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PE and PI at ITMO
A PE (Principal Engineer) heads a group of engineers and therefore has to know the market, be able to test their ideas and attract investments, as well as manage a team of experts in different fields. At ITMO, such specialists can get their training at the Advanced Engineering School that launched in 2022 and was named best in Russia based on its performance in the first year.
PIs (Principal Investigators) head research groups where members engage in various scientific projects. Apart from leading their teams, PIs decide on their fields of research and specific projects, manage the development path of each team member, and secure grants or partners to fund their research.
Read also:
Research & Manage: Who Are Principal Investigators?
Researcher Oleg Borisov on Being a PI and Creating Robot Dogs in Russia
At PI School: Rising Stars, young researchers have the chance to define their career paths and train as new PIs or PEs. Apart from attending lectures by top experts in research, education, and business, participants form teams to solve cases featured in the program.
Open lecture by Andrey Volkov, the head for research of the Priority 2030 program at PI School: Rising Stars in 2022. Photo by Dmitry Grigoryev, ITMO.NEWS
Who should apply
The school is primarily aimed at Master’s and PhD students, as well as postdocs with strong leadership skills who have already implemented their own projects in research, education, or business.
School program
Just like last year, the school will include two modules.
The first module, May 18-20, will be all about lectures by ITMO’s top PIs and PEs who engage in frontier research, as well as specialists in Russia’s scientific and educational policies and representatives of high-tech companies and venture funds. For instance, Pavel Belov, a professor of the Russian Academy of Sciences, head of ITMO’s School of Physics and Engineering, will talk about his own path to becoming a PI and the tools he used to get there. Another talk will be given by Anton Elistratov, CEO of Samolet group, on every aspect of project development. Moreover, the participants will learn about looking for funding and partners and assembling product teams.
The second module will take place in September-October 2023. There, the participants will form teams and will try their hands at tackling real-world cases from among the challenges faced by ITMO’s industrial partners. For example, they will form a plan for automating technological processes at a production site.
How to get in
Fill in this application form, the deadline is May 5.
Apart from your personal information, you will need to specify your primary area of interest (e.g., education, research, engineering, or entrepreneurship) and describe what exactly you do in this field.
You will also have to link your letter of motivation, explaining why you want to take part in the school, and your academic CV with all your major achievements.
Participation in the school is free of charge, but the places are limited. You can send any questions you have about the school to csn@itmo.ru.
