Our history
On February 19, 1899, Emperor Nickolas II signed the Decree on founding Polytechnic Institute in St. Petersburg.
In the establishment of the Institute, its founders followed the principles of Peter the Great and sent specialists to Europe to explore operation of European universities. In the result of these efforts, the idea of a Polytechnic Institute complex emerged and the institute was designed following the model of university cities of Oxford and Cambridge.
Polytechnic Institute has several times changed its names and structure, but it remained the Polytechnic and now is called Polytechnic University. Since the very first years of its existence, the university had been training highly qualified specialists for the industry, and this remains the essential feature of training bachelor’s, specialists’, master’s degree holders and postgraduate students at Peter the Great St. Petersburg Polytechnic University.
People who have studied and lectured at Peter the Great St. Petersburg Polytechnic University during more than one hundred years contributed much to the fame and recognition of the university. Nobel laureates P.L. Kapitsa, N.N. Semyonov, Zh.I. Alfyorov, academicians A.F. Ioffe, I.V. Kurchatov, A.A. Radtsig, Yu. B. Khariton are just a few prominent names among hundreds of talented scientists and production managers whose activities are connected with the University and whose achievements served as the foundation for the development of the Russian science and engineering. You can learn more about them and the history of Polytechnic University on our site.
The Historical and Technical Museum of our University is one of the largest museums of this kind in higher education institutions. There are more than 45,000 exhibits only in the main stock, which include machines and devices dating back to the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries, as well as models and unique engineering objects. Exhibits and documents devoted to the main events in the University history are also on display, the oldest ones being the documentary photographs taken by Professor B.N. Menshutkin at the time the University was founded and built. A wide range of exhibits and documents reflecting the contribution of the University staff and former students towards science and engineering evolution, as well as the national defense capability can be also found there.
The continuity of generations is crucial for keeping the University traditions and multiplying our achievements. Initiatives such as the Military Historical Club “Our Polytech” are a good example of how this can be implemented. Club members have created an electronic “Memory book” containing the information about the University staff and students who died during the Second World War; they are also digitizing the diaries written during the Siege of Leningrad (former St. Petersburg).
In 1908, the first in the world diesel submarine “Minoga” in the creation of which Polytechnic specialists took most active part was built.
In 1915, Polytechnic professor N.D. Zelinsky created the first world gas mask.
In 1933, Polytechnic specialists took part in the famous flight of SSS-1 stratospheric balloon for exploring the stratosphere and space and had successfully flown up to 19,200 meter altitude.
In 1939, Polytechnic graduate M.I. Koshkin designed the T-34 tank recognized as the best tank of World War II.
In 1949, Polytechnic graduates developed the first national television set KVN-49. The size of the image on the screen was only 105 x 140 millimeter.
In 1959, the first images of the back side of the Moon were received with active participation of Polytechnic specialists.
In 1967, ##102 and 104 chemical elements were discovered at the Polytechnic Nuclear Laboratory.
In 1988, for the first time ever, the thermonuclear fusion system called “Tokamak-16” was launched; the main contribution to the development and study of it was made by the team of scientists of the Polytechnic Institute.
In 1997, the first control session with an on-orbit robotic manipulator was carried out using a computer network at the CRDI RTC, and institution established and directed by Polytechnic alumni.
In 2000, Dean of the SPbPU Physics and Technology Department Zh.I. Alferov was awarded with the Nobel Prize for the development of semiconductor heterostructures for high-speed optoelectronics.
In 2007, Polytechnic University became the winner of the “Innovative University” contest held within the frame of the high-priority national “Education” project.
In 2010, SPbPU received the honorary status of “National Research University.”
In 2013, the University became participant of the “5-100” national project for enhancement of competitiveness of the leading Russian universities.
In April 2016, SPbPU was the first Russian university to establish an official representative office in Shanghai, the new Pudong district.
In 2018 was established the Advanced Manufacturing Technologies Center of the National Technology Initiative
In 2020 SPbPU gained the status of a World-Class Research Center for Advanced Digital Technologies
In 2021 University became a winner in the track “Research Leadership” within the framework of the Federal program of Strategic Academic Leadership “Priority-2030”.
In 2022 SPbPU – the winner of the national project “Advanced Schools of Engineering”
In 2022 SPbPU opened the International Office for Global Innovation Cooperation in Nanjing (Jiangsu)
In 2023 SPbPU became the coordinator of the Russia-Africa Network University
In 2023 in the Republic of Mali SPbPU established centers of Russian language, pre-university training and «Information Center of SPbPU and RAFU»
In 2023 Peter the Great Polytechnic University and Xi ’an Technological University opened a Joint Polytechnic Institute in Xi’an (China)
Through all the time of its existence, our alma mater has been making its worthy contribution both to the development of the Russian science and education, and to the establishment of the world science, education, and industry.
