ITMO’s Shares Benefits of Master’s Program in Artificial Intelligence

The Russian IT industry is found lacking about 1 million specialists, with data scientists, machine learning specialists, and data analysts being in most demand. The good news is, these are the kind of specialists trained at ITMO’s Master’s program Artificial Intelligence. This online program offers industry-oriented practical training, in addition to a wide array of studying and career opportunities.

Key aspects of the program
Artificial Intelligence is a flagship educational program launched as part of the project (part of ITMO’s ) with a goal of achieving a whole new level of specialist training in the field of AI through distance learning, industry internships, and business cases.

Formerly known as Machine Learning in Engineering, the program was opened in 2022 in partnership with to enroll a record-breaking number of students – 106 tuition-free applicants, with 4.2 people per position – in its first year. The selection process was modeled after assessment practices of IT companies and included a technical skills test and an interview with real HR specialists.

In the 2023-2024 academic year, the Master’s program will expand to welcome around 200 talented young IT experts, changing its format and name.

“This program was launched with the support of ITMO’s 2030 Development Strategy. From the very start of the admission campaign, we noticed a great interest from applicants with diverse backgrounds and professional goals seeking to try their hand at different branches of AI – be it computer vision, natural language processing, recommendation systems, predictive analytics, machine learning in biotechnology, data engineering, or data science – and land their dream job,” says Dmitry Botov, the head of AI Talent Hub, an associate professor at ITMO’s Institute of Applied Computer Science, and a data science partner at Napoleon IT.


Program curriculum
The program is aimed at training highly sought-after specialists in the field of artificial intelligence. Possible career options include:

Data scientists;
Data architects;
Data engineers;
AI architects;
Technical data science analysts;
AI projects managers.
Unlike other programs, Artificial Intelligence is an online Master’s program based on industry experiences, meaning that each student has the chance to learn from practicing IT experts and build their own individual learning track without the need to focus on just one specialization. The program takes two years to complete.

The program’s students will have access to over 100 courses on machine learning, neural networks, programming in C++, Python, Java, Scala, and Kotlin, computer vision technologies, natural language processing, recommendation systems, data collection and analysis, smart systems, databases, big data technologies (e.g., Hadoop, Spark), project management and data science products, the methodology and implementation of data-driven solutions, and machine learning in genomics, chemistry, and biotechnology.

The courses are developed by the Institute of Applied Computer Science, the Advanced Engineering School, and other faculties and departments of the university, as well as top IT and non-IT companies, including MTS, VK, Yandex, Sberbank, Tatneft, Napoleon IT, Huawei, and others. Students are also offered a wide range of optional courses by top corporate schools, such as VK’s MADE, Yandex, and MTS.Teta.

As part of the program, students will gain hands-on experience working on real projects from the program’s partners starting immediately in their first year. Throughout their studies, they will receive individual mentorship from the industry’s experts, and will be able to attend workshops, hackathons, as well as project and case seminars by AI Talent Hub and the program’s partners.

“We’re proud of the program’s graduates. Its students participate in a number of our pilot projects and are integrated into our business operations. This way, they have the opportunity to put what they learned into practice. To help them reach their full potential, we’re doing our best to regularly organize hackathons and meetups with mentors, as well as support startups,” comments Ruslan Akhtyamov, Napoleon IT’s co-founder.


The online Master’s program by AI Talent Hub is integrated into ITMO’s Advanced Engineering School (AES). As part of the program, students can apply for a new educational track called Principal Engineer. It is aimed at training future leaders of engineering teams. The track’s students will take part in real interdisciplinary high-tech development projects, sourced from the Advanced Engineering School’s partners, which include Tatneft, Russian Railways, and others.

“Students of the Advanced Engineering School are given the opportunity to develop their own personal projects. There are stipends and scholarship programs available, as well as a separate grant contest by the AES. Apart from that, students are encouraged to apply for internships at leading Russian and international companies. Their individual educational tracks are designed to incorporate online courses on developing new digital projects,” shares Alexander Vinogradov, the head of the AES.


Enrollment opportunities
As per the program’s creators, it is designed to accommodate both current IT specialists and those who are just starting their careers in machine learning. In order to successfully attend this program, applicants must be well-versed in mathematical analysis, linear algebra, probability theory, statistics, algorithms in machine learning and neural networks, and Python programming.

The program offers three subject areas:

09.04.01 Computer Science and Computing Hardware;
11.04.02 Infocommunication Technologies and Communication Systems;
27.04.05 Innovation Studies.
Prospective students can enroll in one of the following ways:

entrance exam in the form of an interview;
(CYS);
ITMO’s ;
ITMO’s .
Apart from the abovementioned opportunities, this year’s prospective students can also enroll via the online course My First Data Project. Within 12 weeks, participants will have the opportunity to create their own data-based product, receive feedback from mentors, and get into ITMO without having to take any entrance exams. The online course will introduce future students to the program’s specifics and help them shape their study goals and expectations. The course’s primary language is Russian.