By Maria Tsvetkova 
1h ago
MOSCOW – Katerina Tikhonova, the youngest daughter of Russian President Vladimir Putin, was appointed head of a new artificial intelligence institute at Moscow State University, her fund said on Friday.
Tikhonova, 33, has held a senior position at the university for several years and runs publicly-funded projects, Reuters has previously reported.
She has a Master’s degree in physics and maths and is also an acrobatic rock’n’roll dancer.
The new institute is dedicated to “artificial intelligence issues and intellectual systems” with a focus on “fundamental and practical cognitive research,” Tikhonova’s fund Innopraktika said.
It provided no further details on the nature of the research.
Moscow State University will receive 890 million roubles($13.6 million) in state funding for its development programme this year, according to Vedomosti newspaper, which first reported Tikhonova’s new role earlier on Friday.
Ten new research institutes will be funded through this programme, Vedomosti said. It was unclear what portion of this will be spent on Tikhonova’s institute.
Reuters