Bachelor’s studies

In 2025, 1,588 applicants were admitted to tuition-free positions, which is up 10% from last year. In total, the university received 21,650 applications from 8,900 students from all over the country – 3,000 more than last year. Applicants’ interest in ITMO’s programs has been growing every year: in 2022, the university received 13,000 applications, in 2023 – 17,000, and in 2024 – 18,000. A total of 1,247 applicants were enrolled in fee-based positions at ITMO.  

The university welcomed 728 contest winners and prize-winners without entrance exams. This is a personal record for ITMO, as well as the highest number in St. Petersburg and one of the best in Russia.

IT- and AI-related programs at ITMO traditionally remain the most popular; these are AI360: ML Native, Computer Technologies, Software Engineering, AI Engineering, and System and Applied Software. Compared to last year, the popularity of AI- and programming-focused programs grew by 30% based on the number of applications. Whereas in 2024, the top five programs received 10,000 applications, in 2025, the number reached over 13,000.

In 2025, ITMO offered 26 Bachelor’s programs in five subject areas: physics, information technologies, economics and innovations, engineering, and life sciences. Many of these programs are supported by major tech companies (Yandex, Sberbank, VK, Avito, and others) and feature specialized courses, internship and employment opportunities, as well as special stipends for students.

The average Unified State Exam (USE) score remains highest for IT programs (e.g., Applied Mathematics and Informatics – 305 points); whereas programs within the subject areas Software and Administration of Information Systems and Information Systems and Technologies accepted exclusively winners and prize-winners of academic competitions. The average USE score is 94.1 for tuition-free positions and 75.7 – for fee-based positions. 

Earlier this year, ITMO became one of the top Russian universities that will be training world-class AI specialists in 2025-2030. The university will receive around 350 million rubles in grant funding to develop top-level educational Bachelor’s programs: AI360: ML Native, Computer Technologies, AI Engineering, Software Engineering, and Neurotechnologies and Programming.

Master’s studies

This year, ITMO welcomed 2,745 tuition-free and 740 fee-based Master’s students. The number of enrolled fee-based students saw a rise, too – by 32% compared to last year. In 2025, 18,362 applications from 7,426 prospective students were submitted for Master’s programs on tuition-free positions – the number of applications increased by 20%. 

A total of 1,603 students were admitted to ITMO without having to take entrance exams – 7% more than in 2024 – thanks to their wins at the I Am a Professional contest (64 people), Mega Contest (86 people), the Portfolio Contest (668 people), the Congress of Young Scientists (80 people), Mega School (198 people), and other competitions.

Prospective Master’s students could choose out of 82 programs in 13 subject areas: programming, AI, biology, cybersecurity, engineering sciences, humanities, ecology, biotechnology, chemistry, robotics, energy, physics, as well as economics and innovations. Among the most applied-for programs were Artificial Intelligence, Highload Systems, and Data Analytics. 

PhD studies

As for PhD programs, ITMO received a total of 3,064 applications from 770 aspiring scientists. The ratio of applications for PhD programs equaled 4.5 people per position – up 11% since last year. As a result, 258 tuition-free and 34 fee-based students were enrolled. 

ITMO’s PhD programs continue to attract international students. In 2025, the university received applications from students from 11 countries – with students from 8 countries admitted. Among them were citizens of China, Kazakhstan, and Pakistan.

For future PhD students, there was a choice of 53 specializations across 11 subject areas: information technologies, AI, cybersecurity, physics, chemistry, biology, ecology, engineering sciences, robotics, humanities, biotech, and foodtech. Most of the programs implement two tracks – industrial and academic – that students can choose from. Among the most sought-after programs were Computer Sciences and Informatics (6.05 people per position), Information Technologies and Communications (5.2 people per position), and Physical Sciences (2.95 people per position).