Fundamentals of Plasmonics (in English)
This online course on the fundamentals of plasmonics will start on June 21 and will last for five weeks.
Plasmonics is a newly emerging and fast growing branch of physics at the junction of nanotechnology, subwavelength optics, quantum mechanics, and solid state physics. The field of plasmonics studies how light interacts with metal nanostructures and induces tiny oscillating electrical currents along the surfaces of the metal and the semiconductor.
“We had been thinking about launching this course for quite a long time for two reasons. First, plasmonics is a very fast growing field, as it has many applications. For example, it can be used to increase the sensitivity of sensors, improve the resolution of optical lithography, and even build nanometer scale lasers. Some ideas have already been implemented and successfully commercialized. There are many companies that develop devices based on plasmonic nanostructures, e.g. Plasmonics-inc, or LamdaGen,” commented Andrey Bogdanov, one of the course developers, an associate professor of the Department of Nanophotonics and Metamaterials at ITMO University.
The course is divided into five sections: electromagnetic properties of metals, surface plasmon-polaritons, localized surface plasmon resonances, bulk plasmon-polaritons, applications of plasmonics. Every section consists of 10 video lectures of about 5-7 minutes each, and self instructional materials.
This course is aimed at both Russian and international students majoring in physics and having basic knowledge of electrodynamics and solid state physics.
The course is developed by Andrey Bogdanov and Mikhail Petrov, research associates of the Department of Nanophotonics and Metamaterials at ITMO University, in collaboration with students from the Department of Nanophotonics and Metamaterials Danil Kornovan, Ivan Toftul and Oleg Ermakov.
Statistical Methods in Innovation Management (in Russian)
This online course was launched on March 12 on the Open Education Platform, and will last for 10 weeks. It is the first course in this field in Russian. The main idea of the course is to introduce students to the analysis of statistical data on innovations.
“We want decision-making processes to be based on statistical data, as it allows to identify the tendencies in the field of innovations. The aim of this course is to teach students to analyze statistical data on innovations when making decisions. Our motto is Non scholae, sed vitae discimus, which means We do not learn for school, but for life” comments Tatiana Maksimova, head of the Department of Financial Strategy at ITMO University.
According to the developers of the course, it is aimed at intellectually curious students who want to find answers to the following questions: how can we measure innovation? Why would we do that? Where do statistics on innovation come from and what do they mean? How can we use statistical data to improve decision-making process?
The course consists of several video lectures by top ITMO teachers, and a practical part that includes several tasks, and a workshop on statistical data analysis. At the end of the course, students take an online-test and receive a certificate.
The course was developed by experts in the field of statistics and its applications in economics. Among the developers are Elena Bogdanova, head of the Department of Intellectual Property and Innovation Management, Tatiana Maksimova, head of the Department of Financial Strategy, and Irina Popova, an associate professor of the Department of Financial Strategy.
3D modeling (in Russian)
This online-course was also launched on March 12 on the Open Education Platform, and it will last for 10 weeks. Unlike the first two courses, which require basic knowledge in the field, this course in 3D modeling is open to everyone with basic computer skills.
“We had such a course in 3D modeling before, but it was in a text format and only available via our own online-learning system. But recently we realized that video courses are more popular than other formats, and Open Education is one of the most popular online learning platforms in Russia. That’s how we came up with the idea of this new course in 3D modeling. When developing this new course, we took into account all the shortcomings of the first version. And I think we've done a good job, as the program has become much handier and easy to use”, said Philip Perepelitca, head of “Autodesk” International Science and Educational Center.
The developers of the course say that the main emphasis of the course is on 3D modeling using 3ds Max. During the course, students learn how to create 3D polygon models. As a result of the course, students will learn to use 3ds Max and build 3D models of various complexity.
