"This is the first time we are holding a Summer School with ITMO University. We were inspired by the Magic of Light exhibition that was in Moscow this winter. We closely cooperated with its curators, and many of the students that took part in the summer school worked as volunteers at the exhibition. Having worked at such an interesting event, they had a unique experience, and we're really thankful to our St. Petersburg colleagues for that", - tells Oleg Myisluk, the school's head.
The school took place from 18th to 24th of August. ITMO's young scientists prepared lectures for the school on voice information technologies, videomatics, computer-based optics, nanomaterials, nanotechnologies in photonics and optical information, modern geoinformational and optoelectronic systems. The guests also got the chance to experience the daily life of St. Petersburg's students, as well as do some sightseeing.
According to Oleg Myisluk, there were several reasons to choosing ITMO as the host for this event. ITMO University, as well as the Institute of Electronics and Mathematics, both have programs in physics and programming. What’s more, in ITMO there are several disciplines that are not presented at MIEM, but can be very interesting for students from Moscow. These lectures were a kind of an introduction to these new disciplines, though they implied that the students already had a considerable background in exact sciences. Thus, among the students who came to St. Petersburg were those who study computer, electronic and applied engineering, as well as future computer security specialists. The students were from different years of their Bachelor's degree, as well as one Master's Degree student, who applied for the program by writing a motivation letter.
According to the school's participants, the opportunity to visit ITMO was great, as they will soon have to choose a university for their Master's program, and ITMO proved to be one of the best choices. What's more, many were attracted not only by the range of programs, but also by the chance to visit ITMO's laboratories and meet its scientists.
"I wanted to know what ITMO is about, its philosophy, so to say. And I can say that I did. I was pleasantly surprised by the number of young talented lecturers who are not even in their thirties. I really liked the lecture given by the head of the Speech Technologies Center's research department", - notes Anna Pypusheva, a junior for the Institute of Electronics and Mathematics.
Another participant, sophomore Valentina Lenkova, learned about the field of light design from the school. The girl was really impressed by the master class of ITMO's Creative Light Design School head Natalya Bystryantseva. The lecturer talked about how public lightning has to work - in Russia and worldwide, and supported her presentation with successful examples from Sochi and Moscow.
"The summer school's structure was really good. The lectures were something different: I've never imagined that such complex subjects can be explained so easily. Yet, everything turned out great: the young scientists provided us with comprehensible examples, answered all our questions - they even turned the lecture on lasers into an enthralling quest. We also had enough time to digest all the new knowledge. The only thing I would've added to this summer school is more time for practical lessons: setting up something similar to the OLIMP laboratory, for instance. And I would've been happy to see guests from ITMO at our university", - concludes MIEM's senior and a future computer engineer Alexandra Kuratova.
Oleg Myisluk shares that after the participants get back to Moscow and rest, they will have to answer a survey on what can be done to further improve this initiative. He himself agrees with his students that this first experience was a success. Still, he notes that there have to be more opportunities for ITMO's and MIEM's collaboration in the future.
"Our universities are amongst the leaders of Project 5-100. Thus, we certainly have to cooperate. I hope that we'll be able to improve this summer school and have it next year as well. Also, we hope to see ITMO's students as our guests - we also have a lot to show them", - concludes Oleg Myisluk.
