On February 8, ITMO University hosted the ITMO Open Science Conference. Dozens of ITMO University’s researchers, PhD students and heads of the University’s departments gathered at the Erarta Museum of Contemporary Art to discuss the latest achievements in an unusual format and learn about their colleagues’ science development strategies. ITMO.NEWS publishes the highlights of the event.

ITMO Open Science is a scientific conference whose main mission is to provide a platform for efficient communication and knowledge exchange between the University’s schools and faculties.

Any ITMO University staff interested in research, be it a department head, a Master’s or a PhD student, could partake in the conference, share the results of their projects and establish new partnerships. The selection process was carried out by the program committee.

Such conferences have long been held in many leading universities abroad. For example, MIT regularly organizes such meetings to give their staff an opportunity to share the results of their work in an informal setting. The Australian National University hosts the annual Founder’s Day conference, which provides the university’s staff with a platform for dialogue and cooperation. Based on these examples, the coordinators of ITMO Open Science decided to organize an event that would incorporate a scientific conference, an interactive section with electronic banners, and a series of reports and interviews.

MegaBattle, Power Pitch, and Future Now

The ITMO Open Science program included several sections, each with a different format and focus. The conference started with a MegaBattle, where the heads of all ITMO’s schools shared about their major achievements over the last year and talked about their departments’ science development strategies.

Among the speakers were Alexey Bobtsov, Head of School of Computer Technologies and Control, Alexander Boukhanovsky, Head of School of Translational Information Technologies, Igor Baranov, Head of School of Biotechnology and Cryogenic Systems, Vladislav Bougrov, Head of School of Photonics, and Nina Yanykina, Head of Institute of Entrepreneurship. Each presentation was held in the Science Slam format: every speaker had only 25 minutes to report about the results of their work and answer their colleagues’ questions.

Full text of interview read via ITMO.NEWS

Elena Menshikova

Journalist

Anastasiia Labunskaia

Translator