Published on: 2026-06-30
Source: Novosibirsk State University –
An important disclaimer is at the bottom of this article.
The Ministry of Digital Development and the Analytical Center under the Government of the Russian Federation summarized the resultssecond competitive selectionthe “TOP-IT” project aimed at training TOP specialists in the IT field. Novosibirsk State University received the highest number of points and became the absolute winner of the competition in the “TOP-IT START” category — for universities that had not previously participated in the project. NSU will receive grant support of 200 million rubles for four years to implement a new bachelor’s program “Industrial Software Engineering Technologies,” which will allow training top-level IT specialists capable of quickly reaching the level of a middle developer after graduating. In total, 38 applications were submitted for the “TOP-IT START” category, 34 of which met the requirements.
—“TOP-IT START” is a federal program designed to meet the requirements of large IT companies for training highly qualified IT specialists. The contest conditions imply significant co-financing from the IT company — at least 30% of the grant amount. At the application preparation stage, we collected confirmations from partners for co-financing of about 50%. The anchor partner of our program is the Center for Financial Technologies, with whom we have a long-standing fruitful collaboration and a successful joint project — the SHIFT laboratory (School of Information and Financial Technologies),— commentedMikhail Lavrentyev, Dean of the Faculty of Information Technology (FIT) at NSU, Corresponding Member of the Russian Academy of Sciences.
The enrollment for the new program will be 100 students. Applicants will apply to the Faculty of Information Technology for both state-funded and paid places. Afterwards, following admission, a selection contest is held, the winners of which will be transferred to the new educational program “Industrial Software Engineering Technologies.”
—The program is implemented based on a new competency-role model, which assumes intensive participation of industrial partners and a high level of practice orientation (internships start in the first year). All key professional competencies are formulated by experts from major IT companies and our leading universities: what a graduate of a top-level educational program in the IT field should know and be able to do, which skills should be mastered during the training. The “TOP-IT” educational program produces students who, even during their studies, as part of internships and practical training with industrial partners, must reach the level of a junior developer, are proficient with modern development tools and technologies, have verified practical results, a professional portfolio of completed projects, and are capable of quickly advancing to the level of a middle developer shortly after graduation., — she saidMarina Derzho, senior lecturer at FIT NSU.
The competition imposed very strict requirements on the quality of the teaching staff: teachers can be either specialists from the largest IT companies with experience in implementing complex projects, or educators from the academic community who have published articles in first-level “White List” journals, registered patents, and other intellectual property results.
—The new bachelor’s program “Industrial Software Engineering Technologies” will train engineers capable of working in real IT production from the first day after graduation. Its key principle is deep integration into the industry already during studies: students work on real projects, understand the internal workings of the IT business, and fully participate in industrial development,— explainedAlexander Vlasov, deputy dean of FIT NSU for master’s programs, head of the new educational program.
The new program is based on two main principles: first, project activities, practice, and internships in companies begin from the second semester of the first year; second, the cases must be as close to real-life as possible, meaning the program’s anchor partner transfers educational cases directly from the industry into education.
At the Faculty of Information Technology of NSU, the principle has been implemented for many years that most FIT students are working and integrated into the IT industry by the time they defend their bachelor’s thesis. Therefore, the concept of the new program fit well with the approaches typical of the education system built at NSU’s FIT.
“Close partnerships with large IT companies and our own educational and research laboratories allow us to build training around real practice. At the same time, we maintain the key feature of education at NSU — a deep integration of professional IT courses with mathematics. This combination improves the quality of training and helps students enter the profession faster: from the very beginning, they see how ‘dry’ theoretical knowledge turns into working tools for real IT projects,” explained Alexander Vlasov.
The number of industrial partners of FIT NSU is increasing.
—We recently gained a new partner — Postgres Professional, which is practically the only Russian developer of database management systems. The company approached our university, is very satisfied with our graduates, opened an educational and scientific laboratory and its branch at FIT NSU. The company has already implemented in its software products the results obtained by our bachelor’s graduates of this year. It is precisely for this reason that companies come to us, are satisfied with the cooperation, will actively participate in the “TOP-IT START” program, and continue funding other projects not related to this program.— concludedMikhail Lavrentiev.
A significant number of FIT NSU’s industrial partners, representing various segments of the IT industry, indicates a high demand for the faculty’s graduates among employers. The involvement of both current and new partners in the new educational project demonstrates a positive development dynamic for the faculty.
Last year, NSU already becamethe winner of the federal grant competition for training top specialists in the field of artificial intelligenceand launched a new bachelor’s program “Applied Artificial Intelligence,” which is implemented at the Institute of Intelligent Robotics. The enrollment for the program in 2026 will be at least 150 people.
Please note; This information is raw content received directly from the source. It is an accurate report of what the source claims and does not necessarily reflect the position of MIL-OSI or its clients.