QS-APPLE Creative Awards recognize the importance of creative and compelling designs in effective communication and brand building for universities. Other nominations include most creative corporate institution video, best international print advertisement, best international recruitment brochure and most creative booth.

To be recognized in the Best International Website Page category, the site needs to sport quality design and usability features that would entice visitors to connect with university’s representatives. It also needs to load quickly, have no empty pages and be interactive. A key feature is quality and diverse content. Each criterion can gain up to 10 points. The sites were evaluated by independent judges.

Daria Kozlova, Vice Rector for International Relations at ITMO U, was delighted to receive the award. "Our team work got high praise from our international colleagues," she said. "That means that our strategy, our brand and priorities are understood by our representatives of foreign universities and that we’re on the same wavelength."

ITMO University’s website is a proprietary product. Its design and strategy are based on queries from its top audiences — students, faculty and researchers. The goal was to make accessible, useful and easy to navigate.