Contents:

  1. What is programming and information technologies?

  2. How to take part

  3. What are the stages of the contest?

  4. How to prepare

  5. What do winners get?

  6. Related fields pursued at ITMO

What is programming and information technologies?

The track focuses on the development of powerful and reliable software. Participants are assumed to have proficiency in programming, models and architectures of information systems, software requirements, data, and computer science. Specialists in this field develop, test, analyze, and model software solutions, as well as tackle a myriad of other tasks associated with data processing and transfer. 

How to take part

I Am a Professional welcomes Bachelor’s, Master’s, and Specialist’s students who study full-time, part-time, or remotely at Russian universities. To enter the competition, applicants must fill out a registration form using their Yandex account by November 14, select any number of tracks they want to compete in, and attach a document confirming that they are studying at a Russian university.

Credit: photogenica.ru

Credit: photogenica.ru

What are the stages of the contest?

The first stage of the competition is a qualifying round, which will run from November 23 to December 4. Participants will have three hours to accomplish all the challenges, which will only be revealed on the day of the competition. For preparation, contestants can use the demos or tasks from the previous years available in their accounts. 

The qualifying and final rounds are quite alike. Participants will be required to complete various theoretical and practical tasks on computer science, information technologies, and programming while being monitored by an online proctoring system. 

While the tasks for Bachelor’s students are meant to assess their fundamental knowledge of databases (primarily relational ones), operating systems, discrete mathematics, algorithms, data structure, and programming technologies; Master’s students will implement data warehouses, design the architecture of software solutions, and build resource-efficient programs. 

The first round's results will be announced in February 2024. Students who complete the tasks will be invited for the final round, to be held on February 19, 2024.

Credit: photogenica.ru

Credit: photogenica.ru

How to prepare

What do winners get?

All medalists, winners, and runners-up will receive prize money (between 100,000 and 300,000 rubles depending on their place and level of study) and admission privileges when entering Russian universities, including ITMO. Medalists will also be granted access to the contest’s career development center, where they will find updates on internships and job offers at partner companies, interact with HR experts, as well as take part in online events and tours of various enterprises.

Credit: photogenica.ru

Credit: photogenica.ru

Related fields pursued at ITMO

ITMO students have repeatedly become winners of the ICPC International Collegiate Programming Contest (ITMO is the contest’s only seven-time champion), Google Code Jam, Facebook Hacker Cup, Yandex.Algorithm, Russian Code Cup, Topcoder Open, and many others. 

As of now, the university offers dozens of IT programs for Bachelor’s and Master’s students at its Information Technologies and Programming Faculty, the Faculty of Software Engineering and Computer Systems, and the Faculty of Infocommunication Technologies, including: 

Software Engineering (Bachelor’s program). In the program, students learn to develop software and information systems for various purposes – from deep automation of applied and business processes to the development of mobile and web applications and decision-support tools. To that end, they master programming languages (C, C++, C#, Java, and JavaScript) and technologies, including web development, the design of distributed storage systems, and data storage and analysis. 

Big Data and Machine Learning (Master’s program). Within this program, students learn to solve applied tasks for big data processing and visualization, design and implement efficient algorithms for multivariate analysis of complex data, as well as master the principles behind the development and organization of contemporary software solutions for big data processing.

Highload Systems (Master’s program, in partnership with Yandex). This online program aims to turn juniors and new graduates into mid-level specialists and leaders of major IT companies in Russia and abroad. Supervised by Yandex experts, students learn to efficiently address software-related problems. Within one to three years, they can go for the position of senior developers or lead technical teams at IT companies.

Web Scale Systems (Master’s program, in partnership with VK). The program trains specialists who can secure the entire life cycle of large-scale, fault-tolerant distributed web services. Throughout their training, students work on real-life cases under the eye of VK’s lead engineers to become in-demand specialists who design, develop, test, and operate scalable web systems. Over the course of training, they get to know the principles behind the organization of web systems and services, databases with various architectures, as well as learn to build high-load distributed and backend apps with scalable and fault-tolerant architecture. 

Programming & Information Technologies is one of the three tracks within the contest – along with Robotics and Information & Cyber Security – curated by ITMO in partnership with Sberbank.