Founded in 1930, MAI is a leading Russian engineering university specializing in aerospace technologies, including aircraft design, rocketry, space systems, and IT for aerospace. It is a National Research University.
The Moscow Aviation Institute, MAI, was founded in 1930 to train engineers for the Soviet aircraft industry, which was expanding fast, and it quickly became the main school for aeronautics in the country. In the decades that followed, its scope grew from aeroplanes to rockets, missiles, spacecraft and the electronics and software that control them. The main campus lies on Volokolamskoe Shosse, in the north-west of Moscow, and the institute holds the status of National Research University. It has about 20,000 students and 3,500 staff.
Teaching is organised in institutes and faculties that cover aircraft engineering, rocket and space engineering, aircraft engines, control systems and electrical engineering, information technology, radio electronics, materials and manufacturing, applied mathematics and physics, and the economics of high-technology industries. Many graduates became designers and managers in the aircraft and space bureaus and factories, and the institute keeps agreements with major Russian aerospace companies that shape programmes and provide internships. Svetlana Savitskaya, the second woman to fly in space, graduated from MAI.
Research includes aerodynamics, structural strength, propulsion, unmanned aerial vehicles, satellites, control theory, composite materials, additive manufacturing and information security. Students build small satellites and flying models, take part in competitions of aircraft design, and use wind tunnels, test benches and simulators located on campus. The institute also has branches outside Moscow and runs programmes for secondary-level technical training.
Admission is through the Unified State Exam and the university’s own tests for some programmes. Courses are mainly in Russian, with some in English. Since 2022 international cooperation has been affected by sanctions and restrictions, so prospective foreign students should check the current status of visas, programmes and exchanges. Fees for state-funded places are covered by the state, and fees for other places differ by programme. Check the current tariff.
The campus can be reached by metro and by bus from the north-west of the city, and student dormitories are available. Moscow offers a very large network of public transport and cultural life.
