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University-wide optional courses

Dear students!

The university-wide optional courses are a set of disciplines that many of you have grown to love. Here, you can be the creator of your own studies and take on any discipline you like. And if you are a Master’s or PhD student, you can become a teacher yourself if your proposed course wins the competition!

There is no such thing as study groups at university-wide optional courses: Master's and Bachelor's students, biotechnologists and physicists, innovators and programmers, and even ITMO lecturers and staff meet here. You might even meet the head of your educational program in a course – and launch a joint project with them! We believe that such mixed-group training facilitates mutual understanding and helps to create a friendly atmosphere within ITMO University.

So, are you ready to expand your connections within the university and meet like-minded people?

Check out the list of optional courses for this semester and choose the ones you like while you can! In the autumn semester of 2025, you will be able to choose from 60 courses!

Please approach this process consciously: only enroll in a course if you really intend to complete it – after all, there are a lot of people who want to take it, and places are limited.

Now for some ground rules:

Choosing your course(s):

  • You can enroll in optional courses during the corresponding period on the my.itmo.ru platform.
  • You can choose no more than two courses per semester. Please note: if you have chosen a language course in Turkish, Chinese, Spanish, German or Italian, this is the only course that will be available to you, as each one is at least twice as long as any other (64 academic hours).

Dropping your course(s):

  • You can withdraw from a course until the day of the second class (inclusive) without any sanctions or restrictions (please write about your decision  to plus@itmo.ru or to @plus_itmo_bot on Telegram).
  • If you withdraw from a course after the day of the second class, different rules apply:
  • If you drop out of a course 2 or more times – unfortunately, you will not be able to enroll in optional courses at ITMO next semester.
  • Got 2 no-shows/2 failures or a combination of the above? Unfortunately, you will also be unable to sign up for optional courses in the next semester.

Credits for optional courses:

  • Optional courses do NOT affect scholarships and are NOT considered academic backlog. Optional courses are only included in the Diploma Supplement if requested by the student.
  • Optional courses are not mandatory. But if you choose to take one, you must fulfill all requirements announced by the instructor in order to receive the credit.
  • Credit for optional courses is issued by the end of the semester and is displayed in your digital gradebook after the instructor adds it via the BARS system.

Below, you’ll find course descriptions and videos from the lecturers. Check them out to choose the course that suits you best.

The elective for the fall 2025 semester will be held on my.itmo from September 10-12.

We'd be happy to answer your questions – just email us via plus@itmo.ru or on Helpdesk.

To sign up for or leave a course, use the Telegram bot: @plus_itmo_bot

 

Biology and Ecology
  • Introduction to Nutrition Science 
More
CT, Programming and Mathematics
  • Social Media Analysis in Python 
  • ML + OR: Optimal Decision Making Based on Machine Learning
More
Culture, History and Design
  • Introduction to Popular Music Studies
  • Podcast Recording and On-Camera Work 
  • History of World Animation
  • Film Fiction and the Limits of Imagination
  • Creative Materials Science 
  • Cultural Code: Traditional Values of Russia and America in Modern Discourse
  • Navigating the Culture of St. Petersburg 
  • Basics of Family History Research
  • Photography Fundamentals (MBSchool Photo)
  • Russian Avant-Garde in Art and Literature
  • Modern Optics and Art
  • Digital History
  • Digital Archives of Culture and Art
  • Afterlife Lab: Interdisciplinary Studies of the Past, Memory and Afterlife
More
Management and Sociology
  • Marketing for Entrepreneurs
  • Fundamentals of Practical Investing
  • Patent Research
  • Workshop on Video Conferencing Systems at ITMO
  • Professional Self-Fulfillment: From Dream to Goal
  • Digital Marketing for Startups
More
Science and Research
  • Science-Based Business: How to Build a Successful Startup
  • Tools and Resouces for Academic and Research Work
  • Use of AI Services in Education and Science
  • Cognitive Informatics
  • Commercialization and Transfer of Biomedical Technologies
  • Critical Data Studies
  • Modern Scientific Research in Natural Sciences: From Concept to Successful Project Implementation
  • Modern research in natural science: from concept to successful project implementation
More
Physics and Photonics
  • Physics & Photonics: From Small to Big (in Russian)
  • Preparatory Physics Course (in Russian)
More
Languages
  • Spanish Language Level 1
  • Italian Language Level 1
  • Chinese Language Level 1
  • German Language Level 1
  • Essential Grammar and Vocabulary for Language Exams
  • Turkish Language Level 1
  • Turkish Language Level 2
  • Books Unlocked
  • English Unplugged - Practicing and Improving English with Movies and TV Shows
  • Essential Skills for Language Exams
  • Functional Writing
More
SS and Thinking
  • Argumentation: from Theory to Practice
  • Cognitive Errors in Understanding Humans
  • Team Coaching
  • Contact With Self and Others
  • Training and Information Handling Skills
  • Effective Management Skills
  • Fundamentals of Sexology
  • Embodiment
  • Emotional Intelligence
  • Sales Laboratory
  • Starting a Career: Create Your Own Scenario for Professional Development
  • Analyzing the News: Ideology, Power, Manipulation
More
Online optional courses

Biology and Ecology

  • Introduction to Nutrition Science 
  • Invisible Life. Introduction to Microbiology 

University-wide optional courses Mathematic and IT

  • Social Media Analysis in Python
  • ML + OR: Optimal Decision Making Based on Machine Learning

Culture and Design

  • Basics of Family History Research
  • Digital History
  • Digital Archives of Culture and Art
  • Afterlife Lab: Interdisciplinary Studies of the Past, Memory and Afterlife

Management and Sociology

  • Marketing for Entrepreneurs
  • Fundamentals of Practical Investing
  • Patent Research
  • Workshop on Video Conferencing Systems at ITMO
  • Digital Marketing for Startups

Science and research

  • Tools and Resouces for Academic and Research Work
  • Commercialization and Transfer of Biomedical Technologies
  • Critical Data Studies

Language

  • Essential Grammar and Vocabulary for Language Exams
  • Turkish Language Level 1
  • Turkish Language Level 2
  • Essential Skills for Language Exams

SS and Thinking

  • Introduction to Cyberpsychology
  • Sales Laboratory
  • Training and Information Handling Skills
  • Fundamentals of the Intellectual Game Go
  • Career Development Basics
  • Negotiating From a Weak Position
  • Stress Management Through Neuro-Tools: From State to Action
  • Effective Job Search Technologies
  • Management Hacking
  • Emotional Stability
  • Emotional Intelligence
More