Executive Committee 2008-2009
Executive Committee 2008-2009
President: Ekaterina Shipigina (Trinity College)
Degree: PhD in Polar Studies
Our President was born in Russia, in a small town, named Kaluga, where the father of Russian space science, Konstantin Tsiolkovskiy, lived and worked. Shortly after, her family moved to Korolev, Moscow region, which is well-known as a centre of the Russian space industry. No wonder, stars and adventures were always Ekaterina’s love. After spending more than seven fantastic years at Department of Geography, Moscow State University, Ekaterina finally reached Cambridge University in 2007 and joined CURS as an Entertainment Officer. After successfully completing her MPhil in Geographical Information Systems and Remote Sensing at the Department of Geography, Ekaterina was not able to leave us and stayed with us as a PhD student in Polar Studies at Scott Polar Research Institute. Ekaterina loves the Russian language, Russian culture and Russian traditions. She is always ready to help you to understand the mysterious Russian soul. Moreover, our President is the only person who wears the traditional Russian headdress! Don’t you believe this? Just come to our unique events, see Ekaterina and take a picture with her and her headdress. Her main personal skills are creativity, responsibility, intelligence and communication. It helps her to work for the welfare of CURS. Together with CURS members and the executive Committee she is carrying on to make CURS one of the most successful University Societies. CURS believes Ekaterina! CURS believes in Ekaterina as its President! With Ekaterina CURS knows what sort of a great future awaits it!
Contact: ekaterina.shipigina |@| russiancambridge.org
Vice-President: Ruslan Kudubayev (Churchill College)
Degree: Computer Science
Ruslan is a second year undergraduate Computer Scientist at Churchill College. As he performs functions of the Vice President 08-09, he enjoys Russian culture and meeting all sorts of interesting people along the way. Ruslan is originally from Kazakhstan which brings CU Russian Society to being even more international and multicultural. In his vision, CU Russian Society would expand and progress further while still keeping the good old traditions. There is not much vodka in his veins, but for sure that’s not a problem anymore.
Treasurer: Draga Pihler (Trinity College)
Degree: PhD in Applied Mathematics
I have spent last year as the entertainment officer in the Russian Society. My fellow colleges (officers) and I have tried our best to introduce Cambridge residents to Russia and pass upon them our love of Russian culture. Motivation to continue with the work in CURS is still very strong and therefore I would like to nominate myself for a position of a treasurer. There are number of reasons for my nomination. First of all, I like to think of myself as an extremely responsible person and hence a great candidate for a money manager. Secondly, I am a mathematician and therefore very good with numbers. Finally, this position would give me an opportunity to be creative in different way compared to the previous year.
General Secretary and CURS Trustee: Vassili Vorontsov (Clare College)
Degree: Materials Science and Metallurgy PhD
Vassili was the President of CURS in 2008-2009. Born in Moscow, and tempered in the heat of South-East Asia, he settled in fogs Britain. Little is still known about him, for he is quiet and mysterious (unless you give him a few drinks). The presidential seat has been a tough job. Understanding the importance of this collective, and also of every individual in it, Vassili had no intention of leaving his beloved society. The Secretary’s Job is also demanding, and although sounds less glamorous than others, it is very important. Control of information flow will always be of paramount significance. No longer the head of the CURS machine, Vassili is now part of the oil that ensures its smooth running from inside.
Project Coordination Officer: Alexey Bannykh (Darwin College)
Degree: PhD in Materials Science
Alexey is a real Russian who was born at a border between Europe and Asia in the Ural region. His family of engineers made him fall in love with natural science in general and quantum mechanics in particular. Being a student at Kolmogorov School, Alexey was thinking about becoming eithr a mathematician or a programmer but, fortunately, was firstly accepted by the Physics faculty of the Lomonosov Moscow State University which, he thinks, was the best choice he has ever made.
After a year of internship in German laboratory, which turned out to be a real isolation, he realized that there must be much more fun in his life and moved to Cambridge, where he is a second year PhD student. Alexey is a Project Coordination officer which means he can and does almost everything except things related to IT.
Festivities Officer: Konstantin Kisil (Trinity College)
Degree: Medicine
Kostya is a third year and will be leaving us soon (awww) to continue his degree and partying in London. His first encounters with CURS were brief but vivid and sooner then later (just like the rest of us) he was drawn into it for good. At this point CURS was already blooming like a tropical flower and the only thing left to do for Kostya was to try and add to this. Having just successfully completed a 2 year run in the Trinity May Ball Committee the next logical step was to continue bringing exquisite parties to the people… The balance which naturally exists between work and play is tricky, but our team of entertainment officers will work hard to get it perfect. The only thing to add is that Kostya find it ironic that his twin sister is the Educational Officer!
Entertainment Officer: Siarhei Maslau (Darwin College Alumnus)
Degree: PhD in Molecular Biology.
I want to lead people involved in the Society to a new kind of entertainment, which will combine enjoyment with exploration and learning. Specifically, in 2009, I would like to organize several trips to interesting locations in Europe and Russia. These trips will be aimed at the investigation of culture and nature, and will allow to compare the Russian Legacy with that of other European nations. Trips to Russia, which are being planned in collaboration with Katya Shipigina and Vladimir Orlov, will give an authentic exposure to some of the most attractive parts of this country. Each trip will be accomplished by a team of most interested individuals from the Society. I will put my enthusiasm and responsibility into coordinating and rendering these trips. Here in Cambridge, I can give the Society my skills in executing barbecue parties and outdoor trips. During the summer 2008, I guided groups of up to 10 people on the trips to mountains, coast, castles, etc, in which several members of CURS have successfully participated. This entertainment in and out of Cambridge can be resumed when the warm season starts, and can occupy weekends, making events accessible to many people with different schedules.
Entertainment Officer: Maksim Tsytlonok (Darwin College)
Degree: PhD in Oncology
Entertainment officer position speaks for itself, and one thing I can promise you is that I will keep it to the title of the post and will keep things entertaining! Together with Siarhei, we will keep the fuel of the Russian Society fire spirit burning! Among some of the activities we plan to have are hikes, BBQ, museum trips and, of course, the world-famouse Cambridge Russian Society Vodka Party! But the important part of my role will be to help with activities that most of you want… so any suggestions are more than welcome! I am very excited about serving on your Ents team since I also look forward to getting more experience in organising events and getting to know more of you. Although I have not held an official entertainement officer post before, I have had some experience organising events at Witten/Herdecke University, my previous university. At Cambridge, I am in my first year of PhD in Oncology. I look forward to my next three years at Cambridge that will give me plenty of opportunities to gain more experience with organising events for the Russian Socieity and keep the juices of the entertainment officer post flowing!
Cultural Officer: Natasha Lapotko (Homerton College)
Degree: History
I am a third year Historian at Homerton College. I would like to stand for the post of the Cultural Officer, because I enjoy participating in the society, love culture and wish to do more for the society! Following the success of the Franklin talk (From Russia with Medal), I would like to invite other Russia-related University people. Currently, I am organizing a talk by Alexis de Tiesenhausen (International Head of the Russian Department at Christie’s Auction House). Hope to get an opportunity to invite more interesting people, organize some cultural events and discussions. I feel that I will be able to do it, because I am organized and responsible. I think that with my help the society can expand and develop.
External Affairs Advisor: Anton Ponomarev (Pembroke College)
Degree: BA (Hons) Mathematics
Anton is a third year student reading Mathematics at Pembroke College. He has been in CURS Committee for over two years now. After spending a successful first year as the Ents Officer Anton have had an even more eventful second one as the Director of Corporate Relations. While holding the former position his main responsibilities included all types of communications with different companies and organisation, fund-raising and organising events for recruiters. Some examples of his work include organising presentation for Global Career Company, keeping up-to-date relations with contacts from Credit Suisse and Morgan Stanley. The last major achievement was working on collaboration with a student company A2Z Ltd, which resulted in a recent contract signing. As the External Affairs Adviser, Anton would devote his time and experience towards guiding the new Committee through hidden bumps in art of corporate relations and keeping external affairs in order for future long-term benefits of the Society.
Public Relations Officer: Maxim Arzamasov (St Catharine’s College)
Degree: Physics
Max is known as the CURS Food Officer for the year 2007/2008. The desire to deal with cooking for the Society events was motivated by the fact that Max was living away from the main site of his College and was thus forced to develop his cooking skills. Max’s proposal of cooperation was met with enthusiasm from both sides and met no opposition at the CURS Annual General Meeting held in November, 2007. Although Max has successfully coped with cooking challenges of the past year, such as The Very Old New Year Party, The Vodka Party, Freshers’ Squash, etc., the practice revealed that on most occasions food preparation involved collective labour of several Committee members. Max concluded that merely being a person “responsible” for cooking makes little contribution to the Society and is ineffective utilization of his resources. This time Max is running for the position of Public Relations Officer. The responsibilities will include: contributing to the weekly Society bulletins, in particular in advertising upcoming event, issuing statements and managing correspondence on behalf of the Society and other duties which will emerge in his area of responsibility. Max is known to his friends and colleagues as an honest, optimistic and smart person and a reliable and cooperative team mate and is willing to contribute to the no doubt successful performance of the Russian Society in the coming year! Max is committed to being open and social and encourages his potential voters to contact him on Facebook in case of any queries about the elections. (just search for “Max Arzamasov”)
Educational Officer: Anastasia Kisil (Trinity College)
Degree: Mathematics
Last year I been Vice President of the Cambridge Russian Society which was a very enjoyably and productive experience. Looking back on it there where a lot of exiting events we undertook with unbelievable success. We managed to continue the good traditions by organising conversation evenings, film nights, concerts, parties with vodka party being the biggest success so far. But most importantly we introduced new events which I hope were enjoyed by our members like the barbecues and camping trips. We also going to perform Russian dance in the fitz winter ball this year which might not spread the love for Russian culture but will at least give a taste of it to a large audience. I want to especially stress that the our promotion of Russian culture can celebrate the birth of Russian Society at Trinity College Cambridge. It was a pleasure working and developing all the above last year but I feel that this year I will be more useful to the society in the form of Educational Officer. I see myself leading conversation evening and organising all sorts of events which will be interesting and educational. I have a passion for teaching so I will enjoy preparing and organising those events. This need not say that I will stop cooking food, helping out at parties and concerts and coming up with ambitious ideas for the future development of the society as I have done so far!
IT Officer: Oleksandr Poplavskyy (Selwyn College)
Degree: Mathematics and Theoretical Physics
As a this-year newcomer to Cambridge, I was fascinated to find out about the existence of the Cambridge University Russian Society. Given the abundance of different student societies at Cambridge, it is amazing to see that this society is really one of the most vivid and interesting ones, with lots of interesting events and parties. But what is the actual way how one can find out about those glorious events? One of the sources is the rumours of a glorious society holding fantastic events spead out throughout the uni… Another one is the web-site, and related IT matters. That’s why I think I am interested in the position of IT officer. As a physicist and mathematician I have some knowledge how to struggle with computer, networking and programming problems when things go wrong. In addition, I was really amazed by the beautiful web-site of the society, and I really hope there will be still some work left for me in the time which comes, to improve the web-site, and keep it always running, and up-to-date.
Logistics Officer: Dmitry Dubovitskiy
Degree: PhD in Computer Science and Digital Image Processing
Logistic officer position is bringing the structure to the entertaining and I want to organise our time with profit for soul and body. Together with Maxim and Siarhei we can do a lot and keep Russian Society fit and tidy! My role will be helpful in wide range of outdoor and indoor activities to investigate some hidden history or exploring country side in the UK or out, Museum, Gallery, Country parks and houses, Natural Reserved area, BBQ and sea side program. I look forward to meet new people and organise new events together. My previous job as Project Leader was connected with planning and maintaining various group of people and have experience in team working. I do my research and development in Cambridge as part of my postdoctoral experience in digital image processing and signal processing. Looking forward to our quality time together with Russian Society and bringing happy time for existing members and new comers.
Trustees and Advisory Board
General Secretary and CURS Trustee: Vassili Vorontsov (Clare College)
Degree: Materials Science and Metallurgy PhD
Vassili believes that his allegiance to CURS is to be long-lived. Thus he is making a gradual transition to the honourable duty of CURS Trustee. During his Presidential term, Vassili did not experiment too much and tried to stick to the well polished formula of his predecessors. Where needed he added his own touch and spin to things to make them work. After completing his PhD, Vassili hopes to build an academic career. At the same time, his alter ego will always be the silent watchman of CURS.
advisory |@| russiancambridge.org
Vladimir Orlov (Clare College, PhD candidate in Musicology)
Vladimir is a Gates Scholar, and the only Russian research student in Musicology ever accepted to Cambridge; therefore his role is quite exceptional, but demanding. Being occupied with multifarious work during his CURS presidentship at 2006-2007, personally he has mostly been interested in promoting musical and classical activities; therefore all of these such as music recitals or literary competition are basically organised by him. After Vladimir devoted 99% of his time and energy to our favourite child (CURS that is) as a President, he barely forced himself to leave this job year after. Thus, his heart is always trembling about the CURS destiny. Currently he is still developing the cultural life of CURS (see his article on ‘Russian Cambridge’ published on-line); and his eye would always be kept on the Russian Society up to the end of his life.
Contact: advisory |@| russiancambridge.org
Yulia Yamineva (Newnham College)
In the good old days, Yulia served on the Committee as a Membership Officer and later as a Vice-President. She is proud of discovering “the Vova Orlov” who was lost in the outskirts of Newnham College and pointing him in the direction of the Presidency of the Russian Society. Together with bringing three sarafan dresses from her hometown of Chelyabinsk, Yulia considers this as her most long-lasting contribution to the Society. After that event Yulia felt her mission was accomplished and is now devoting herself fully to a PhD dissertation, to the great satisfaction of her supervisor.
Dr. Anton Lokhmotov (Robinson College alumnus)
Anton has been involved in running the Russian Society since 2004, when he started his PhD in Computer Science at Robinson College, sponsored by a TNK-BP Kapitza Scholarship. Anton became the Russian Society’s Trustee in Science Technology in 2007, after being its Entertainment Officer (proudly dubbed as “Vodka Officer”), President and Consultant.
Anton is currently a post-doctoral Research Associate at Imperial College London, where he is investigating programming languages and tools for parallel computing architectures. However, he still looks back fondly to his years in Cambridge and looks around for ways to contribute to the Russian Society. In particular, Anton is bringing up a next generation of its leaders, hopefully represented by his son Yvan (joint work with his lovely wife Nadya).
Evgeniya Galinskaya (Gonville & Caius College alumnus)
Degree: MB BChir (Hons) MA
Having come from well beyond the Northern Polar Circle, the town of Murmansk, Zhenya had much warmth and devotion to give to CURS when it was still very much a baby. She is proud to be one of the first few enthusiasts who nurtured CURS when it was growing up and going through the difficult teenage years. This required a lot of parental commitment, creativity, organisational and people’s skills (and often took priority over her studies to be a doctor). Her main achievements were setting up Russian Conversational Evenings for those wishing to learn or improve Russian Language, as well as increasing the Society’s membership recruitment from 7 in 2002/03 to 40 in 2003/04 and boosting the society’s budget from £50 to £700 in 2003/04. Zhenya is particularly proud of her contribution to raising the Society’s profile well above the good old stereotype of Ruski’s swimming in vodka and bears walking around the streets of Moscow. Having taken up the roles of the Society’s secretary, Vice President, and President over several years since 2003, Zhenya is now diligently carrying out the duties of the CURS Trustee in Health and Safety. She skillfully combines advising the members of CURS on the health, safety and well-being matters with her full-time duties as a doctor at East and North Herts NHS Trust.
Denis Zuev (St Johns College alumnus)
Denis is the co-founder of Cambridge University Russian Society in 2001. Then, Denis started as the IT-officer by developing the most advanced website within the Russian student community in UK and during 2002-2004, Denis was the president of CURS. During that time, the CURS has partnered with Russian-speaking and ex-USSR societies in Cambridge, thus improving the quality and popularity of joint events, as well as establishing friendship among the societies. For the first time in 2004, CURS started to give advice to Cambridge University applicants from Russia via its forum.
During his PhD in Oxford, Denis was involved in The Association of Students from the CIS which assisted him in organising recruiting events for Russian-speaking students by Deloitte CIS and KPMG CIS. In 2007, Denis has started a company called AtoZstudents limited, which was designed to support activities of Russian-speaking societies and help Russian-speaking students in the UK in their job search by providing them with Russia-related career opportunities. Through AtoZstudents, Denis is supporting student societies by sponsoring them and by integrating them into a national network, RussianStudents.net, which united 10 Russian-societies around the UK in 2009. During 2004-2009, Denis has organised 7 career events targeted at the Russian-speaking community and helped dozens of young people find a rewarding job in Russia and in the UK.