Published on: 2026-07-13
Source: Novosibirsk State University –
An important disclaimer is at the bottom of this article.
On July 9, the grand opening of the 51st Summer School of Young Programmers (SSYP) took place in the main building of Novosibirsk State University. The organizers are the A. P. Ershov Institute of Informatics Systems of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Novosibirsk State University, and Mathematical Center in Akademgorodok. The school is designed for students in grades 3–11 and will take place from July 9 to 22, 2026.
The summer school for young programmers was founded in 1976 by the outstanding scientist, academician Andrey Petrovich Ershov — one of the pioneers of domestic cybernetics and systems programming. The first school, then still called the Summer School of Young Cyberneticians, gathered children from Kharkov, Barnaul, and Novosibirsk. The central event of those days was the students’ work on real terminals at the Computing Center of the Siberian Branch of the USSR Academy of Sciences, where they could communicate with leading programmers and scientists.
Since then, the school has become a unique platform, bringing together passionate students from across the country and laying the foundations of school informatics as an independent discipline. Today, the key goals of the school are the development of scientific and technical creativity, in-depth study of information technologies, testing and refining advanced early education methods, as well as professional orientation of students in the field of IT. Participants do not just study theory—they immediately apply their knowledge in practice by creating real projects.
At the opening, the director of the training center directorate of JSC “CFT” delivered a welcoming speech. Vasily Tararyshkin:
— I am amazed and inspired by you. It is summer now, vacation time, and yet you have chosen to study and develop yourselves. This shows your desire to grow in your profession. I hope you decide to study at NSU — it provides an excellent knowledge base and many opportunities. And we, as partners, are always happy to support such initiatives and help talented young people find their path in the world of high technology.
This year, many participants are students from the fourth, fifth, and sixth grades. It is noteworthy that they successfully handle projects that were previously only manageable by high school students or even university students — we are talking about algorithmic tasks and complex data structures. The organizers attribute this both to methodologies developed over decades and to the characteristics of the new generation of children, who are immersed in a digital environment from an early age.
A total of 57 students study at the school, and three apprentices assist the masters — these are experienced schoolchildren who already possess professional-level programming skills and can perform technical functions by advising their junior peers.
The geography of the participants is impressive: Moscow, Saint Petersburg, Barnaul, Saratov, as well as almost all districts of Novosibirsk, Berdsk, and Iskitim. The organizers note that attracting out-of-town participants in large numbers is now more difficult than before, since the school operates in a daytime inpatient format without round-the-clock residence. However, those who do come endure two weeks of intensive classes even in the summer heat in university computer labs — meaning that the students’ interest and motivation are very high. They come every day from the Kalininsky or Dzerzhinsky district, not missing a single day — that is priceless.
This year, 10 thematic workshops have been organized, each dedicated to a specific area in programming: from web development and mobile applications to artificial intelligence, machine learning, and robotics. The workshops are conducted by experienced instructors and developers from the institutes of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences and IT companies in Novosibirsk.
The first two days feature presentations from the workshops — the participants creatively present their projects, and then the actual work begins, which includes both theoretical classes and practical assignments. Furthermore, daily overview lectures on natural sciences and humanities are held, which help broaden horizons and show the connection between programming and other fields of knowledge. The lectures by Tatyana Dmitrievna Kolesnikova are especially popular; she has been addressing schoolchildren since the early 2000s and knows how to captivate even the youngest listeners.
The school’s program is designed so that each participant can try out different roles. The children work in small project groups where responsibilities are distributed: someone acts as the ideologist, someone develops algorithms, someone is responsible for interface and design, and someone handles testing. In this way, they gain team experience similar to working in a real IT company or scientific laboratory, where everything is grown-up and genuine.
— You can’t learn everything in two weeks, but we can show the kids the profession from the inside, teach them how to work in a team, distribute tasks, and see a project through to the end. Most importantly, we help them understand whether they enjoy programming and if they should tie their future to it. We can’t teach you everything, but we can teach you how to learn. And the most important qualities you develop are curiosity, perseverance, and the ability to find and fix mistakes. Programmers are creative people, and the school helps to unlock this creativity. — said the deputy head-coordinator of LShYUP, a researcher at the Institute of Systems Informatics, associate professor of the Department of Discrete Mathematics and Informatics Faculty of Mechanics and Mathematics of NSU Tatiana Tikhonova.
The Summer School for Young Programmers continues the traditions established by Academician Ershov and remains a place where future personnel for Russian science and the IT industry are born. Many alumni of the school enter NSU and other leading universities of the country, and then become sought-after specialists.
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