The AI Alliance ranked universities based on several criteria, including graduates’ employability, quality of educational programs, initiatives for school students, and academic recognition. The ranking took into account open-source information, as well as survey findings and data provided by the Russian Ministry of Science and Higher Education.
“Our leadership in the ranking is primarily due to our consistent and diverse AI endeavors in the last 10 years. Thanks to the wide network of industrial partners that our frontier centers and laboratories have, our graduates not only can boast core knowledge and skills in the field, but also understand the market’s pain points and can think outside the box. Our performance in the ranking serves as a seal of quality for our prospective students and business partners,” comments Vladimir Vasilyev, the Rector of ITMO University.
AI lies at the root of ITMO’s scientific and educational area of focus, which ranges from chemistry, genomics, and biotechnology to robotics, urban studies, and materials science. Its advances open the way for training top-tier professionals, incorporating machine learning tools across various industries, and promoting a product approach and business thinking among lecturers and students
The Research Center "Strong AI in Industry" was established as part of the federal Artificial Intelligence project to produce AI technologies that can perform creative tasks normally done by humans (e.g., engineers, designers, technologists, or managers). In collaboration with Gazprom Neft, the center is working on a decision support system for planning the development of natural deposits.
Other joint projects include optimization of business and organizational processes, as well as automatic design and operation of sites and facilities in the Arctic region. In 2022, the AI Alliance accredited four university programs, two of which are implemented at ITMO University – the Big Data and Machine Learning Master’s program and a professional development program on the same subject.
