The scope of ITMO University’s Faculty of Biotechnologies (BioTech) covers food, environmental, agricultural, and genomic biotechnologies.

The field’s relevance is set out not only in item 20Г of the programs of Scientific and Technological Development of Russia but also in UNESCO’s Sustainable Development Goals, which include zero hunger, clean water and sanitation, responsible consumption and production, and life on land.

BioTech is chaired by Mikhail Kurushkin, PhD, head of RSF (20-78-10135) and RFBR (19-013-00610) grants, author of many publications in JCE, the world’s top journal on chemical education, as well as IUCrJ and Chemistry-A European Journal.

It offers quality education ensured by high-class specialists, including Olesya Volokh, PhD (Danone, Lomonosov Moscow State University).

The Bachelor’s programs:

• Biotechnology.

The Master’s programs:

• Food Production Processes and Equipment; 

• Industrial Ecology;

• Agricultural Biotechnology;

• Applied Genomics;

• FoodTech;

The PhD programs:

• Technology of Meat, Dairy, Fish Products and Refrigerating Manufactures;

• Biotechnology of Food and Biological Active Substances;

• Processes and Devices of Food Production.

BioTech students take an active part in the organization of international and national events and projects, including the prestigious Mendeleev-150 Conference endorsed by IUPAC, BioPrint Workshop headed by Eugenia Kumacheva, and ITMO University’s first citizen science project – Internet of Bacteria.

BioTech’s International Advisory Board consists of distinguished researchers in the field of biotechnologies, including Mika Sillanpää and Vadim Kessler.

Da-Wen Sun (h-index = 125), a world-renowned professor and researcher, and participant of the ITMO Fellowship and Professorship program, is currently engaged in the development of scientific and technical basis for food products quality and safety control using hyperspectral analysis and terahertz radiation.

BioTech students have their work published in international peer-reviewed journals, including Frontiers in Chemistry (ranked among the top 100 journals in the Chemistry category by Scimago Journal & Country Rank) and Journal of Chemical Education.

BioTech’s guest lecturers are top-tier specialists in biotechnology:

• Zhihong Nie (Fudan University ranked #34 in QS Global World University Rankings 2021);

• Sergei Sheiko (University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, ranked #95 in QS Global World University Rankings 2021);

• Irina Borodina (Technical University of Denmark ranked #103 in QS Global World University Rankings 2021);

• Michael Gelinsky (Dresden University of Technology ranked #173 in QS Global World University Rankings 2021).

During the academic year 2019-2020, BioTech students did their internships at leading biotech companies:

• Coca-Cola HBC Russia;

• Jacobs Douwe Egberts RUS;

• Heineken Brewery LLC;

• Wimm-Bill-Dann Foods;

• Danone;

• Baltika Brewery, etc.