Bachelor’s studies

In 2026, 1,635 students were enrolled in tuition-free positions. In total, 12,279 students applied to ITMO Bachelor’s programs, which is 4,000 more than last year. The number of applications has also significantly increased: in 2025, the Admissions Office received 21,000 applications, while in 2026, it was 32,800 – a new record for ITMO. The average points of applicants have also grown to reach 96.3 – which is 2.1 more than last year.

ITMO attracts school students not only from St. Petersburg, but from other regions of the country. For instance, the university receives more and more applications from Moscow: last year, applicants from Moscow and Moscow Oblast amounted to 9% of all applications, while this year, the number is 11%. Other top regions by the number of applications are the Republic of Bashkortostan, Sverdlovsk Oblast, Krasnodar Krai, and the Republic of Tatarstan.

875 winners and runners-up of contests for school students enrolled in the university without exams. That’s one of the best results in the country, the highest in St. Petesburg, and a new record for ITMO.

1,457 students were enrolled in fee-based positions; that’s 209 more than in 2025.

The most popular subject fields among Bachelor’s applicants are information technologies and artificial intelligence. This year, they were chosen by 1,046 applicants; these programs also have the highest entrance scores. At the same time, there is a growing interest in engineering and natural sciences: for the subject field Chemistry, the entrance threshold was 310 points, for Physics – 301 points, for Bioengineering Systems and Technologies – 287 points, and for Technical Physics – 281 points.

In 2026, applicants could choose from 27 Bachelor’s programs within five subject fields: physics, information technologies, economics and innovations, engineering, and life sciences. Many of these are implemented in collaboration with leading tech companies (Yandex, Sberbank, VK, Avito, and others) and include practical training and internships at companies with employment opportunities and special scholarships for students.

Master’s studies

This year, 2,797 students were enrolled in tuition-free positions, while 1,050 students will be studying on a fee-paying basis; that’s 310 more than last year. Over the course of the admissions campaign, the university received Master’s program applications from 9,936 students – compared to last year, the number of applicants grew by 33%.

As a rule, the university’s Master’s programs attract applications from all over the country. This year, the majority of applicants came from Moscow, the Republic of Tatarstan, and Novosibirsk Oblast.

ITMO offers applicants many opportunities to enroll in its Master’s programs not only with their exam results, but also with various contests and competitions, including the Portfolio Contest, Mega Contest and Mega School, and the I Am a Professional contest. In 2026, 606 applicants used this option. For instance, 243 students were enrolled based on the I Am a Professional contest, 363 – based on the Mega Contest, and 1,131 – based on the Portfolio Contest. 

This year, applicants had a selection of 80 Master’s programs to choose from. These encompass 13 subject fields, including AI, information security, robotics, biotechnologies, and others. The majority of Master’s programs are supported by industry leaders: Yandex, Alfa-Bank, Sberbank, VK, Napoleon IT, Positive Technologies, YADRO, Gazprom Neft, Tatneft, BIOCAD, and others. This approach allows students to learn directly from industry experts, acquire relevant skills, and polish them on real business cases, as well as intern at partner companies and get employed during their studies.

Among the most popular programs with applicants this year are High-Tech Business Management, Artificial Intelligence, and Molecular Biology and Biotechnology.

PhD studies

In total, the university received applications from 1,274  young scientists. In 2026, the competition was 3.27 applications per position. 254 students were enrolled in tuition-free positions and 57 – enrolled on a fee-paying basis.

ITMO’s PhD programs continue to attract international researchers: this year, the university received applications from 33 countries. Admitted were young scientists from 18 countries, including Bulgaria, China, Ecuador, and Burkina Faso. 

ITMO offers PhD programs in 46 specializations within 13 fields: information technologies and telecommunications, computer sciences and informatics, physical sciences, biotechnologies, chemical technologies, materials sciences, and others. Importantly, the university has 13 Academic Degree Councils in 35 specializations, as well as the only fully digital PhD defence system in Russia. Almost all specializations offer two tracks to choose from: an academic and an industrial one.

The following subject areas received the greatest number of applications:

• 1.5 Biological Sciences (7.2 applications per position), 
• 2.3 Information Technology and Telecommunications (5.0 applications per position), 
• 1.2 Computer Sciences and Informatics (4.1 applications per position).