ITMO University

About ITMO University

ITMO University — in Russian, Университет ИТМО or НИУ ИТМО — is a federal state university in Saint Petersburg, Russia. Its full official name is "National Research University ITMO". The university gives 26 March 1900 as its founding date. The founder is the Russian Federation, and the Ministry of Science and Higher Education exercises the founder's functions. The main address is 49 Kronverksky Prospekt, building A. The university has no branches. On its English site it calls itself "a trailblazer in all things IT, quantum science, and photonics".

Institutes and research

ITMO is organised into four megafaculties: Computer Technologies and Control, Physics and Technology, Translational Information Technologies, and Life Sciences. Under them are faculties and institutes such as Control Systems and Robotics, Software Engineering and Computer Systems, Information Technology Security, Laser Technologies, Artificial Intelligence, Chemical and Bioengineering, and Design and Urban Studies. The university lists six research directions: photonics and optics, natural sciences, smart materials and nanotechnology, intelligent technologies and robotics, life and health sciences, and IT in economics, society and the arts.

Students

According to the university's international website, ITMO has 2,450 international students from 87 countries.

For international applicants

ITMO teaches several levels of study. It offers a Foundation Program in Russian, bachelor's programmes in Russian (more than 20) and master's tracks in Russian (more than 70). Its International Master's programmes are taught exclusively in English. There are around 20 of them, and each lasts two years. Examples are Advanced Quantum and Nanophotonic Systems, Applied Optics, and Big Data and Machine Learning. PhD programmes are taught in Russian and in English.

The English website has a step-by-step application guide for each level. Questions go to the International Admission Office (international@itmo.ru). The university also announces contests that allow enrolment "without any exams and/or tuition fees". Check the conditions of each contest on the university website.

Housing

According to the mandatory disclosure, ITMO has five dormitories with 1,694 places. The university can also send some students to the Interuniversity Student Campus under agreements. The English site says the dormitories are within the "student town" or next to metro stations. A clinic at the main campus is open to students.