60th anniversary of the country's first Faculty of Computational Mathematics and Cybernetics celebrated at UNN

On 1 and 2 December 2023, Lobachevsky University held celebrations to mark the 60th anniversary of the opening of the country's first specialised Faculty of Computational Mathematics and Cybernetics (CMC). The anniversary events were attended by more than 1000 honoured guests, alumni of different years, students and faculty members.

Andrey Sanosyan, Deputy Governor of the Nizhny Novgorod region, who came to congratulate one of the oldest faculties of Lobachevsky University, reminded that the founder of the CMC Faculty was Professor Yuri Neimark:

"He and his faculty looked into the future. The fact that the Nizhny Novgorod region is now one of the leading Russian IT regions is largely the result of the highest level of teaching and research, whose foundation was laid down 60 years ago. Today we strive to develop this heritage. The inter-university IT campus, which is being built today in Nizhny Novgorod, aims for the highest standards. The project has the honour of being named after Neimark, and this is a matter of great pride and responsibility. Our aim is to be the best in everything - in teaching, science, everyday life and living conditions, so that students and researchers could concentrate on their work to the maximum".

The anniversary of the Faculty of Computational Mathematics and Cybernetics, succeeded by the UNN Institute of Information Technology, Mathematics and Mechanics (IITMM), is a significant event for the entire industry of information and communication technology. IITMM was established in 2015 through the reorganisation of the university's leading units - the Faculty of Computational Mathematics and Cybernetics, the Faculty of Mechanics and Mathematics, and the Research Institute of Applied Mathematics and Cybernetics.

According to Oleg Trofimov, Acting Rector of UNN, the university is actually the "cradle" of IT technologies:

"The glorious traditions of our great predecessors are being carried on by our Institute of Information Technology, Mathematics and Mechanics, whose team conducts research in such areas as high-performance computing, engineering software development, artificial intelligence, computer vision. Over all these years, we have graduated more than 12 thousand alumni, and today they are successfully working in state corporations, private companies and organisations, accomplishing our common task of developing Russia's technological sovereignty".

1 December became the Day of students and graduates of the Faculty of Computational Mathematics and Cybernetics, as well as IITMM students. Thematic laboratories, quests, and a job fair from IT companies were open to the guests. Past years' graduates could recall their student years and look for themselves on old photos.

On 2 December, the second day of the anniversary events opened with the discussion "Staffing for Technological Sovereignty in IT". It was attended by heads of leading IT companies and the region's major enterprises, as well as representatives of the university community. The Faculty of Computational Mathematics and Cybernetics was the first institution among all Soviet universities to provide dedicated training in information technology, applied mathematics and software engineering.

"We were the first, and now we hold and, I am convinced, will continue to hold leading positions in the training of professionals and research in the field of knowledge-intensive software development, mathematical modelling, high-performance computing, artificial intelligence," shared Nikolai Zolotykh, Director of the UNN Institute of Information Technology, Mathematics and Mechanics.

He added that the Neimark IT campus is already in the process of being established in Nizhny Novgorod, and the Institute of Information Technology, Mathematics and Mechanics plays one of the key roles in it.

The celebration was concluded with a gala meeting where the first graduates of the Faculty of Computational Mathematics and Cybernetics were honoured, and letters of thanks from the Governor of the Nizhny Novgorod region, the Head of Nizhny Novgorod and the Legislative Assembly of the region were presented.