The St Petersburg University Research Park: application guide

What is the St Petersburg University Research Park?

This is state-of-the-art research infrastructure which supports a thriving network of research at St Petersburg University. The St Petersburg University Research Park includes 26 resource centres that target four priority areas: Nanotechnology and Materials Science; Biomedicine and Human Health; Information Systems and Technology; and Ecology and Nature Management.

Where can one find more information about the St Petersburg University Research Park?

All relevant and up-to-date information about the University Research Park is available at the St Petersburg University Research Park web portal. There can also be found a list of resource centres in the priority areas, a list of research equipment and contact information.

Who can do research at the University Research Park?

The St Petersburg University Research Park operates according to the principle of equal access. The facilities and equipment of the resource centres are accessible for all researchers, regardless of whether they are affiliated with the University or not, provided that rules and requirements for users of resource centres are observed.

What are the current rules of access to the University Research Park facilities?

St Petersburg University students can use the Research Park facilities to work on their graduation research project on the basis of recommendation. This can be an extract from their academic department meeting minutes, indicating the topic of the graduation research project and a recommendation to carry out research in a specific resource centre at the St Petersburg University Research Park, or an expert opinion.

Members of research teams can gain access to the research equipment on the basis of the approved project registered in the St Petersburg University Pure research information management system. When implementing large-scale research projects, priority access to research facilities is subject to request from the project leader. In such a case, a situational analysis is conducted to evaluate the project relevance, the contract duration, and some other parameters. Then the Vice-Rector for Research may grant priority access to the research equipment.

If the research work is financed from external sources, access to the research facilities is granted on the basis of the business agreement. For independent users, access to the St Petersburg University Research Park facilities is regulated by Resource Centre: Standard Regulations (clause 6.3).

How can one do research at the St Petersburg University Research Park?

To carry out research work at the University Research Park, an employee or a student of the University should use the ResearchIMS application system. For this, they will need to register a project indicating: its name; type; basis for registration; the project objectives; a brief description of the proposed research; and a request form for the use of research facilities. An external user will need to fill in the form ‘Application for measurements for external users’ at the St Petersburg University Research Park web portal.

What is ResearchIMS?

ResearchIMS is a unified electronic application submission system implemented at the St Petersburg University Research Park to facilitate research and coordinate information exchange with the University resource centres using a single interface. Its key functions are: project registration and research applications submission; and monitoring of the project implementation at all stages and remote access to research results. Additionally, researchers have the opportunity to give feedback on the work performed on the project and familiarise themselves with the project publications.

Where can one find a link to ResearchIMS?

At the St Petersburg University Research Park web portal.

How can one enter the ResearchIMS application system?

Access to the ResearchIMS application system is available through a single account at the St Petersburg University Research Park web portal. First, you will need to register: for this you click on the ‘How to register’ button, then choose ‘Registration for St Petersburg University employees’ and enter your St Petersburg University account data (st×××××× and password). Then, you can log in to the ResearchIMS application system using your St Petersburg University account.

What if there are issues while working with the ResearchIMS application system?

There are detailed instructions for you to follow. If there are any technical problems or something does not seem to work properly, please contact the ResearchIMS support service via e-mail: esrc-support@spbu.ru.

Are there any professional development courses offered by the St Petersburg University Research Park?

The University Research Park offers 22 non-degree programmes in biology, chemistry and physics. The list of these programmes can be found here. Specific training programmes on how to operate and maintain research equipment are subject to requests from users, heads of academic and research departments, etc.