Since 2018, a total of 97 student clubs have been opened at ITMO University. They offer a wide range of opportunities for intellectual, creative, social, professional, and physical growth.

“ITMO prioritizes the development of balanced personalities. We find it crucial to provide all kinds of extracurricular student activities, and clubs are one of the ways to do that. Clubs gather like-minded people among students and staff and help them acquire new skills and experiences by organizing events in their field of choice,” says Andrey Zlenko, head of the Student Initiatives Support Department.

Hard skills

There are many clubs at ITMO where you can work on your programming skills, implement research projects, and create prototypes.

For example, Info Lab, a club of the Faculty of Infocommunication Technologies, holds meetups with representatives of IT companies and the university’s graduates, where the speakers talk about team development, project management, and starting a career. The club also organizes the ICT.Bootcamp school and ICT.Hack hackathon, where students can try their hand at web and app development.

For those more interested in creative and research projects in optics, photonics, and lighting technologies, there is the Student Technical Optics Laboratory. There. you can find a 3D printer for making the necessary parts, an optical bench for drawing up optical circuits, and optical elements. You can also learn how to work with CAD programs and process lenses.

At the OLIMP Open laboratory you can take part in workshops, upgrade your skills in 3D modeling, robotics, programming, optics, design, as well as smart home and biotechnologies. Its experts will help you create a prototype or a project to present at the Legko festival or other exhibitions.

In case you feel like inventing, contact FabLab Workshop and Laboratory. It allows students to work with different equipment from a thermopress and oscillograph to a 3D printer and scanner. The staff will help you with your high-tech prototypes and sales, as they did for the Evapolar team – and now their portable PC earned over $100,000 via the crowdfunding platform Indiegogo.

Soft skills

The Agile Club for flexible management was launched by Anton Blik, a third-year student at the Faculty of Technological Management and Innovations.

“I’ve been working as a Scrum master and transformation consultant in various companies for over a year and decided to create a club at ITMO, where students could learn about the Agile method, a crucial tool in the modern BANI world. It’s important for both developers and project managers,” says Anton.

ITMO Debate Club teaches how to handle facts, argue, and express your opinion. Debates are an international intellectual role-playing game where participants must substantiate their position and argue with their opponents in a strictly regulated way. Club members gather every week for training and take part in tournaments.

Arts and more

The Artmo digital art studio offers workshops for artists on such topics as academic drawing, human and animal anatomy, as well as working with PhotoShop and SAI. The members also participate in challenges and meet in person once a week. Last year, they designed shoppers and created a visual novel. You’ll be able to meet them on September 8-9, 2022 as part of the ITMO.Enter club festival.

“I love drawing and I wanted to pursue this at the university, but there were no artist clubs at ITMO, so I decided to find like-minded people and launch one. Now we have a place to gather, communicate, and work on our skills,” says Anna Ushnova, a second-year student at the Faculty of Control Systems and Robotics and the club’s head.

Sustainable Development Club contributes to the search for solutions of global economic, social, and ecological problems through hosting a series of events in various fields.

“We’ve covered a wide range of topics, from medical humanities and gender stereotypes to nuclear energy and eco initiatives in international universities. Now we’re preparing for the festival othersiders – a discussion on our world without nature,” says Elina Monakhova, one of the club’s leaders and a third-year student at the Faculty of Technological Management and Innovations.

The Cute Hedgehogs Academy is all about student-to-student education. In a cozy and friendly atmosphere, you’ll get to take courses and attend lectures or workshops hosted by your fellow students. This fall, the club plans to launch courses on literature, drawing, working with Notion, English, and psychology, according to Olivia Kammer, a third-year student at the Faculty of Photonics and head of the club.

Indoors and outdoors

Daria Sennikova, a second-year student at the Faculty of Nanoelectronics, was so passionate about long-distance hiking with her friends that she created her own travel club Nogi Svelo! Hiking is a great way to commune with nature and to test your strength. Once Daria and her team hit 85,000 steps (54 km) in one day! 

“Usually one of us suggests a route and others support them. We choose a date and time when we will set off, as well as where and how we will rest. As a rule, we have no more than five people on our team,” explains Daria Sennikova.

If you’re a bit more of a homebody who enjoys computer games but grew tired of multiplayer online battles, then try your luck at the student club for avid lovers of quick reaction games Osu!, Beat Saber, Geometry Dash, Just Shapes & Beats, and A Dance Of Fire And Ice. Pavel Yuriev, the club’s head and a second-year student at the Information Technologies and Programming Faculty, knows them all and is ready to train newcomers, too. 

“I always had a thing for rhythm games. I really enjoyed feeling the rhythm in my body, fingers, and even eyes. After all this time, I’m still a pretty good “dancer” and a professional  osu!mania player,” shares Pavel Yuriev.

Everybody dance

Fans of K-pop music who are dying to dance like BTS, Blackpink, or ITZY are welcome to join a student K-pop dance club named Cover Dance ITMO.

“When I entered ITMO, I strived to participate in all university activities and that’s what brought me to one of the StudentsUp events where I learned about different opportunities for students. Since I’ve always been big on Asian culture and dances, I knew exactly what kind of club I wanted to open,” says Eva Vinnikova, a fourth-year Bachelor’s student at the Faculty of Infocommunication Technologies.

In three years, the club’s participants managed to choreograph several dances at the student club of the Vyazemskiy’s dormitory and perform at Millenium K-Pop Party. Apart from dance practices and cover dance video shootings, they also throw themed parties and random dance events where anyone can be the start of the dance floor. 

Strip & Vibe, on the other hand, is meant for all those who are more into relaxing dances and stretching. The club typically holds open classes 2-3 times a week where everyone can pick up some basic dance moves and shoot themselves dancing to track their progress. The class instructor is Olga Efremova, a graduate of the Faculty of Software Engineering and Computer Systems, who has been dancing for over five years. As noted by Olga, in two years, her club has become a small family where everyone support and help each other. 

These are just some of the clubs existing at ITMO. Click here to find a list of all university student clubs to find something for your liking. 

How to join or create your own club

If you’d like to join a club, all you need to do to reach out to its head, while creating your own one will require a few more steps to take. 

First things first, you need to outline your club’s aims and goals. You can open a club in fields like science and innovation, sports, student governance, art and culture, entrepreneurship, and so on. 

Then, you have to build your own team by finding like-minded people among the members of ITMO.Family. 

Once your team is ready, you need to fill out an application form, including a full and short name of your club, its field of activity, description, form of membership (open, private, or by approval), online resources, a six-month plan, and a list of members and their contacts,

The last step is to submit your application via ISU and undergo an approval process. After you apply, you will receive your answer within five business days. On average, the university reviews four to five new applications per month. 

Your application may be denied if you didn’t submit all the required information, failed to have at least three members in your team or your club’s activity does not comply with the Russian laws or the university’s charter or local acts. 

What’s new this year

The club heads are now eligible to receive financial aid from the university to compensate for the costs of media support, transport, and rental. Starting this fall, the university is testing a rating system to enhance the transparency of fund allocations and find growth opportunities for clubs. Higher scores go to those clubs that meet the university’s requirements, perform well, participate in grant contests, and bring partners and media attention to the university. 

Another change coming is that now the university will provide personalized recommendations on extracurricular activities. All newcomers can complete surveys on their interests and hobbies, after which they will get suggestions to join this or that club or launch their own. This way, students will have more opportunities for growth and adapt to university life sooner.  

“By engaging students in extracular activities and monitoring clubs’ performances, we will be able to improve our services for student organizations. We will expand the club-related features of ISU and my.itmo, invite specialists from leading companies to be our experts, partners, or club mentors, as well as help us define growth points for clubs and develop separate projects,” stresses Polina Glatenok.