Published on: 2026-09-25
Source: Peter the Great St. Petersburg Polytechnic University –
An important disclaimer is at the bottom of this article.
The opening of the fifth season of corporate master’s programs of “Gazprom Neft” was held at the Polytechnic. Since 2022, when the first two joint master’s programs started, their number has tripled. In the current academic year, the sixth corporate program — “Robotics” — has already been launched.
Students who chose joint programs of SPbPU and Gazprom Neft for their studies met with the program leaders and experts and learned about the prospects and opportunities of the education.
Greeting the participants of the meeting, the first vice-rector of SPbPU, Vitaly Sergeev, thanked the partners for their long-term cooperation and joint programs, which, among other things, are a factor of stability, very valuable in our time.
Without strong corporate support, it would have been impossible to implement such interesting projects, emphasized Vitaly Sergeev.
Addressing the students, the vice-rector highlighted the uniqueness of this training format: on one hand, they find themselves within the company’s infrastructure with its corporate culture and rules, and they have the opportunity over two years, through solving practical tasks, to understand what it is and what is expected of them; on the other hand, they use the infrastructure of SPbPU — not just a good material and technical base, but also concentrated up-to-date world-class information, interdisciplinarity, and a selection of the best achievements in various fields. Competences from almost all institutes of the Polytechnic participate in the educational process, and one must consider what can be implemented in one’s own work when entering the company, to contribute both to its development and to the capitalization of one’s own success.
Head of the ITAT training system development program (information technology, automation, and telecommunications — Editor’s note) Leonid Potapov of Gazprom Neft thanked the university for the cooperation and the students for choosing the corporate master’s program for their studies. He shared that during the admissions campaign, three of the six programs ranked in the top 5 in the competition: “IT Economics and Business Analysis,” “Management of Information Systems Support, Quality, and Continuity of IT Services,” and “Enterprise IT Infrastructure.”
Leonid Potapov spoke about the company “Gazprom Neft,” the key features and advantages of corporate training programs, project activities, the possibility of receiving a corporate scholarship, and other details.
“Our company will pay special attention to those guys who have a mutual interest, — he emphasized. — Let me remind you that we have non-targeted training. That is, you make your own choice, and our company makes the same choice regarding you. 58 percent of the graduates of our programs were employed by the company. It was their personal choice and Gazprom Neft’s choice.
The scientific supervisor of the Gazprom Neft Research and Education Center for Information Technologies and Business Analysis, Irina Rudskaya, thanked everyone who was involved in the establishment of educational cooperation between Polytech and Gazprom Neft, introduced the employees of the research and education center whom one can contact for all questions related to corporate master’s programs, and noted that master’s studies include many activities.
“Master’s programs include a significant component of research work, — reminded Irina Rudskaya. — You will have a wonderful opportunity to prove yourselves as researchers. I wish you to be persistent, determined, brave, and to remember that the future does not begin when you graduate from your master’s program; it begins now, and you are already working on your future.
At the meeting, the students met the heads of each educational program and experts from Gazprom Neft — their future instructors.
About the program “IT Economics and Business Analysis” Anna Filina, head of the business analysis development department at Gazpromneft-TSR, and Angi Skhvediani, associate professor at the Higher Engineering and Economic School of IPMEiT, spoke.
The program is aimed at training specialists in the field of business analysis, enhanced with modules of specialized focus and project activities within the framework of research work on Gazprom Neft’s business cases.
Teachers and mentors prepare highly qualified specialists equipped with knowledge in economics and IT, ready to work in the context of digital transformation and taking into account the specifics of Gazprom Neft.
During the training process, students solve real business cases from Gazprom Neft under the guidance of mentors from the company: they analyze data, develop IT solutions, and defend projects before clients in real project teams.
After completing their studies, students can work as business analysts, systems analysts, business process analysts, investment analysts, product analysts, financial analysts, risk management specialists
Enterprise IT Infrastructure Program The head of the computational infrastructure department at Gazpromneft ITO, Vyacheslav Cherkasov, and the associate professor of the Higher School of Software Engineering at IKNK, Igor Nikiforov, presented.
The master’s program trains highly qualified engineers, architects, and project managers capable of creating, practicing, and implementing information technology processes that ensure the efficient and productive operation of company infrastructure.
The training includes working on real corporate projects of Gazprom Neft, participation of company experts, and the opportunity for employment in IT divisions.
Students work on real IT projects of Gazprom Neft in the format of research and project activities: they develop the architecture of corporate infrastructures, design cloud platforms, virtualization systems, and data centers for the company’s oil and gas facilities.
Graduates of the program will be able to work in the following specialties: IT architect, IT project manager, information systems specialist, IT infrastructure design engineer, system engineer.
Program “Telecommunication Systems in the Oil and Gas Industry” focused on digital infrastructure, communication systems, and the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) for the oil and gas sector. Its features were described by Roman Shchiry, head of the connection implementation group at Gazpromneft ITO, and Alexander Gelgor, director of the Higher School of Applied Physics and Space Technologies at the IEiT.
Students will be taught to design, implement, and ensure the reliable operation of telecommunications systems that are critical for production management and the information security of company facilities.
Every semester, students solve telecommunications problems: they model and design communication networks, develop data transmission channels and information security systems for company facilities, and defend their solutions before experts under the guidance of mentors.
Graduates will work as network architects, network engineers, data transmission engineers, and design engineers.
Master’s program in “Cybersecurity of the Oil and Gas Industry” The presentation was given by the head of the information security department of Gazpromneft-CR, Yana Galimova, and the associate professor of IKNC, Denis Ivanov. They explained how specialists with advanced competencies in cybersecurity and cyber resilience will be trained to protect critical cyber environments of the oil and gas industry.
Student project work includes solving real-world tasks across specialized tracks — from identity management and leak protection to incident investigation and malware analysis — with personalized feedback from information security directorate specialists.
The education received will enable graduates to become specialists in areas such as network security, infrastructure protection, secure application development, industrial control systems protection, personal data and critical information infrastructure protection, information leakage control, as well as analyzing cyber threats and conducting investigations.
The only master’s program in Russia in ITSM management — “Information Systems Support Management, Quality and IT Services Continuity.” She was introduced by Anton Smetannikov, Head of the Service Solutions and Continuity Department at ITAT Gazprom Neft, and Evgeny Pavlov, Senior Lecturer at the Higher School of Software Engineering, ICNC.
Students master the full lifecycle of IT services, work on real corporate projects, and get the opportunity for employment in companies. The program is enhanced with modules of specialized focus and service activities based on the company’s business cases.
Students will learn to create stable, fault-tolerant, and efficient IT services, manage the operation of IT solutions, and ensure business continuity for a large industrial company.
Project work under the guidance of mentors from the Service Solutions Department involves the development of ITSM solutions: automation of support processes, designing an incident and service quality monitoring system, and ensuring business continuity.
Graduates will be able to work as specialists in IT service operability quality management, specialists in ensuring the continuity of information systems and production operability, as well as specialists in interacting with business clients in the area of service operation.
About the new program “Robotics” The head of the Gazprom Neft advanced development program, Ilya Odnolokolov, and the director of the Higher School of Automation and Robotics of IMMiT, Olga Matsko, spoke.
The program is designed for those who want to develop industrial and anthropomorphic robots, implement them, and control them, participating in technological transformation.
Project work is built around real tasks of creating intelligent robots: students program ROS in C/C++ and Python, develop navigation, computer vision, and robot control, participate in hackathons and laboratory projects. They solve cases related to anthropomorphic robot navigation, 3D mapping, and computer vision for working with objects, preparing for a career as a robotics developer, AI engineer, or systems engineer.
Upon completion of the program, graduates will receive the following specializations: robotics engineer, design engineer, cyberneticist, developer of automated control systems, and roboticist.
After the official part, the students were able to communicate informally with the program leaders.
Please note; This information is raw content obtained directly from the information source. It represents an accurate report of what the source claims and does not necessarily reflect the position of MIL-OSI or its clients.