Published on: 2026-06-10
Source: Saint Petersburg Polytechnic University of Peter the Great –
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In the Administration of Saint Petersburg, a solemn closing ceremony of the second season of the career guidance project “Smolny School,” implemented by the Committee for State Service and Personnel Policy in cooperation with the city’s leading universities, took place. One of the key partners of the project was traditionally the Saint Petersburg Polytechnic University of Peter the Great.
The project is aimed at forming in students a conscious approach to choosing a future profession and popularizing civil service as a promising direction for professional development. Among its main tasks are the development of pre-professional competencies, increasing youth interest in public administration, familiarization with the work of government bodies, and the formation of the personnel potential of Saint Petersburg.
At the closing ceremony, the Vice-Rector for Continuing and Pre-University Education of SPbPU, Dmitry Tikhonov, delivered a welcoming speech: The completion of the “Smolny School” project has become an important event for all its participants and partners. For Saint Petersburg Polytechnic University, participation in this initiative is an opportunity to contribute to the development of the system of early career guidance and support for talented youth.It is especially important that we have been participating in the project for the second consecutive year and can observe how its scale and the interest of schoolchildren in a conscious choice of a professional path are growing. The “Smolny School” unites government authorities, educational organizations, experts, and the students themselves in an effort to help young people determine their future educational and professional trajectory. Thanks to such cooperation, participants gain valuable experience, new knowledge, and the opportunity to familiarize themselves with the prospects of education and career development in various fields.I am confident that this experience will become a reliable foundation for the graduates for their further professional growth.
The project and its participants were highly appreciated.
“Smolny School” is an excellent project that helps high school students reveal their personal qualities. During participation, I became familiar with the profession of a civil servant and made new friends. Participation in the project allowed me to decide on the choice of professional activity,” noted a student of school No. 598 with advanced study of mathematics, chemistry, and biology of the Primorsky district of Saint Petersburg, Fyodor Ladeishchikov.
I really liked the “Smolny School” at the Politeka site! There were many interesting events — I especially remember the master classes: there we didn’t just listen, but actually did and tried something ourselves. The lectures were clear, and the speakers were friendly, you could even discuss various questions with them. It’s great that everything was organized so conveniently: nothing was prolonged, but there was enough time for everything. I learned a lot of new things, met interesting guys, and realized that civil service is really fascinating. Overall, it was cool and will definitely be remembered for a long time!— shared impressions about the past season a student of school No. 375 of the Krasnoselsky District of Saint Petersburg, Ksenia Tretyakova.
For the project participants, a rich educational program was prepared on the platform of five partner universities, including Politechnic. In the second season of the project, 96 schoolchildren from 12 educational organizations from various districts of Saint Petersburg took part. The Institute of Industrial Management, Economics and Trade acted as responsible for the implementation of the project “Smolny School” at Polytechnic.During the second season, schoolchildren visited career orientation excursions around the campus, learned about the history of the university’s founding, got acquainted with the architectural heritage and modern opportunities for education and scientific activities. The children got to know the educational laboratories and educational spaces, learned about study programs, participated in interactive lectures, master classes, and business games.
An important part of the second season of the “Smolny School” was the team competition on public administration “At the service of the city,” developed and organized by IPMIT for all project participants. Schoolchildren designed a comfortable urban environment for a new district of Saint Petersburg, taking into account issues of infrastructure development, transport accessibility, economy, and territorial management.
Participation in the “Smolny School” is once again included in the list of individual achievements of applicants to the Saint Petersburg State Polytechnic University of Peter the Great for 2026. Project participants will be able to receive an additional 5 points when enrolling in SPbPU.
In the second season, we managed to significantly strengthen the program and make it more intense and practice-oriented. We aimed to create a space for schoolchildren where they can not only gain new knowledge but also actively interact with experts, work in teams, discuss current issues, and try themselves in solving real tasks.High engagement of participants and sincere interest in the events showed that such a format is in demand and helps the guys better understand their professional interests and opportunities for further development,” noted Maksim Ivanov, Deputy Director of IPMEIT, curator of the “Smolny School” project at SPbPU.
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