stony Brook, OSU, UMN

Recommender's name: Petr P. Petrov

Applicant's Name: Ivan I. Ivanov

I know Ivan Ivanov for more than 2 years. He works in my seminar on general physics. Under my
guidance he performs the program of experimental training at the laboratory of the chair of general
physics at Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology (MIPT). Ivan's outstanding mental abilities
and inclination to work in the realm of physical-mathematical science revealed very early . He was
the member of the Ukrainian Team at International Physics Olympiad, Pekin, China. I think that
physics for Ivan is not only rightly chosen field of applying his faculty but also deep passion. He
never accepts superficial familiarization with phenomena , enjoys experimentalize , always
proposes other original physical models, pays close attention to their contradictories.

Ivan's marks on physical-mathematical courses only excellent , he repeatedly won students

physical Olympiads. Ivan is self-disciplined, he easily comes in contact with students and
instructors. In scientific discussions Ivan revealed maturity along with power in defending his
opinion, but he was also careful for opponent's arguments.

I can emphasize very unordinary Ivan's report with original description of the systems of quantum
oscillators, that Ivan made by his own initiative.

To my mind, Ivan's potential and abilities are close to those of your graduate student XX who was
the group mate of Ivan and entered Urbana last year.

I am sure that it would be very helpful for Ivan to continue his education at your University.

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 Letter of Recommendation for MIPT Alumnus (01/1997)

The Physics Student

LETTER OF RECOMMENDATION

I am writing to you on behalf of Ivan Ivanov. I have known Ivan Ivanov in February of 1992.He has
been studying at Faculty of General and Applied Physics of Moscow Institute of Physics and
Technology since September of 1992. I am a professor of mathematics and Ivan has attended my
lectures and seminars throughout 1992-1994. So I feel quite capable of evaluating his mathematics
abilities as well as comparing him with other students.

For years of his study at MIPT Ivan proved himself to be a talent student. While he was studying
my course I was surprised of his remarkable abilities of learning and his extensive knowledge of
mathematics . It is worth saying that Ivan Ivanov studies rather hard (he has only excellent marks
in last four terms, in Russia-fives). Knowing MIPT for many years I may consider that as further
indication that Ivan has indeed worked very hard . I think that his achievements in physics should
be attributed not only to his talent in physics but also to his outstanding knowledge of mathematical
sciences.

Thanks to his talent and persistence, I am sure that Ivan is one of my best students I have ever
known. This opinion is based on my deep knowing that person. I strongly recommend the applicant
for Doctoral Program in Physics because I am really sure that Ivan Ivanov is an outstanding
candidate for Your graduate school. I think that his stay at Your University as a graduate student
will be very useful for his scientific career and you will raise a good physicist.

Sincerely yours,

Petr P. Petrov

Professor of Mathematics ,

The Member of the American Science Society.

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 Letter of Recommendation for MIPT Alumnus (01/1999)

The Physics Student admitted to Berkeley, Caltech, Cornell

Applicant: Ivanov Ivan Ivanovich

I have been teaching physics for 5 years and have advised approximately X students. Also I have
been a leader of the Ukrainian International Physics Olympiad team since the time of its formation.
I have known Ivan Ivanov for 5 years, beginning with his outstanding participation in the Ukrainian
Physics Olympiad in 1994. That year he was the only ninth grade student who was invited to the
summer session of the Ukrainian IPhO team, which usually consists of the 11th grade students.

During the next two years he attended my classes on solving olympiad-type physics problems,
which are more advanced than those of the high school level. At these classes Ivan demonstrated
remarkable analytical skills and creativity, extraordinary for the person of his age. Due to these
qualities and because of persistency in achieving his goals, Ivan was a two-time member of the
Ukrainian IPhO team, which consists of 5 the most talented high school students in the Ukraine
and successfully participated in IPhOs.

Familiar with his ability to explain complex physical concepts in simple words and constant desire
to share his knowledge with others, I was not surprised by the fact that in the 11th grade Ivan
arranged physics tutorials for the 9th grade students. Unusually for high school students, Ivan has
become my colleague in work with talented high-school students and we collaborated for a year.

Solving many hard physical problems is necessary but not sufficient for future success in physics.
During his last year of high school Ivan began a more thorough study of problems that were
especially interesting to him, thus demonstrating understanding of what it takes to become a great
physicist and exhibiting maturity for research. Under the guidance of my colleague he studied the
behavior of solitons in nonlinear models of atomic lattices using computer simulations. He reported
the results at several physics conferences.

I should add here that Ivan demonstrated surprising fluency in English during our stay at the IPhOs
in Australia and Norway. He communicated easily with participants from other countries and made
many friends. As I know he reads and writes in English very well.

Besides, I have discussed with Ivan his recent research at the Institute for Physical Problems and
his studies at MIPT. My knowledge of Ivan as a hard working and highly motivated person has
confirmed. I am confident that he will realize his huge potential and grow into a prominent physicist.

I have no doubt that Ivan is qualified to study at the graduate level successfully and highly
recommend him for admission to

Petr P. Petrov, D.Sc. 12/05/98

Professor, Head of the Theoretical Physics Division

Physics Department, Kiev National University

Letter of Recommendation for MIPT Alumnus (01/1997)

The Physics Student admitted to Cornell

Applicant's name: Ivan Ivanov

Telegram: @Study2020Canada
 Recommender's name: Petr P. Petrov

As a member of the Board of the USSR student Physics Olympiad I have known Ivan Ivanov since
1991, when he was in high school. His prominent knowledge of Physics revealed even then. Ivan
won the First Diploma at the USSR olympiad in 1991 and in 1992 and got a special award for the
best experimental score in 1992. He participated in the two International Physics Olympiad (IPhO)
in Finland and in Williamsburg, VA and was awarded silver medals there.

Ivan entered Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology. Studying at the Institute is very hard
but Ivan became one of the top students even here. He has got only highest grades on all subjects,
thus his GPA is 4.0 so far. For such excellence in studies Ivan was awarded Lebedev Physical
Institute and "Eximer" Fellowships. Both Fellowships are awarded to 2 students among the Faculty
of some 80 students. He was also awarded Soros student grant. I believe that with his persistence
and capacity Ivan will maintain the way he started.

Every year a small group of students and MIPT professors conduct winter and summer sessions
of the Russian IPhO team. The aim of the sessions is to select and to train the team of 5 students.
Being the leader of the training teem I highly appreciate Ivan's activity. Of course, guidance and
experience of those who themselves have got through both these sessions and the IPhO are
extremely useful in our work. Students invent problems to solve, give seminars, laboratory classes
and examine schoolboys' knowledge of physics. I highly appreciate Ivan's activity as a member of
our group and hope that the time spent for the preparation of our team gave him an excellent
teaching practice.

Working at MIPT for many years I can compare Ivan's abilities with those of other MIPT students.
For the last 5 years I have been knowing several students like Ivan quite well. For example XX and
XX (both are graduate students at Harvard now), XX and XX (they are graduate students at MIT),
XX (now he is a graduate student at Yale), XX (he is a graduate student at Prinston), XX (he is a
graduate student at Rochester). All of them participated in the USSR Physics Olympiad and IPhO
brilliantly, and used to work as instructors in the sessions of the previous IPhO teams.

I think all of them (including Ivan Ivanov) belong to the top 2% of MIPT students. Those listed
above are, of course, very different and everyone of them is unordinary person in his own way.
Still they have one feature in common - it is their independent, maybe sometimes erratic way of
study. Due to this feature their knowledge of physics is often far greater than it is required by
Department of General Physics at MIPT. For example XX and XX were offered graduate admission
by several U.S. universities while being in their second year of studies at MIPT.

I have no doubts that Ivan is able to study at the Graduate level successfully .

Dr. Petr P. Petrov

Professor of Physics,

Deputy Chairman of General Physics Chair,

Letter of Recommendation for MIPT Alumnus (01/1997)

The Physics Student

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 LETTER OF RECOMMENDATION

I am pleased to offer this letter of recommendation for Mr. Ivan Y. Ivanov to support his application.
I got to know Ivan Ivanov in September 1994, when I began to give labs in general physics to his
group. While studying my course Ivan revealed a very high level of experimental and theoretical
skills. During our joint discussions on various problems in physics Ivan showed good knowledge
of general physics and applied mathematics. Ivan posses a remarkable ability of grasping new
ideas and putting them into plain words.

Since I was the supervisor of the laboratory work of the group , I can also evaluate his experimental
skills . Ivan demonstrated very accurate performance of physical experiment. While preparing for
laboratory works , Ivan often had to self-study and used a big amount of addition literature. I think
that Ivan Ivanov shows a deep understanding of Physics because he has both an excellent ability
to learn subject very carefully and ,I believe, an outstanding ability of creating his own ideas and
analyze difficult problems.

It is not a secret that while he was a schoolboy he was a repeated winner of physical and
mathematical Olympiads such as Ukrainian Physics Olympiad ( the first place in 1990,1991,
1992,1993) ; International Tournament of Physics ( 1990 ); International Tournament of
Mathematics ( the first place in 1989, the second place in 1990).

As recommender , I consider the applicant as gifted and promising student. Ivan Ivanov is
comparable with my best students of previous years . I highly recommend him for a program
leading to the PhD degree . I am sure that the applicant will successfully accomplish a program of
graduate study. The transfer to Your University, I believe, would not be difficult for him. I think that
study at Your University will be useful for Ivan Ivanov, and you will have good graduate student.

Sincerely yours,

Maria M. Petrova

Professor of Physics,

Department of General and Applied Physics,

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 Letter of Recommendation for MIPT Alumnus (01/1996)

The Physics Student admitted to Rochester University, Rice University, etc.

Letter of Recommendation.

Applicant's name : Ivan Ivanov

As the member of the Board of the USSR schoolboy Physics Olympiad I have known Ivan Ivanov
since 1991 when he won the Second Diploma at the final stage of that Olympiad. In 1992 Ivan won
the First Diploma and got a special award for the best experimental score. In 1993 Ivan participated
in the International Physics Olympiad (IPhO), Williamsburg, VA and was awarded Silver Medal
there.

Every year a small group of students and MIPT professors conducts winter and summer sessions
of the Russian IPhO team. The aim of the sessions is to select and to train upon selection the team
of 5 schoolboys. Of course, guidance and experience of those who themselves have got through
both these sessions and the IPhO is extremely useful in our work. These students invent problems
to solve, give seminars, laboratory classes and examine schoolboys' knowledge of physics. I highly
appreciate Ivan's activity as a member of our group and hope that the time spent on the preparation
of our team gave him an excellent teaching practice.

I would like to pay your attention to Ivan's remarkable scholastic ability. His GPA is 4.0 (it means
Oleg has got only "excellent" grades) and I am sure that he will be able to keep on in the way he
started. For his excellence in studies Ivan was awarded Fellowship of FIAN (Lebedev Physical
Institute, Moscow) and "Eximer" Fellowship. Both Fellowships are awarded to 2 students out of 83
undergraduates of the Department.

Working at MIPT for many years I can compare Ivan's abilities with those of other MIPT students.
For the last 5 years I have been closely working with several students like Oleg. For example, XX
and XX (both are graduate students at Harvard now), XX (now he is a graduate student at MIT),
XX (now he is a graduate student at Yale) and XX (he is a graduate student at Rice). All of them
participated in the USSR Physics Olympiad and IPhO brilliantly, and used to work as instructors in
the sessions of the previous IPhO team. In my opinion all of them (including Ivan Ivanov) belong
to the top 2% of MIPT students.

Those listed above are, of course, very different and everyone of them is unordinary person in his
own way. Still they have one feature in common - it is their independent, maybe sometimes erratic
way of study. Due to this feature their knowledge of physics is often far greater than it is required
by Department of General Physics at MIPT. For example, XX was offered graduate admission by
several U.S. universities while being in his second year of studies at MIPT.

I have no doubts that Ivan is able to study at the Graduate level successfully .

Dr. Pert P. Petrov

Professor of Physics,

Letter of Recommendation for MIPT Alumnus (01/1994)

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 The Physics Student

Letter of Recommendation

Ivan Ivanov entered the section of Elementary Particles, which is charged to me, at the Institute of
Theoretical and Experimental Physics about two years ago. A closer acquaintance with him was
made last winter when he had passed special exam, given by ITEP for the students who are going
to work in theoretical physics.

The exam consists in solving quantum physics problems, including rather difficult ones, which are
similar to those, arising from everyday theoretical work of scientist. Mr. Ivanov demonstrated
profound understanding of underlying physical phenomena, good skill in using mathematical
methods and ability to represent his results at high scientific level.

Now Ivan attends my lectures and seminars on Quantum Field Theory. He copes with the subject
very well and shows clear comprehension of the theory structure along with aptitude for solving
problems.

Concerning Ivan's relative standing, I consider him as the best one in his group of 19 MPTI
students. He have worked a lot at theoretical laboratory of ITEP during half a year and has
produced interesting results which will be published in leading scientific European journal. He
works productively and intensively.

Therefore, I evaluate Ivan Ivanov as a person having a high potential to carry on advanced study
in the field of Theoretical High Energy Physics and strongly recommend him for further education
at the department of Phisics.

Prof. Petr P. Petrov

Principal Scientific Researcher

Institute of Theoretical and Experimental Physics,

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 Letter of Recommendation for MIPT Alumnus (01/1995)

The Physics Student admitted to Harvard University

Ivan Ivanov is third-year student at Moscow institute of Physics and Technology (MIPT). I have
known him for more than two years. I am an assistant professor at MIPT and he has attended my
seminars throughout 1991-92 and 1992-93. So I feel quite capable of evaluating his physics
abilities as well as comparing him with other MIPT students.

Ivan Ivanov demonstrated his aptitude for physics rather early. He has won the USSR Physics
schoolboy Olympiad many times. Ivan is the winner ( gold medal ) of the XXII International Physics
Olympiad (1991, Havana, Cuba). He also has won the first prize in the MIPT student Physics
Olympiad in the first year of his study at MIPT. For the years of his study at MIPT he followed some
additional courses in his major field of study (physics) (i.e.. Physics of Crystals ) and also in some
related fields. I think these courses will be very useful for him. It is worth to mention that Ivan
studies hard, he has only excellent marks, "fives" in Russian system. During our joint discussions
on various problems in physics he showed good knowledge of general physics, theoretical physics
and mathematics. He possesses a remarkable ability of grasping new ideas quickly and putting
them into plain words.

As far as I now Ivan's knowledge of English was that of an average Russian first-year student when
he was admitted to MIPT in 1991, i.e. he could hardly read and speak. Now he reads original
English books and speaks English quite fluently. Knowing MIPT for many years I may consider
that as further indication that Ivan has indeed worked very hard. I think that his achievements in
physics should be attributed not only to his aptitude but also to his perseverance and ambitions.
Unfortunately, sometimes I find him a little bit stubborn and unwilling to change his mind, but this
can be easily attributed to quite common youth extremism.

I evaluate Ivan Ivanov as one of my best students ( top 5% of the whole of about 200 students this
year ). Considering Ivan's abilities , I am confident he can study successfully at the graduate level.
I strongly recommend Ivan Ivanov for the graduate study in Physics at the University of Chicago.

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 I have been the leader of the USSR Physics Olympiad Team for several years. I have known Ivan
Ivanov for almost 4 years. In 1991, being only 15 years old Ivan won the USSR Physics Olympiad
and was invited to the winter (2 weeks) and summer (one month) sessions of the USSR IPhO
team. We usually invite to the sessions 15 candidates who are seniors in High School (i.e. 16-17
year-old students). Ivan being a junior competed in a year higher rank so we invited him also. The
sessions included lectures on advanced topics in physics as well as seminars, devoted to
theoretical problems and intense lab courses. The sessions also contained frequent rounds of
problem solving contests designed to reduce the number of candidates. Ivan has managed to enter
the final list of 7 students. He participated in 1993 IPhO as a member of Ukrainian team. His silver
medal confirmed his outstanding knowledge of physics.

In 1993 Ivan entered Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology (MIPT). It is worth mentioning
that he was accepted without any entrance examinations, while the competition for the entrance is
always very keen at MIPT. As a freshman at MIPT Ivan has used his leisure time efficiently: he
studied Quantum Physics and Functions of Complex Variable Theory. We have often discussed
which books he should read and clarified difficult questions, if they had arisen.

I should especially mention the feature of Ivan, which stimulates him in his studies - Ivan is
extremely curious person. He has a habit of asking himself (and others) how the things work. One
of the results of his searches is that Ivan is an author of 5 original problems, published in "Kvant"
magazine. We (editors) annually choose 60 such problems.

During past two years Ivan has worked as an instructor of the IPhO sessions (training group
consists of 4 students and 4 professors) and as a member of Soros Physics Olympiad Organizing
Committee (committee consists of 5 students and 2 professors). I am sure that Ivan has acquired
all the basic skills needed for work as a Teaching Assistant.

I am convinced that much of a student's success is determined by the way he used to study before
entering university. According to my observations, one who used to study ahead of others in school
rarely fails to do so afterwards. Ivan is not an exception to this rule. As a professor at Moscow
State University (MSU), I am acquainted with students from both MSU and MIPT and I can say
with confidence that Ivan Ivanov is one of the best students I have ever known.

I would like to tell a few words about some specific features of MIPT education. MIPT has close
relations with the leading Russian research Institutes. The program of study is designed so that
students are given all the basic undergraduate courses in their first 2-2.5 years of study. During
the 6th semester of their studies students are expected to start their own scientific researches in
the chosen field of physics. From my point of view the program is overloaded with physics and
math, despite the obvious lack of humanities. However the main purpose of MIPT is to prepare
well qualified specialists in physics - is being accomplished perfectly.

Taking into account my knowledge of Ivan Ivanov as a brilliant, industrious and intelligent student
I feel confident about his ability to realize his undoubtfully huge potential.

I highly recommend Ivan Ivanov for graduate study at ... University.

Faithfully yours,

Petr Petrov

Letter of Recommendation for MIPT Alumnus (01/1993)

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 The Physics Student

Dear Sir/Madam,

I know Ivan Ivanov, who asked me to write in his behalf, since September 1991. In 1991/1992
academic year I gave a course of lectures on electronics in his department and also supervised
his laboratory work on the subject. Although my acquaintance with Ivan wasn't too long, it was so
close that I could well estimate his character and ability.

Ivan proved himself to be a very strong student. He showed his ability to learn quickly new
concepts. The subject I taught was apparently an unusual and uncomfortable one for him at first
but he managed with it very successfully for he organized and pursued his studies effectively and
diligently. He is apt at solving problems on paper, besides Ivan possesses the knack of
experimental work. In laboratory Ivan often demonstrated his ability to deal with the problems he
encountered in experiments in non-standard way. His approach to his tasks can be best described
as thorough and attentive. Such important for career success qualities as feeling of responsibility
and ability to cooperate with people are also a credit to him. Ivan's knowledge of English is very
good and certainly cannot create an obstacle to his studies in the USA.

By and large, I believe that Ivan Ivanov has excellent prospects of success and strongly
recommend him for graduate standing at the Department of Physics and Astronomy of Dartmouth
College.

Sincerely yours,

Petr P. Petrov,

Associate Professor

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 Letter of Recommendation for MIPT Alumnus (01/1992)

The Physics Student admitted to Harvard University

Evaluation for admission.

Applicant's name Ivan Ivanovich Ivanov

The MPTI's students acquire grounds of physics and mathematics at Alma Mater for 2.5-3 years.
Then they continue training at Research Institutes where they participate in practical work of
Laboratories and specialize in some particular area of modern Physics. Kurchatov Institute for
Atomic Energy is a place where some students have a practical work in experimental and
theoretical physics.

Student Ivan Ivanov is working at Low Temperature Physics Lab one day a week during 6 month.
This is adaptation period when one becomes to be acquainted with experimental work and
equipment. The circle of problems at the Lab is relatively wide:

-muon research of quantum crystals and liquids;

-electron kinetics and thermodynamics of HTS in strong

Mr.Ivanov was proposed to take part in the investigation of dielectric constant of the La2CuO4
single crystal in the vicinity of metamagnet transition where conductivity doubles. Is there a change
of it at metamagnet transition or not? It is very important to know from the theoretical point of view.

I believe that by spring 1992 Ivan Ivanov will have interesting results for publication, his good
grounding permits me to think so.

Dr. P. Petrov

Head of LTPL

Tel. (095)555-5555

Fax. (095)555-5555

E-mail [email protected]

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 Letter of Recommendation for MIPT Alumnus (01/1996)

The Physics Student admitted to Rochester University, Rice University, etc.

Dr. Petrov P. P.

Head of the Department of Molecular Photoelectronics,

Evaluation.

I have known Ivan Ivanov since 1992, when he started his studies at our Institute. Ivan was
interested in Liquid Crystals (LC) and various optical phenomena, which occur in them. I was rather
surprised to see such a zeal for knowledge , because Ivan was only 16 then. Later I have realized
that Ivan was quite unordinary person and , therefore , he needed unordinary approach. That is
why , in spite of his youth, I advised him to join a small research group at our department.

Ivan easily communicated with his older colleagues and this helped him to start working in the
group. Despite the lack of knowledge and the experience in physics of LC, Ivan has displayed a
lot of persistence and in a short time has become well informed in this field of physics. Among
various types of research at our department Ivan has chosen the investigation of zigzag-
disclination in LC. Along with our graduate student XX, Ivan investigated the behavior of zigzag-
disclination under the effect of the AC electric field.

While working at the Institute of Physics Ivan has greatly improved his English. It is necessary for
researcher to read well and to express his thoughts clearly in English. I think Ivan gained those
skills while carrying out his research on crystal. He also had to read some articles in "Phys.Rev.
Letters." and "Mol.Cryst. and LC" and to get acquainted with several types of modern optical and
electronic equipment. X and Ivan often used computer in their research and even managed to
create the electronic device, producing the electric signal needed. Some results of their joint work
have been submitted for publication.

Ivan has shown very promising abilities in experimental physics and I am confident that practical
skills, which he acquired at our Institute, will help him in his future career.

I enthusiastically recommend Mr. Ivanov for graduate study at your University.

Petrov P.P.

The Institute of Physics of National

Ukrainian Academy of Sciences

Prospect Nauki , 55

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 Letter of Recommendation for MIPT Alumnus (01/1993)

The Physics Student

I am glad to give my recommendation to Ivan Ivanov. He attended my lectures on quantum

mechanics in the course of theoretical physics and we also discussed the same matter in a small
class. I think I got to know him well and I hope that my opinion of Ivan could help him in entering
California Institute of Technology graduate school.

I know Ivan as an able and promising student. He has got excellent knowledge of general physics,
and solid preparation in mathematics as well. In my opinion, that helped and will help him to
achieve success in advanced theoretical physics courses. Unfortunately, I cannot judge his
experimental ability but he did very well in my theoretical course. Ivan has very high standing even
at the Department of General and Applied Physics, the best one of MPTI. However, he does not
feel content with the past accomplishments, does not stop working thoroughly and maintains his
position as one of the strongest students of his year.

What perhaps is even more important than his preparation is Ivan's permanent interest in science.
He is interested in high energy physics. From his enthusiastic approach to my subject I see that
he enjoys quantum mechanics as well. Ivan is apparently planning to make a career in science,
and this purposefulness is his very valuable quality. In my opinion, his even temper, discretion and
friendliness will assist him in all his undertakings. Maybe, his being dissatisfied with himself
sometimes grows into lack of self-confidence and hinders Ivan, but this is not an obstacle sufficient
to inhibit his development.

Taking all the above into consideration, I would like to give Ivan Ivanov my wholehearted support.

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 Letter of Recommendation for MIPT Alumnus (01/1993)

The Physics Student admitted to MIT

Dr. Ivan Ivanov

Head of Laser Spectroscopy Group

RECOMMENDATION LETTER FOR IVAN IVANOV

I have known Ivan for almost a year and a half. Our Institute (P.N.Lebedev Physics Institute) has
close links with Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology (MIPT). Not having our own students
we arrange a broad range of lectures for MIPT students and invite them to participate in modern
scientific researches carried out at our Institute.

Ivan Ivanov is one of such students. In September 1991 he was enrolled as a research assistant
in scientific staff of Diode-Laser Spectroscopy Laboratory headed by me and chose me as his
advisor. Since that time I have had an opportunity to observe Ivan approximately twenty hours per
week. I often discuss some scientific problems with him as well as received results. I advise him
which books and articles to read and explain arising abstruse questions. Due to good all-round
education received at MIPT it wasn't very difficult for Ivan to study a rather big volume of literature
concerning the topic of our work. He has also learned in short time how to handle with all existing
in the laboratory equipment, that means operating with liquid He, vacuum systems, stroboscopic
integrator, adjusting of an optical part of devices and many others. I can say that Ivan has an
"experimental talent" to master complex equipment without any troubles.

Ivan tries to receive knowledge not only in Physics but also in many related areas. For example,
he knows very well digital and radio-electronics. It is extremely useful for my group because we
use a lot of specially made electronic equipment which sometimes requires repairing and
modernization. Ivan is quite good in programming and computer science (he has even written a
few chapters for one PC handbook). I should also say about a very high level of Ivan's English
proficiency. He can easily read and write in English and he helps us to translate our reports and
correspondence. It almost makes no difference for him to read articles in Russian or in English.

We appreciate Ivan's contributions in work of our laboratory very high. He is included now in
coauthors of our new article "Isotope Effects in the Non-equilibrium Plasma-chemical
Decomposition of Carbon Dioxide", which will be published in Journal "Sov. Phys. JETP" in 1993.
Ivan is a modest, polite young man. He always performs his duties accurately and in time.

I am sure it would be very useful for Ivan to continue his education as a graduate student and I
hope he will be accepted at your Institute.

Faithfully Yours,

Dr. Ivanov

Letter of Recommendation for MIPT Alumnus (01/1995)

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 The Physics Student admitted to Rice University

I have known Ivan Ivanov for more than 3 years. I have been the leader of the USSR International
Physics Olympiad team for several years. Among other winners of the USSR Olympiad Ivan took
part in winter (two weeks) and summer (a month) sessions of the team in 1991. The sessions
included advanced lectures on physics .Seminars devoted to theoretical problems and intensive
laboratory courses were alternated with frequent rounds of problem solving contests designed to
reduce the number of candidates from 15 to 5.

Being only 15 years old, Ivan lacked some necessary skills but despite the spirit of competition
that was present at the winter sessions he easily communicated with other members of the team
managing to learn much from his fellows. At the Olympiad itself that was held in Havana Ivan
received the special prize of the European Physics Society rating the first of 150 participants from
more than 30 countries. This result represented remarkable progress made in six months. The
Silver Medal at the International Physics Olympiad in Helsinki confirmed Ivan's outstanding
knowledge of physics.

There is an established tradition that students who have won the IPhO in previous years work as
instructors in the sessions of the succeeding IPhO teams. Ivan Ivanov is one of such students. The
amount of work he has done was especially large last year. It is worth saying that Russian IPhO
team won the first prize in the XXIV IPhO (Williamsburg, Virginia) last summer.

I am convinced that much of a student's success, e.g. in physics is determined by the way he has
learned the subject before entering university : one who used to study ahead of others in school
rarely fails to do so afterwards. Ivan is no exception to the rule. Attending advanced classes on
group theory helps him much , so does the reading of original works and books on quantum
mechanics. Taking into account my knowledge of Ivan Ivanov as a brilliant, perseverant and
intelligent student, I feel confident about his ability to

realize his undoubtedly huge potential. I highly recommend him for graduate study in your
Institution.

Faithfully yours,

XX

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 Letter of Recommendation for MIPT Alumnus (01/1994)

The Physics Student admitted to Yale University

I have known Ivan Ivanov for more than 4 years. In 1989 I was the leader of the USSR International
Physics Olympiad Team. Among other winners of the USSR Olympiad Ivan Ivanov took part in
winter (two weeks) and summer (one month) sessions of the team. The sessions included
advanced lectures on physics; seminars devoted to theoretical problems and intensive laboratory
courses were alternated with frequent rounds of problems solving contests designed to reduce the
number of candidates from 15 to 5.

From the very beginning Ivan demonstrated his outstanding knowledge of physics , although he
lacked some necessary experimental skills. Despite the spirit of competition that was present at
the sessions Ivan easily communicated with other members of the team , managing to learn much
from his fellows as well as help them with their difficulties. At the Olympiad itself , that was held in
Warsaw, Ivan made one of the best experiments (19.25 points out of 20), which represented
remarkable progress he made in 5 months. He also did well in theoretical part of the contest, rating
8th of 150 participants from more than 30 countries. His has the only gold medal retained by our
team. I should add here that Ivan displayed surprising fluency in English, acting as an informal
interpreter between our students and participants from other countries.

Since 1990 Ivan Ivanov has been participating in the sessions of the succeeding IPhO teams as
an instructor. His help in correcting students' papers and conducting laboratory classes was very
valuable to us. I was delighted at his ability to capture students' interest regardless of whether he
is giving a lecture or taking part in an informal discussion. As I feel, Ivan is one of the people who
enjoy teaching. His commitment was formally recognized in the beginning of 1992, as he was
elected to the Board of the last USSR Physics Olympiad in Moscow.

I had too little time to discuss with Ivan his recent work at Kurchatov Institute of Atomic Energy and
his latest achievements in studying physics at MIPT, but taking into account my knowledge of Ivan
Ivanov as a brilliant, perseverant and intelligent student, I feel confident about his ability to realize
his undoubtedly huge potential.

I highly recommend Ivan Ivanov for graduate study at University of Pennsylvania.

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 Letter of Recommendation for MIPT Alumnus (01/1995)

The Physics Student

LETTER OF RECOMMENDATION.

I have known Ivan Ivanov for a year and half. Being a second-year student he attended my lectures
on Electromagnetic Field Theory and in the next academic year - lectures on Quantum Mechanics
I. Upon completing each course of lectures I examined him. It should be mentioned that they are
two most difficult courses in physics in the first five terms. In spite of this in both exams Ivan showed
deep understanding of the subject and I gave him excellent marks.

Year ago Ivan seriously decided to involve himself in theoretical physics. He was determined to
join theory group, where he could be engaged in studying any field of theoretical physics most
effectively. This group is not an ordinary one. The point is that from very beginning every
undergraduate student is attached to a certain department (at the Faculty of General and Applied
Physics) but he can rather easily change the department. But enrolment in theory group is based
on the results of special examination. It required knowledge of some material which was not
included in the curriculum and therefore had to be studied by Ivan himself. As the number of
vacancies is much less than the number of students who wish to join the group the contention is
really competitive: most students fail to pass the examination although they have enough
knowledge to receive excellent and good marks at the ordinary exams in theoretical physics. That
Ivan passed it successfully characterizes him as a person who has great will and the potential to
study theory in physics.

Taking all this into account, I consider Ivan one of the best students I know and enthusiastically
recommend him for graduate study at the State University of New Jersey, Rutgers.

Yours sincerely,

Dr. Petr P. Petrov

Professor of Physics,

Corresponding member of

Russian Academy of Sciences.

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 Letter of Recommendation for MIPT Alumnus (01/1995)

The Physics Student admitted to Rice University

Letter of Recommendation.

Ivan Ivanov is a second year student at Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology (MIPT). I
have known him for a year and a half. I teach General Physics course at MIPT and he attended
my seminars during 1991/92 academic year. Our contacts were not confined to meetings during
these classes. We often met in my apartment to discuss his difficulties, his studies and his future
plans. We have become true friends, and I hope that advice which I have given him will be useful
in fulfilling his career objectives.

Knowing Ivan well, I can tell you some words about his outstanding abilities in Physics. He revealed
them very early. Ivan has won the USSR Physics Olympiad many times. He is the winner of the
the XXII and XXIII International Physics Olympiads (he got the gold medal in 1991 and the silver
one in 1992). Being in the first year of his studies at MIPT, Ivan took part in the MIPT Physics
Olympiad ranking the 4th among all undergraduates of our institute. On this basis he, along with
the several seniors of MIPT , was allowed to attend Elementary Particle Physics courses given at
the Institute for High Energy Physics-Serpukhov. During our joint discussions of various problems
in physics Ivan demonstrated very good knowledge of general physics, theoretical physics and
mathematics. Considering his progress made in MIPT I can say with no doubt that Ivan has a talent
for physics.

Besides his evident talent there is another feature of Mr. Ivanov that is very important for
understanding what a person he is. This feature is perseverance. Let me give you an example.
When Ivan was admitted to MIPT his knowledge of English was that of an average Russian
freshman. That means he could hardly read and speak. In the fall of 1992 year he firmly decided
to continue his education in the USA. Now he reads a large number of original books (he especially
likes Wolfe, Fitzgerald and Doctorow), listens to BBC and CNN without any difficulties and speaks
English quite fluently. If you take into consideration that during this year he has been studying at
MIPT you will understand that Ivan has worked very hard. I think that his achievements in physics
should be attributed not only to his aptitude but also to his persistence and ambition.

I evaluate Ivan Ivanov among the top 2% of my students and highly recommend him for the
graduate study at Princeton University.

Dr. Petr P. Petrov,

Associate Professor of Physics,

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 Letter of Recommendation for MIPT Alumnus (01/1995)

The Physics Student admitted to Harvard University

Ivan Ivanov has been studying at the Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology , Department
of General and Applied Physics (DGAP) for almost 2.5 years. During this period he has been
attending my seminars in General Physics thus I can say with no doubts that I know him well.

Ivan's outstanding abilities in physics were revealed very early. He has won the first diploma in the
All-Russian schoolboy Olympiad in Physics three times, first diploma in the USSR schoolboy
Olympiad in physics two times and he was the winner (first diploma) of the XXI International
Physics Olympiad in 1991 (Havana , Cuba).Now he is third year student and he is definitely one
of several best students in our Department.

From the very beginning of his study in MPTI Ivan demonstrated very good knowledge of General
and Theoretical Physics as well as of mathematics. For 2.5 years he has taken a lot of courses,
and his level of knowledge rose significantly. Considering our collaboration on seminars I should
stress such features as inventiveness in work and independence in thought. It is clear to me that
Ivan is very persistent in achieving his aim, and he usually studies with such enthusiasm and
energy that it is no wonder to me that for 2.5 years he has had only excellent marks and that during
first year of his study he won the first prize in the MPTI students Olympiad in physics which was
administered for the first-year students. I should stress that on that Olympiad he was the only
person of all participants who solved the most difficult problem #7 and also he was the only person
of all DGAP students who solved problem #2 on Electricity & Magnetism exam last year.

Ivan possesses a remarkable ability to grasp new ideas quickly as well as put them into plain
words, which greatly contribute to our seminars. He can easily express himself orally and in writing.
Among Ivan's drawbacks I can name some irregularity of his studies: sometimes he pays too much
attention to particular topics of the subject (learning much more than required) while leaving some
parts of the program intact until last week before the exam. I would like to mention that Ivan is very
polite and outgoing young man. I think he could be a leader in the group.

I can say with no doubts that Ivan Ivanov is a truly exceptional person, one of my best students
(top 5%) and strongly recommend him for the study at your Institution.

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 Letter of Recommendation for MIPT Alumnus (01/1996)

The Physics Student

Letter of Recommendation.

Name of applicant : Ivanov Ivan Ivanovich

Name of evaluator : Petrov Petr Petrovich

Ivan Ivanov has been studying at Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology for 4.5 years. I was
his teacher on General Physics during 3 of these years. Reviewing our joint activity on labs and
classes I can mention his high capacity for work and independence of conclusions. In scientific
discussions Ivan revealed maturity along with power in defending his opinion, but he was also
careful for opponent's arguments. He easily comes in contact with colleagues on any question he
needs. I should note a number of his uncommon solutions on seminars on Solid State Physics.
Ivan is active and impatient in study, always aimed at ultimate result, even a secondary school he
completed a year earlier than the same age pupils. I believe that problems of both Theoretical and
Experimental Physics are equally interesting for him.

Nowadays Ivan works on future thesis at Institute of High Energy Physics. The main direction of
his researches is the computer simulation of physics beyond the standard model. In particular he
investigated birth of new Z'-boson in process pp-> Z'-> l+l- on future SSC collider. Some parts of
results obtained are under publication. All this shows that Ivan has chosen rightly principal way of
his life - physicist-researcher. As for intellectual ability he is one of the top three students in the
group of 20. Ivan's overall skills are similar to those of the graduate student XX who was the group
mate of Ivan and has entered Harvard University last year.

I am sure that it would be very helpful for Ivan to take course of studies at your University and to
work on experiments and theoretical researches at your laboratories.

Dr. Petr P. Petrov,

Professor of Physics,

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 Letter of Recommendation for Ms. X

Department of Y, PhD Program

I first knew X in the spring of l986 when she was a member of my Freshman Seminar, '. . . .` In
such small groups teacher and students come to know one another in a way that is seldom, if ever,
possible in large lecture courses. In either forum something can be learned about a student's
academic ability, but only in the former can one get a reliable measure of the student as a person.
. . . Having kept in touch with X in the intervening years, I am confident in my knowledge of her.

To begin with, she is an excellent student, with a lively curiosity that makes her dissatisfied with
superficial explanations. That curiosity frequently led our seminar down avenues and into areas
that, otherwise, would have remained unexplored. . . .

One has only to speak to her to recognize her openness and eagerness. It is easy to mistake this
for naivet, an error I made when she first told me she had signed up to be an apprentice teacher
in one of Boston's more notorious inner city high schools. . . . Throughout the term, often at great
cost to her own peace of mind, and sometimes in explicit conflict with the regular teacher, she
continued to insist on a high level of performance from her students. She not only survived the
term but won the admiration and respect of students accustomed to being patronized by teachers
content to believe that nothing much can be expected.

I would expect X to bring these same qualities of character to . . . . That is, an openness to new
places, peoples, cultures and customs; a keen intelligence, with which to analyze and order her
experience; irrepressible curiosity; and an unusual ability for dealing with people of all ages and
conditions. Those qualities, combined with her toughness of character. . ., will enable her to
understand and empathize with others while never losing touch with who she is.

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 Letter of Recommendation for Jane Doe

Office of Graduate Admissions, Institute of Design

I'm honored to recommend Jane Doe for admission to graduate studies at the Institute of Design.
Since Jane will be visiting you soon, the following information should help introduce her as well as
convey my wholehearted recommendation that she be admitted to your program.

My association with Jane--I've known Jane closely for three years, during which we've collaborated
on many projects. Her role has been that of a consultant to our architectural firm. Jane and I have
also conversed privately on theoretical and practical matters of style, aesthetics, and philosophies
of design. I've always been impressed by her know-how--from how to design an arboretum to good
principles of document design.

Jane's integrity--The hallmark of Jane's character is her honesty. This extends from those areas
where we easily see it (in relationships and business transactions) to integrity of thought. Scientific,
thorough, and meticulous, she approaches any analytical task with an exacting eye. This is the
kind of care and concern I mean by integrity of thought.

Jane's scholarship and balanced education--As a student of the humanities, Jane pursued a
course of study that could serve as a model for any general education curriculum. She knows not
only Shakespeare but mathematics. She's as comfortable in a wood shop as at the opera.

Her professional manner--Jane Doe is one of the most pleasant persons you'll ever meet or work
with. She's forthright, but neither intimidates nor intrudes. She's open, friendly, and authentic--the
Jane you'll soon meet is the Jane you'll get, without any surprises.

Jane has my unqualified professional endorsement and my deep personal respect. Please feel
free to call at any time if I can be of further assistance.

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 Letter of Recommendation

Student

This letter is intended to serve as a college recommendation for Ezra Edlarruti. I have been
acquainted with Ezra for four years but came to know him well last year, as he was in the one class
that I taught, a thirteen-student junior English class.

Last spring, while he was singing the lead in "The Marriage of Figaro, " Ezra became especially
interested in a short story that we read as a class, Albert Camus's "The Guest." It is a challenging
story for any reader, and Ezra became interested in the subtleties of interpreting it, especially in
the difficulties inherent in the translation of such a story. What did Camus really mean to say and
how might his intentions have been compromised by its English translation? Ezra read the original,
French, version of the story and then wrote a superb analysis of the compromises inherent in its
English translation. His essay was flawless -- his wording apt, and his analysis insightful, logical
and comprehensive. Some of our English faculty can't write so well.

Students and faculty often remark that Ezra is blessed with considerable talent. What many of
them overlook is how hard Ezra works to cultivate his talent, whether it be the development of his
beautiful voice for an operatic performance or of his writing skills as he works through an essay. I
know of the effort that he put into book reviews of _1984_ and _Animal Farm_ because he shared
early drafts with me. I also appreciate the time that he put into his analysis of "The Guest" because
he stopped by periodically to share his enthusiasm for the project and his progress with it.

In over twenty-five years of teaching, I have known other students with talent equivalent to Ezra's.
Many of them lacked his good nature and humility, and few demonstrated the genuine intellectual
curiosity that Ezra has exhibited over and over -- a curiosity that is often accompanied by his
excitement or enthusiasm for an idea, an author, a literary work or the lead role in a challenging
operatic performance.

When I decided to set up a debate on Henry David Thoreau's "Civil Disobedience, " regarding the
role of government in our lives today, in an effort to have the class appreciate more fully the
contemporary implications of Thoreau's sophisticated essay, it was Ezra who was most helpful in
creating a resolution that would lead to that appreciation. Ezra, to no one's surprise, then agreed
to argue on any side of the debate.

Ezra is a motivated young man of numerous talents and considerable self-discipline. He is fun-
loving, likable, enthusiastic, trusting and trustworthy.

Gary Youstis

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 Letter of Recommendation for Mr. X

Department of Y, PhD Program

X has been an assistant in my laboratory during the past year, and has proven to be exceptional
in several respects. First, X is exceptionally intelligent. He proved to be a very quick study, learning
the elements of experimental design and the uses of microcomputers in record time. Furthermore,
his questions are always thoughtful and penetrating. X threw himself into his assigned projects
wholeheartedly, and shows every sign of having real talent in . . . . I was a little surprised by his
high degree of enthusiasm because I knew that X was not primarily interested in . . . . When I
mentioned this to him, I discovered that he has well defined career goals that mesh with the
projects he was working on . . . .

Second, X is exceptionally diligent and hard working. He worked many extra hours over the
summer. I vividly recall coming into the lab late in the evening. . . and finding X at work. X invariably
finished projects well in advance of our projected target date. X was always cheerful during this
intense period, and was a joy to have in the lab.

Third, X is very good at working with other people. He is exceptionally nice and considerate and
sensitive. X is not only good humored and friendly, but also is good at gauging other people's level
of knowledge and attitudes. . . .

All in all, I think X has a very bright future, and I am sure that he would benefit from . . . . Given his
great intelligence and sensitivity, I am sure that he could put . . . to good use.

In short, I give X my highest recommendation, and very much hope that the committee judges his
application favorably.

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 Short Letter of Recommendation for Mr. X

Department of Y

I am writing in support of X to . . . . I have known X since September, l986. He was a member of a

small . . . tutorial that I taught in l986-87. . . . X was an active and conscientious member of the
class. He challenged the rest of the class to consider issues from new perspectives and often
asked very penetrating and important questions. He chose to take on difficult topics and handled
them well. His assignments were well-written, well-supported, organized, neat, and timely. It was
evident that X really desired to learn more and challenge himself. . . .

X also has interest outside of academics. He has been an active member of . . . , a Harvard singing
group, and a member of the campus . . . club. He is also a member of the . . . House film society.
X's personality is wonderful. He is outgoing and friendly, but not dominating. He has an obvious
and sincere concern for others. . . .

X would be a wonderful student to have at . . . . He has skills that he is eager to share, but he is
just as eager to learn. . . . I feel very confident that he will be extremely successful in all his future
endeavors. He is a focused and determined young man. I highly recommend him for . . . .

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 Letter of Recommendation for Ms. X

Department of Y

I am pleased to write to you on behalf of X, who is applying for a fellowship to study . . . . I have
known X for two years. She took my course in . . . . More recently, I have been advising her on her
thesis.

X has done well in Harvard's . . . concentration. The concentration includes preparation in . . . . In

addition, she has had substantial exposure to the "practical" aspects of her topic, for example
through her work at . . . . Thus she is extremely well prepared to fulfill her proposed project.

X has selected an area, . . . , which is of growing interest. . . . In my view as someone who studies
. . . among other topics, questions such as this are severely under-researched. The proposed topic
- . . . - seems to be both worthwhile and feasible, and should prove very interesting.

X is an independent self-starter. While she has no trouble working in groups, or interacting with
others, she can also work well on her own. Furthermore, she is mature and personable. I would
expect her to perform well in a wide range of environments. In fact, her personality and skills should
place her high on any list of good "representatives" for the U.S.

I hope that you will consider her application strongly.

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