Reasons to apply right now

Russian universities will begin accepting applications on June 20: this is the date when offline and online admissions offices will open all over the country. Applicants will be able to submit their documents by mail, offline, and online – via Gosuslugi (an online services platform for Russian citizens and residents – Ed.) or their personal page on a university’s admissions portal. 

If you are applying to ITMO, however, you don’t have to wait until June; instead, starting from April 1, you can sign up on the university’s admissions website.

Advantages for early applicants:

Pick from all available educational programs and create your individual admissions track. On the admissions website, you can find each program’s curriculum, additional opportunities, and reviews from its graduates. Moreover, Admissions Office specialists will help applicants find fitting programs or alternatives. Additionally, by applying via your personal page, you will be able to choose a specific program you wish to apply to (if applying within a select subject area) and sort your programs by priority.

Keep track of the admissions campaign. Once your application has been processed, you can find your name on the list of applicants, which is updated once a day. In July, the lists of those recommended for admission will also be made public; it will be possible to track changes in those via your personal page. You can find all the relevant key dates on the admissions website. 

Take your time with uploading the necessary documents. All uploaded documents will be reviewed by Admissions Office staff. If something is incorrect or missing, you'll still have plenty of time to edit your information or procure and upload additional documents. Once everything is in order, you will be registered in the system. Moreover, on your personal page you can also upload other documents (such as medical certificates needed for a dorm stay) and apply for the dormitory placement queue in advance. 

Increase your chances of admission. Admissions Office specialists can answer any questions on personal achievements that can earn you additional points, as well as the documents needed to confirm them. This means that you can learn exactly how many extra points you will receive – your confirmed personal achievements will be marked by a comment on your personal page. Also on your personal page, you can apply to ITMO’s entrance competitions ITMO.STARS (in Russian) and KRONBARS.STARS (in Russian). International applicants can address their questions to international@itmo.ru. 

Stay in touch with the Admissions Office. You will be able to ask questions directly to the office’s specialists via a form on your personal page – and they will be able to provide you with all the necessary information. You won’t have to search for it online or reach out to the Admissions Office by other means of communication.

By signing up on the admissions website now, international applicants can have the opportunity to start revising for ITMO’s entrance exams right away, as well as start collecting their visa documents. This is also the alternative way to apply online for those who don’t have a Gosuslugi account.

Programs to explore

Bachelor’s studies. This year, applicants can choose from 26 educational programs within six subject areas: Physics, Information Technologies, Engineering, Life Sciences, Economics and Innovation, and Interdisciplinary Studies. All ITMO’s Bachelor’s programs are offered in Russian, so you will need to take an entrance exam in Russian. At ITMO, you can enroll in the Foundation Program, an intensive course that will equip you with general and subject-specific knowledge of Russian that's necessary for your studies.

Learn more about each program, its curriculum, entrance exams, and more on the Bachelor’s programs section of the admissions website.

Master’s studies. There are even more Master’s programs on offer at ITMO, with their number growing every year – in 2025, there are 83 options to choose from. Three of them are brand new: Natural Gas Transportation, Generative Technologies for Design of Urban Environments, and Product Management in AI.

ITMO also offers 13 online Master’s programs, including Frontend and Backend Development, a program launched in collaboration with Yandex Practicum this year.

Many of the programs are co-developed with the university’s industrial partners, including Yandex, VK, Sberbank, Gazprom Neft, Huawei, YADRO, BIOCAD, and others. For ITMO students, this means lectures by the companies’ experts, special competitions, joint educational modules, and scholarships, as well as the opportunity to intern at these corporations.

Learn more about each program, its curriculum, entrance exams, and more on the Master’s programs section of the admissions website.

Additional application opportunities

Bachelor’s programs.

Competitions. Winners and runners-up of Russian national competitions can enroll at ITMO without exams (given that the subject of the competition corresponds to the subject area they are applying to). Additionally, there is a list (in Russian) of other contests that enable school students to enroll without exams after they confirm this privilege with a USE score of at least 75 in the program’s key subjects. 

Winners and runners-up of Russian national competitions, as well as those who scored 100 on two USE exams, can use the admissions fast track ITMO.Priority (in Russian).

ITMO contests. For six years, ITMO has been hosting ITMO.STARS, a contest for students with their own research or social projects, inventions, or startups. With ITMO.STARS, such talented students can enroll at ITMO even if they don’t have enough USE points. Over 60 applicants entered ITMO via the competition, many of them continuing to develop their projects at the university. Applications to the contest are accepted until July 18; you will need to fill out an application form and score at least 60 points in the required USE exams. Learn about last year’s winners here.

Professional footballers, basketball players, or rowers can also apply via a special competition and secure a scholarship. For this, they will need to score the minimal USE points, as well as describe their achievements in sports in their application for the KRONBARS.STARS contest. Winners of both  ITMO.STARS and KRONBARS.STARS can study at any ITMO program tuition-free.

Those applying with their USE scores can receive additional points for their personal achievements. The full list of achievements and points can be found here (in Russian). Additional opportunities for international applicants are listed here.

Learn more about additional opportunities at abit.itmo.ru/en.

Master’s programs.

Competitions. Winners and runners-up of ITMO Mega Contest and the I Am a Professional contest can enroll in Master’s programs without exams.

Portfolio Contest. To participate in the competition, students will need to describe their research, engineering, or interdisciplinary achievements (depending on the program) – find out more details here (in Russian). At some programs, your publications and conference participation is important, at others – your creative projects, and at others still – your GitHub page. The most important thing is to fill out and submit your application in a timely manner. The contest, which is already ongoing, will be held twice: the first application deadline is June 1 and the second – August 5.

Contests. Each Master’s program has its own list of contests that allow students to enroll without exams; the full list can be found here (in Russian). For instance, you could participate in the Congress of Young Scientists, ITMO Mega School, or the Technosphere case championship. Additional opportunities for international applicants are listed here.

Learn more about additional opportunities at abit.itmo.ru/en.

Application deadlines

Applications to Bachelor’s programs will be accepted until July 25. You can learn more about this year’s admissions process in detail in one of our previous stories.

12 pm (GMT+3, Moscow time), August 1 is the deadline by which students applying without exams need to confirm their enrollment. 

12 pm (GMT+3, Moscow time), August 5 is the deadline by which students applying for tuition-free positions need to confirm their enrollment.

For those applying to tuition-free positions in Master’s programs, the application deadline is August 19. Applicants for tuition-free positions must confirm their enrollment by 12 pm (GMT+3, Moscow time) August 24. Those applying to fee-based positions will need to submit their documents by September 4. Learn more about this year’s admissions to Master’s programs here.

More information about confirmation of enrollment for international citizens will be made available at a later date. If you have any questions, reach out to the International Admissions Office at international@itmo.ru.

How to follow the admissions process

All the relevant information, including key dates, is published on ITMO’s admissions website. 

You can also follow the university’s official pages in English (VK and Telegram), as well as pages for ITMO applicants to Bachelor’s (VK and Telegram) and Master’s (VK and Telegram) programs for updates.