ITMO is LOVE

It is impossible to explain why and the reason for it, but I am 100% sure that it is so. However, I am not quite sure that the feeling is reciprocal. This fact excites me more and more and pushes me to seek love from science again and again. Like a mysterious lady, science always remains a mystery.

It is impossible to fully understand science, which means that our relationship is going to be quite long. The only problem is that many other researchers are also falling in love with science. However, I don’t worry about it toо much since there is plenty of room for all of them in modern science. Many problems remain unsolved, many discoveries are yet to be done and many “Eurekas” are still waiting to be exclaimed.

Kirill Alexandrov, Director of Special Projects:

ITMO is love. Despite the fact that I’m one of ITMO University’s PR people who promote this slogan, for me, this phrase is not just marketing. For me, ITMO is a big, diverse and incredibly creative family. Many people at ITMO are not just competent colleagues but also real friends we spend more time with than we do at home. It was while working at ITMO that I got married, and created my own little ITMO.Family. My wife also used to work here, and now we’re raising a child together, who in the future will get an excellent education at our ITMO. Considering that, how is it possible not to know what is ITMO.LOVE?

Ilya Kuftiryov, Director of Rankings Research Center:

It's already more than 10 years that I've been engaged in international relations at university. When I was a kid, I was dreaming about planes, I wanted to be a pilot, just to see the whole world under my wings and to feel how great it is to manage a huge aircraft. Today, I understand that my dream came true: no, I'm not a pilot, but international relations is also like opening yourself to the world, expanding your horizons, removing barriers between countries and paving the way for new discoveries and partnerships. When you go international, you have to be speedy, aim high and think about improving your skills every day, keep up your lift force and enable maximum effectiveness at your job. Working in the international department...Hmm, believe me - it's very high, 100% velocity and 0% boredom. It has always been a never-ending flight for me, almost- like-hobby job, and I love it. And always will. Internationally yours, Ilya.

Anna Huddleston, ITMO News English Portal Editor:

I love it when a story comes together. When you didn’t know at the beginning how it is all going to fit, and then it magically does. I love it when a team comes up with a better idea than I ever could. I love it when our stories make people’s lives easier, help them find inspiration or solve a problem. When they can quickly find the answer to their question because we did our job right. And I love it that working on stories gives us access to the brightest and the bravest people of our time and the people who are truly moving the world forward. Even if for a little while, we get a rare chance to stand close to greatness and then do our best to share it with the world.

Polina Petrusha, Head of Internationalization Office:

Marketing is the love of my life. We've been together for 25 years. Long enough, yes? It all started with passion, of course. I was young and impressionable. Marketing showed me the bright world of understanding people's needs and satisfying them. Who could resist? Obviously, not me.

Later I understood that marketing can't solve all the problems of today’s economy, so I tried to detach myself from it. I tried at least three times. Financial management, project management, innovations. And every time it ended with finding myself implementing marketing instruments in whatever field I was. Finally, I agreed with my professor and guru Igor Mann: "Everything that happens in a company is marketing".

So we’ve started a new chapter in our relationships with marketing: we are together but don’t limit our relations to each other. I implement marketing knowledge and experience in various academic activities: from traditional promotion to analysis and verification of thousands of portfolios in students’ competitions. Marketing has also changed a lot since our first date. Social media, Instagram, apps - so much to understand and to get used to.  

You may ask, what part of marketing I love more but I’ll tell you: if your love is genuine, you just accept it all, as it is.

English Editorial Office