Irkutsk State University is one of five Russian Universities to join the pilot project “A Tutor in a Russian University” realized by Oxford Russia Fund. The main goal of the project is to support tutors whose activity contributes to students’ academic and personal potential development. The project proposes that among tutors functions there should be overall supervision of students’ curriculum and extra-curriculum research activity: advising on methodology as well as the research design:  clarifying the research focus, tasks and the subject.