St Petersburg University opens an academic programme to introduce information technologies in chemical research and production

The first-year students of the new master’s program should have knowledge in the field of natural sciences, primarily chemistry. In future, the programme will undergo modernisation to expand its courses to accept applicants who do not have deep knowledge in chemistry. ‘I would like to emphasise that we expect not only bachelors in chemistry, but also those who have a natural science education and are interested in computer science and programming. Our goal is to open a programme for a wider range of applicants,’ emphasised Mikhail Voznesenskii, Head of the new programme, Associate Professor in the Department of Physical Chemistry at St Petersburg University.

Elective courses are set to enable students to choose a track that best suits their professional plans and their direction of personal and professional development. Students will master machine learning and databases to develop skills to predict the properties of unstudied organic molecules and nanomaterials. They will also be introduced to practical quantum biochemistry, basic chemical engineering processes, and digital twin technology.

There is emphasis placed on applied nature. In the curriculum, a large number of hours are allocated for project activities to ensure that students can apply knowledge they have gained at lectures and seminars to solve practical problems together with research groups of the Institute of Chemistry and other departments.

At the end of each semester, a reporting conference will be held for students to present the results of their work. Thus, graduates will have a portfolio containing four projects. Currently, work is underway to expand cooperation in terms of internship and topics for project activities with potential employers in St Petersburg and the Leningrad Region.

There are opportunities to develop soft communication and teamwork skills. ‘Without practical business communication skills, it is impossible to build a successful career. Apart from having to be a good specialist in chemistry and to have programming skills, you should organise your team and understand what disagreements between the participants in the working or research process are,’ added Mikhail Voznesenskii.

The programme provides opportunities for modern education, bridging IT and chemistry.

Today, there is an ever-increasing demand for specialists who have competencies in the field of chemistry and computer science. Due to the pressing tasks of digitalisation of production, creation and protection of digital and information sovereignty (in particular, in areas related to important chemical and pharmacological production tasks), graduates can build a successful career.

Graduates can proceed to employment in data processing, database engineering and architecture, and development and maintenance of chemical production control systems. They can also build a career in science or high-tech industries, doing scientific data processing or scientific computer calculations.

You can apply online for the master’s programmes by attaching the documents in the Applicant’s Personal Account starting from 15 March 2023. Admission to studies is based on the results of the admission tests in the form of a competitive selection of documents (portfolios). Enrolment in the programme is possible on both a government-funded and fee-paying basis. The duration of the programme is two years. You can find more information on admission on the official portal of St Petersburg University in the Admissions Committee section.