St Petersburg University develops comprehensive academic programme in machine learning and artificial intelligence

The cross-cutting approach to educating students in the field of machine learning and artificial intelligence on the basis of fundamental mathematics is being used within the framework of two academic programmes. The first is the bachelor’s programme "Applied Mathematics, Programming and Artificial Intelligence", and the second is the master’s programme "Mathematical Modelling, Programming and Artificial Intelligence".

The bachelor’s programme is linked to the school curriculum and, for the first time, takes into account changes that were made in 2022 to the new federal state standard for general secondary education.

Further education in the St Petersburg University master’s programme is based on in-depth study of fundamental mathematical units of the curriculum related to the development of artificial intelligence, reinforced by deep learning technologies, and computer vision.

This comprehensive academic programme has been developed by St Petersburg University in conjunction with representatives of IT companies. Among them are UniData, TaskData and VimpelCom, at any of which students can do an internship.

‘Machine learning and artificial intelligence are our reality and our future,’ asserted Nikolay Kuznetsov, Head of the Department of Applied Cybernetics at St Petersburg University and the author of the cycle of academic programmes. ‘Together, they form a constantly evolving field of science that is able to solve various problems of mankind, from the choice of goods in an online shop to complex fundamental tasks. When we were developing this cross-cutting system of training specialists, we used the experience we had accumulated in our research, attracted highly qualified professionals and focused on beliefs and approaches that are fundamental and relevant to contemporary scholarship.’

Nikolay Kuznetsov is Professor at St Petersburg University, Head of the Department of Applied Cybernetics and Member of the Russian Academy of Sciences. He also heads Russia’s leading research school in the field of mathematics and mechanics and is included in the top 0.1 percent of the world’s Highly Cited Researchers in his field, according to rankings published by Clarivate Analytics. St Petersburg University annually holds high positions in the Shanghai University Rankings (ARWU), in which the status of highly cited researcher carries equal weight with that of recipient of the Nobel Prize or the Fields Medal.

The creation and development of the theory of hidden oscillations has made it possible for this scientist to solve a number of well-known and basic problems. It has also opened up new horizons in determining the boundaries of stability and identifying unwanted fluctuations to prevent technological and man-made disasters.

In 2020, the Government of St Petersburg established an award in the field of cybernetics and artificial intelligence. It is named after Gennady Leonov and presented annually to outstanding scientists on City Day. St Petersburg University Professor Nikolay Kuznetsov heads the council of experts that confers this award in honour of his colleague, who was also his academic advisor.

Today, St Petersburg University is actively developing the field of mathematics, and scholars at the University are using methods of machine learning in their research. According to the results of the 2023 admissions campaign, among 113 bachelor’s and specialist’s programmes, the largest number of applications was submitted for the bachelor’s programme "Applied Mathematics, Programming and Artificial Intelligence". It was also the most popular in 2023 among academic programmes of all universities in St Petersburg in the field of applied mathematics and informatics. The success of this programme is the result of the long and painstaking work of the team of researchers and teachers led by Nikolay Kuznetsov. It is based at the Faculty of Applied Mathematics and Control Processes and the Department of Applied Cybernetics and involves leading specialists and representatives of IT companies. In 2007, together with the University of Jyväskylä (Finland), St Petersburg University opened a joint programme in the Department of Applied Cybernetics, whose graduates receive a PhD from the University of Jyväskylä. Just six years later, in 2013, by order of the Rector of St Petersburg University Nikolay Kropachev, the first defences of PhD dissertations by students of the founders of the department, Gennady Leonov and Nikolay Kuznetsov, were held at St Petersburg University. This was the first time that a Russian university had ever conferred such a degree on its own.

In 2018, the University’s Department of Applied Cybernetics was awarded the status of the leading research school (the Centre of Excellence) of the Russian Federation in mathematics and mechanics, in keeping with one of the country’s top priorities in the area of research and technological development. As expressed in a directive from the Ministry of Science and Higher Education of the Russian Federation, this is a "transition to advanced digital, intelligent manufacturing technologies, robotic systems, new materials and methods of design, the creation of systems for processing large amounts of data, machine learning, and artificial intelligence".

Professor Kuznetsov’s team at the Department of Applied Cybernetics has received an internal grant from St Petersburg University and an international grant from the Team Finland Knowledge Programme. They have also received one from the grant council of the leading research schools of Russia, which is under the wing of the President of the Russian Federation. This grant has been used to carry out research in applied mathematics and artificial intelligence and to develop a cycle of corresponding syllabi for academic disciplines. These syllabi were developed at the initiative of Nikolay Kuznetsov and form the basis of the St Petersburg University bachelor’s programme "Applied Mathematics, Programming and Artificial Intelligence", and the master’s programme "Mathematical Modelling, Programming and Artificial Intelligence".