Published on: 2026-09-01
Source: Peter the Great St. Petersburg Polytechnic University –
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On the first day of autumn, the traditional meeting of the Polytechnic University staff with Rector Andrey Rudsky took place in the White Hall — it was timed to coincide with the start of the new academic year.
The Polytechnic University received congratulatory telegrams from the Government of the Russian Federation, the Ministry of Science and Higher Education, and strategic partners. Honorary guests personally came to congratulate the polytechnic community on the start of the academic year: Irina Ganus, First Deputy Chairperson of the Committee on Science and Higher Education of Saint Petersburg; Mikhail Amosov, Deputy of the Legislative Assembly of Saint Petersburg; and Mikhail Astashkevich, Head of the Administration of the Kalininsky District. Each of them delivered a welcoming speech, and Mikhail Amosov also read out congratulations from the Chairman of the Legislative Assembly, Alexander Belsky.
Before continuing the meeting, the polytechnic community commemorated the memory of colleagues who passed away during the last academic year: senior lecturer of the Higher School of Jurisprudence and Forensic Expertise Yulia Vladimirovna Dorovskaya, professor of the Higher School of Industrial Management Viktor Andreevich Dubolazov, associate professor of the Higher School of Technosphere Safety Sergey Vladimirovich Efremov, associate professor of the Higher School of Jurisprudence and Forensic Expertise Artyom Igorevich Klinitsky, leading specialist of the History Museum of SPbPU Alexander Nikolaevich Kobyshev, leading engineer of the Light Materials and Structures Laboratory Vladimir Viktorovich Mikhailov, head of the UNESCO chair “Quality Management in Education for Sustainable Development” Vladimir Valentinovich Okrepilov, user support service specialist Alexey Alexandrovich Savinov, repair and maintenance worker Irina Alexandrovna Semernya, auxiliary worker of the rolling stock maintenance and repair department Andrey Viktorovich Serov, plumber Vladimir Seliverstovich Stepanov, and associate professor of the Higher School of Mechanics and Control Processes Alexander AlekseevichSukhanova, Professor Vladimir Yakovlevich Frolov of the Higher School of Electric Power Systems, Professor Sergey Viktorovich Ermak of the Higher School of Applied Physics and Space Technologies.
After a minute of silence, the Rector of Polytech, Andrey Rudskoy, delivered the annual inaugural report on the results of the past year and plans for the upcoming one.
“I wholeheartedly congratulate you on the beginning of the new school year, — began the university head in his speech. — Due to my profession, I have to speak a lot, but I am most nervous when I stand behind this very podium. It is very responsible and honorable to speak in the White Hall, before such a distinguished assembly. Today we are together, our entire large family of polytechnic community, summing up the results and outlining plans on how to develop our alma mater even more effectively.
The main outcome of the past year, according to Andrey Ivanovich, was that the Polytechnic confirmed its status as a leader in science and education. The university again entered the top ten of the national RAEX agency ranking: it took first place in the country for construction, second for mechanical engineering and robotics, maintained its position in the top five for energy, nuclear technologies, and materials science. In mathematics, the university rose from eighth to fifth place.
Polytech also entered the top seven Russian universities according to Times Higher Education (THE) and the top 11 in the international QS ranking. It confidently debuted in the Times Higher Education Interdisciplinary Science Rankings (ISR), entering the top 400 worldwide and ranking 10th-11th in the country.
These results show that, despite the challenging external conditions for Russian science and education, our university remains one of the recognized leaders in engineering and technical education not only in Russia but also worldwide. And this is the merit of each of you — teachers, scientists, staff, and students, whose work strengthens the reputation of our university every day, — emphasized Andrey Rudskoy.
The rector explained how systematic work is carried out at the university in accordance with the Strategy and Development Program of the university until 2030 with a perspective until 2036. Last year’s report was reviewed and approved by the Council for Technological Leadership: the university met all the indicators of the roadmap.
Our mission is formulated very specifically: we create knowledge and carry out developments to ensure Russia’s technological leadership. At the core of our target model is the collaboration of a qualified performer with a qualified customer. This is a movement from current activities toward targeted changes and a scientific-technological breakthrough,” noted Andrey Rudskoy.
He reminded that the University’s Development Strategy is focused on three key scientific and technical directions: systems digital engineering; materials, technologies, production; artificial intelligence for solving cross-industry tasks.
These CNTNs include 21 joint projects with industrial partners. More than 500 projects have been completed in the interests of high-tech companies, with a total volume of over 3 billion rubles. A new proprietary product has emerged — the multimodal data analysis platform “Polanis,” which has already been included in the Unified Register of Russian Software of the Ministry of Digital Development, Communications and Mass Media of the Russian Federation.
Commenting on the results of educational activities, Andrey Rudskoy shared the outcomes of the admissions campaign: in 2026, the university received 290,000 applications for admission (almost twice as many as in 2025) from 51,000 individuals. The average score for state-funded places was 86.2 (an increase of 3.7 points compared to last year). 230 people were admitted based on the results of Olympiads, 335 under the targeted quota, and 345 under a separate quota for participants of the special military operation and their children. A distinctive feature of this admissions campaign was that paid places were filled to 98%: there was competition for almost all programs. In total, following the admissions campaign, the polytechnic family will be supplemented by 11,000 people.
The university launched 26 new main educational programs, including three dual qualification programs (in cooperation with the Belarusian-Russian University), seven corporate programs for Gazprom, Silovye Mashiny, and NPO Obukhov Plant. In collaboration with Rosatom, a six-year program called “System Digital Engineering” has been developed. The university operates more than 50 practical training sites for PJSC Severstal and the Autonomous Nonprofit Organization FC BAS.
The university has implemented an internal corporate system of individual achievements (SIA), involving more than 11,000 students and 350 teachers.
In the 2025/2026 academic year, a professional-public accreditation was conducted for six educational programs: two were accredited by the All-Russian public organization “Russian Professorial Assembly,” and four bachelor’s and master’s programs underwent international accreditation and were included in the Asia-Pacific Quality Assurance Register.
Andrey Ivanovich reported that the Institute of Nuclear Energy in Sosnovy Bor is celebrating its 30th anniversary this year.
Over the years, a great deal of work has been done, and today we can proudly say that 100% of the institute’s graduates are successfully working both in science and in managerial structures. Incidentally, the head of the Sosnovoborsky city district is a graduate of the institute, noted Andrey Rudskoy.
One of the most important indicators of a university’s efficiency is the results of its scientific activity. Andrey Rudskoy reported that the total income from science amounted to 4.8 billion rubles. The growth compared to last year was almost 9%. The volume of grants from the Russian Science Foundation (RSF) and the Saint Petersburg Foundation increased to 320 million rubles, and the number of applications rose by 11%. The state assignment from the Ministry of Science and Higher Education brought over half a billion rubles to the Polytechnic.
This year, we opened a training laboratory for aircraft and shipbuilding, created an Engineering Center for additive technologies in power engineering, and invested 210 million in a project for the delivery of radionuclides for cancer therapy, — gave examples Andrey Rudskoy.
20 million rubles have been allocated to the student design bureau “System Engineering” (drones, atomic technologies, transport mobility). To ensure that students’ ideas and motivation to engage in science do not fade, the university created a Scientific and Technical Development Fund from its own resources. Thanks to this fund, laboratories for optical materials science, biomedical engineering, and geophysics have been launched.
The focus is on market products for technological leadership and import substitution. AI solutions are being developed for malignant tumor therapy using machine learning and neural network analysis methods.
Scientists at Polytech are solving problems for the Arctic: a robotic system has been created for cleaning snow and dirt at −40 °C; the expected savings for northern regions amount to over 1.5 billion rubles over eight years.
The flagship of the university in systems digital engineering is the Advanced Engineering School “Digital Engineering” (AES). It participates in three national technological leadership projects.
A number of tasks have been completed under the orders of the State Corporation “Rosatom”: from creating digital twins of the reactor core and vitrification furnaces to fuel rod failure models; an experimental prototype compressor for the separation-sublimate complex was also developed and manufactured.
PISH is the main center for unmanned aviation. The CML-Bench® platform is used by UAV developer companies. A new software suite for designing electric propeller-motor units was presented at “Archipelago-2025.”
This academic year marks the launch of the master’s program “System Digital Engineering of Unmanned Aerial Systems.” Over two years, students will design and test four of their own drones and earn two qualifications.
PISh works proactively: developments for industry become products, and students go through the journey from idea to testing already during their studies.
Moving on to the university’s international activities, Andrey Ivanovich noted that despite the closure of Western directions, Polytech’s partnership network has grown to 283 organizations. China remains the main strategic vector. In 2026, Polytech was visited by the president of Tsinghua University, academician Li Luming. Deputy Chairman of the Government of the Russian Federation Dmitry Chernyshenko awarded Polytech the status of a key partner of Zhejiang University. Two joint institutes in China operate at full scale, where about 1,000 Chinese students study. Thanks to these projects, the number of foreign students increases annually due to transfers to senior courses. This year, similar joint structures will start operating in Kyrgyzstan and Iran.
New partners have emerged in Indonesia, Vietnam, Tajikistan, South Africa, Morocco, and Chile — 68 new agreements have been signed.
The development of the “Slavic Universities” project and the consortium “Russian-African Network University (RAFU)” continues.
We remain leaders among technical universities in terms of the number of international students. Currently, more than 5,000 foreign students from 107 countries are enrolled in the main educational programs. Another 2,600 people have completed training through additional programs and modules of the Summer Polytechnic School, — noted Andrey Rudskoy.
In his report, the rector spoke about the development of the university’s infrastructure both at present and in the future, the modernization of material and technical resources, the renovation of laboratories, classrooms, dormitories, and recreation facilities.
The main project for the coming years is the construction of the Technopolis “Advanced Digital Manufacturing Technologies.” On Gidrotekhniki Street, it is planned to build an educational and laboratory building with an area of 52 thousand square meters, a dormitory for 1,500 places, and a school-lyceum for 550 students. The legislative formalization of permits is at the final stage, and the pre-project materials have been approved by the city committees and federal ministries.
Speaking of other facilities, for example, 25 rooms of enhanced comfort have been opened in the “Maximum” hotel, the second phase of the garden landscaping has been completed in Kholomki, and the restoration of cultural heritage sites “Bathhouse” (pass office) and “Clinic with pharmacy” is nearing completion in the Polytechnic campus.
An important event of 2025 was the ceremonial opening of the lecture hall named after Professor Elena Silnikova in the Main Building. Lecture halls of the Institute of Industrial Management, Economics, and Trade were put into operation; overall, a large amount of repair work was carried out at the university.
The rector also touched on the issues of the university’s digital transformation: the transition from individual information systems to the creation of a unified secure digital ecosystem continues, making educational, scientific, and administrative processes more convenient, transparent, and efficient. An electronic key system has been implemented in the Main Building, and a unified digital registry of premises is being formed. Applicants have gained the opportunity to sign education contracts entirely electronically. The ‘Virtual MFC’ continues to actively develop, through which more than 15,000 services have already been provided to students and teachers.
A corporate messenger in the “My Polytechnic” system has been created for daily collaborative work of employees, as well as the VK WorkSpace digital platform, combining mail, calendar, cloud storage, and document management, has been implemented.
The university is also fundamentally changing its approach to personnel matters: hiring will become entirely electronic, and the process of providing financial assistance has been moved online.
In his report, Andrey Rudskoy highlighted the university’s youth policy sphere. Starting September 1, a pilot project of a new discipline for freshmen, “Polytechnic: Values and Opportunities,” will be launched. This course combines psychological support, security, extremism prevention, university history, and opportunities for creativity, sports, and self-development. In the future, this discipline will become mandatory for students of all courses.
The university is creating an environment for the realization of the potential of polytechnic students, and the students confirm its effectiveness: by participating in the “Your Move”, “Robot Battle”, “StudStartup”, and “Rosmolodezh.Grants” contests, they have attracted over 30 million rubles for the implementation of their ideas.
Moreover, students of Polytech share best practices with the entire country: last year, together with the Mashuk Knowledge Center, they prepared two methodological manuals for the Russian higher education system: “Student Curatorship of Academic Groups through Mentorship” and “Mentorship: Implementation Practices in Higher Education.” The development of these practices involved attracting 2.4 million rubles of external resources.
Great attention is paid at the university to musical and aesthetic education and the spiritual and moral development of students. For 19 years in a row, Polytech has been engaging in conversations with students during “Creative Semesters” not only about art and music but also about history. The Polytech student club is considered the largest among universities in St. Petersburg. This year, the university organized festive graduation ceremonies for each institute.
The sports life of Polytech also pleased with its results. In 2025, SPbPU took second place in the overall championship of Saint Petersburg among universities with a student body exceeding ten thousand people. The football team won the gold of the Premier League for the first time in ten years, the City Cup, and triumphed in the top division of the National Student Football League. Kirill Prigoda won two medals at the World Aquatics Championships. At the chess boxing championship, Polytech students earned nine medals toward the team gold for the Russian national team.
The university’s media activity is confirmed by high rankings in the media rating of the Ministry of Science and Higher Education of Russia. In July 2026, the university topped the ranking and retained first place in August. Last year, bright projects such as “Formula of Art” in collaboration with the State Hermitage and “Place of Birth” together with the Karpinsky Institute, dedicated to the Year of Unity of the Peoples of Russia, were launched.
Concluding the report, Andrey Rudskoy said: Allow me this comparison: Polytechnic stands on four pillars: education, science, infrastructure, and most importantly — the people, the polytechnic community! I want to thank each of you, thank you for your work, for your patience and faith in the future of Polytechnic. What we achieved last year is the result of your personal professionalism and dedication to your beloved work. Ahead lies a new academic year, and ambitious goals await us, but we are ready for them, because we are a team.
September 1 is a holiday for the entire university, but it is especially important for the faculty. That is why, for several years now, the awarding of winners and prize-winners of the “Best Teacher Seen by Students” contest has taken place during the solemn meeting dedicated to the beginning of the academic year. This year, the university administration decided to present the best educators not only with competition diplomas but also with the university’s highest award — the distinction badge “For Merit.” Everyone except the winner in the category “Best of the Best,” Professor Sergey Ustinov from the Higher School of Software Engineering at INCC, who already has the “For Merit” badge.
Congratulating Sergey Mikhailovich on yet another victory in the “Best Teacher Through the Eyes of Students” contest, Andrey Ivanovich presented the badges of distinction to the other winners and prize-winners of the contest: to Associate Professor of the Physics Department Vadim Kozhevnikov, assistant of the Department of Physical Training and Sports Maxim Basov, Associate Professor of the Higher School of Service and Trade Elmira Nazarova, Senior Lecturer of the Department of Physical Training and Sports Mikhail Mzhelsky, Associate Professor of the Department of Physical Training and Sports Sergey Sidorov, Associate Professor of the Department of Foreign Languages Maya Bernavskaya, Associate Professor of the Higher School of Production Management Anton Shaban, Senior Lecturer of the Higher School of Linguistics and Pedagogy Andrey Koshkin, Senior Lecturer of the Higher School of Software Engineering Alexander Petrov, Senior Lecturer of the Higher School of Linguistics and Pedagogy Evgenia Vorontsova, Associate Professor of the Department of Physical Training and Sports Oksana Ustinova, Senior Lecturer of the Higher School of Biotechnology and Food Production Maria Kireeva, Senior Lecturer of the Higher School of Industrial, Civil, and Road Construction Anna Zanin, Associate Professor of the Higher School of Atomic and Thermal Power Engineering Irina Paramonova, to the senior lecturer of the Higher School of Hydraulic and Energy Construction Andrey Shavva, Associate Professor of the Higher School of Computer Technologies and Information Systems Elena Benderskaya, Associate Professor of the Higher School of Linguistics and Pedagogy Elena Krylova.
Also, for his significant contribution to the scientific and pedagogical activities of the university, many years of conscientious work, and successful completion of especially important and complex tasks, the head of the laboratory “Computational Hydroaeroacoustics and Turbulence,” Mikhail Strelets, was awarded the distinction badge “For Merit.”
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