ITMO University in Top Group for Priority 2030

ITMO’s strategic goal for 2030 is to train world-class specialists for the R&D sector and implement highly innovative projects that will have a direct impact not only on the country’s social and economic development but also on individuals. 

“We strive to build a network-centric university where businesses are not customers but an equal part of the process and graduates receive the needed support to set up their own tech companies,” highlights Daria Kozlova, First Vice Rector. “We’re happy that the program board supports our development strategy. With their assistance, we will be able to demonstrate our technological advances in sensorics, telecommunications, robotics, and green technologies, transform the major scientific and business processes with cutting-edge AI technologies, and integrate digital projects on personalized monitoring methods and health management.”

The mission of ITMO’s new development strategy titled Open-Source University is to boost scientific progress, ensure a high technology readiness level (TRL 7-8) of ITMO’s products, and facilitate the transformation of science, business, and the social sector by integrating strong-AI-based technologies and collaborating with the industry. 

In pursuit of its goal, the university plans to create a quantum network to provide secure communication and maintain the key fields of activity (financial markets, self-driving cars, etc.), improve the quality of life by introducing innovative methods of health monitoring and diagnostics,  develop ecosystems for digital avatars with social reflection and community adaptation, and create an autonomous railway monitoring system called Silk Road that utilizes drones, smart sensors, and predictive analytics.

Together with Russian Railways, ITMO University is already working towards the creation of the first-ever quantum “highway” network spanning the entire territory of Russia. This large-scale tech project provides for a new level of safe and rapid data transfer at the intersection of photonics and quantum physics. 

The Priority 2030 National Program offers universities an annual base grant of over 100 million rubles, as well as a chance to receive special funding for research and industry leadership. The amount of special grants is reviewed within separate competitions. The board selected 46 universities to receive a special grant within the research leadership track. All winners are divided into three groups each receiving a different amount: the first group will receive 994 million rubles, the second – 426 million rubles, and the third – 142 million rubles by late 2022.  

Earlier on, ITMO University was named as one of the top Russian universities that will receive a grant of 100 million rubles as part of the program. 

Priority 2030 is a strategic academic leadership program and the largest state project aimed at supporting universities in Russia. The program’s mission is to develop a core of universities that will become the centers of the country’s scientific, territorial, and technological development and will produce top practices in research, education, and innovation.