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ITMO University

university

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Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionJun 16, 2026
Entity authorityQ1342013 ↗
Source-derived summary

ITMO University (Information Technologies, Mechanics and Optics University; Russian: Университет ИТМО) is a state-supported university in Saint Petersburg and is one of Russia's National Research Universities. ITMO University is one of 15 Russian universities that were selected to participate in Russian Academic Excellence Project 5-100 by the government of the Russian Federation to improve their international standing among the world's research and educational centers.

Research priorities of ITMO University are concentrated in information and photonic technologies. The university consists of four main schools, 14 faculties, and a number of institutes and research centers. As of 2020, the total number of students was over 12,500, with 2,450 being foreign nationals. In 2014, the university employed 1,163 instructors, including over 800 PhDs. Many of its staff members and researchers have received government awards and designations of "honored science worker," the highest in Russia.

Vladimir Vasilyev has been the university's Rector since 1996.

History

The university's birthday is considered to be 26 March 1900, when a Mechanics, Optics and Watchmaking Department was opened in the Prince Nicholas Vocational School. At the time it was the only school in the Russian Empire that prepared specialists in these areas.

Editorial summary

The public source identifies “ITMO University” as university. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around ITMO, University and university.

Editorial reviewMost valuable as an event-and-institution map that identifies actors, dates and record creators for deeper historical inquiry. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—2020, 2014, 1996, 1900—that can be checked directly. The linked authority record independently contributes the date 1900. Its value is orientation rather than verdict, with ITMO, University and university providing the first useful test.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

A short description can identify a subject without explaining its stakes. For “ITMO University”, the useful work is to connect “university” to the records capable of establishing context and consequence.

Evidence profile

The record creator and administrative purpose are central evidence, because official documentation reflects both action and institutional priorities. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jun 16, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q1342013. VIAF identifies the subject as 155757718. The Library of Congress control number is no2014120163. Authority coordinates are 59.957, 30.308. 1 of 6 selected statements include explicit references; 2 carry qualifiers and 1 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 2020, 2014, 1996 and 1900.

Critical limits

Official terminology may obscure informal participation, dissent or communities documented only indirectly. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Compare institutional narratives with records created by participants and affected communities. Dates and formal titles are useful anchors, but not substitutes for context.

Best used for
  • Event chronology
  • Institutional context
  • Locating named record creators
Verify next

Contemporary correspondence, government or organizational records, oral histories and cited historical scholarship.

Three-step research path

  1. Establish the record: confirm the title “ITMO University”, its source revision and the description used here.
  2. Expand the search: follow ITMO University primary sources, ITMO University archive and ITMO research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

  1. Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “ITMO University”?
  2. Which voices are present, absent or mediated by the institution?
  3. What chronology connects this entry to wider political or social change?
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Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from “ITMO University” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.