Easy to Be a Scientist

Education & Business Online Magazine “Ponedelnik” (Monday) published an interview with Maksim Ivaschenko, PhD student and one of heads of “Open Labs of Ideas, Methods and Practices” (OLIMP), based at ITMO University. in his interview he shared OLIMP`s ideology and projects as well as talked about how the non-classical research hub was organized.

OLIMP is usually called enthusiasts` lab because its` stakeholders were driven by the deep feeling of aspiration. As Maksim Ivaschenko noted, while making up the idea of the lab the student came to the point that it was a project of his dream. Currently OLIMP consists of 23 work rooms, 43 projects implemented using OLIMP`s facilities, 900 hours of workshops and 15 exhibitions.

“I extremely seldom come to the lab first because someone is already there. I really like it! It means that people need OLIMP. There I always meet my friends who work on class tasks of their own projects. It is wonderful to see everyone being involved in the work, chats and sometimes debates with others. Our students develop models of smart house, lino prints, various devices and also event plans,” said Mr. Ivaschenko.

The head of the lab appreciated Kirill Bodrov, co-head of OLIMP, who contributed to the development of this project. He mentioned that it would be impossible to create it without cooperation, support and especially friendship.

OLIMP is a young open platform initiated in 2013. The lab is serving as a working area for students, both ITMO U`s and residents of other St. P. universities who want to develop their projects using facilities of the lab.