ITMO – Top University Choice Among Contest Winners

More and more talented students opt for ITMO as their alma mater from year to year; in 2024, the university welcomed 681 winners and prize-winners of academic competitions and in 2023 – 565. This year, ITMO University set a historical record in terms of enrolled contest winners. 

As noted by the university’s Admissions Office, two-thirds of applicants enrolled via competitions in mathematics and computer science; other fields include physics, chemistry, computer security, AI, and machine learning. The majority of prospective students were admitted to the university thanks to their wins at the Open Competition for school students and various subject fields of the National Technological Contest.

IT-related programs at ITMO traditionally remain the most popular among contest winners; these are Software Engineering, Computer Technologies, AI Engineering, and System and Applied Software. Other popular fields include natural sciences, namely physics and chemistry. This year’s applicants also showed an increased interest in AI360: ML Native, a Bachelor’s program for future AI architects by ITMO, Yandex, and Sberbank.

“At ITMO, we regularly review our educational programs to adapt to changes in technology and labor market. Our applicants know that here they will receive not only fundamental knowledge but also hands-on experience from industry leaders. Leading specialists from bigtech and other major sectors help us build our curriculum; they teach at the university and involve our students in their tasks. Once a talented and hard-working student graduates from ITMO, they experience no drastic changes – they can continue to do the job they were headhunted for here two years ago,” comments Vladimir Vasilyev, Rector of ITMO University.

ITMO offers support for talented applicants and students. Competition winners and students with high Unified State Exam scores can take advantage of the ITMO Priority program. Participants enjoy an enhanced stipend of 180,000-300,000 rubles per year, dormitories in the city center, career consultations, and additional mentors.

In 2025, ITMO offers 26 Bachelor’s programs in five subject areas: physics, information technologies, economics and innovations, engineering, and life sciences. Many of the programs are supported by Yandex, Sberbank, VK, Avito, and other major tech companies, and offer specialized courses, internship and employment opportunities, as well as special stipends for students.

Since this year, ITMO is one of the top universities in Russia that will be training highly qualified AI specialists in 2025-2030. In total, the university will receive around 350 million rubles in grant funding to develop top-level educational initiatives. These initiatives will be available to students of the following programs: AI360: ML Native, Computer Technologies, AI Engineering, Software Engineering, and Neurotechnologies and Programming.

Another project, currently underway at ITMO, is a national role-based competency model for AI specialist training, which can serve as a backbone of the country’s new higher education system. The project is ordered by the Russian Ministry of Digital Development, Communications and Mass Media.