Applying for PhD programs

If you are willing to strengthen and develop your expertise in a particular sphere of knowledge, welcome to our postgraduate programs! Those who have Master’s degree or a Specialist’s degree in the fields related to the programs of aspired postgraduate studies are best suited for these programs. In some cases, you may need to do an extra preparatory year due to certain special requirements for language and scientific studies. More information about University foundation programs you can find here.

Duration of studies: 3-4 years.

More information about Russian system of education you can find here.

Academic year starts on October 01 and ends at the end of July. Each academic year consists of 2 semesters (October-February and February-July). Exact dates of academic calendar are updated every year. Information about public holidays in Russia you can find here .

ENTRANCE REQUIREMENTS FOR INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS

1. Master’s or specialist’s degree diploma/certificate with the list of grades.
2. Language requirements:
   • Level of Russian proficiency B1 (for Russian-taught programs)
   • Level of English proficiency B1 (for English-taught programs)
   • Official language certificates are not required. In case you have a language certificate, you can submit it with the other application documents.
3. International passport valid at least for 1.5 years (18 months) after the expected date of your arrival in Russia.

List of PhD degree programs with tuition fees

1. Application deadlines:

Full-time study mode (main admission)

August 01, 2025 – for applicants from countries with visa regime September 14, 2025 – for applicants from visa-free countries

2. Start of the academic year 2025-2026: October 01, 2025.
3. Enrollment and tuition fee payment is possible until September 22, 2025.

1. Copy of international passport (page with photo and personal data). Please, note that your passport must be valid for at least 20 months as of the date of your arrival to the university (date of the visa extension/registration). 
2. Copy of educational document with transcript of records* (master’s or specialist’s degree diploma/certificate with the list of grades). In case you have not yet received educational document, you may submit current transcript of records and enrollment certificate. 
3. Translation of educational document with transcript of records into Russian or English for preliminary documents evaluation 
4. Copy of TORFL certificate if applicable (сертификат ТРКИ). 
5. List of publications. 
6. Research proposal.

*Original educational documents with transcript of records, official notarized translation of these documents into Russian and copies of the original documents and the translations should be submitted at the enrollment unless otherwise directed by the Admission procedure for degree programs.

EXAM SAMPLES:

Entrance exams for PhD programs:

• Study field exam
• Russian language exam or English language exam

Passing scores:

If you have an international exam certificate confirming the level of proficiency in English, it can be evaluated as the results of your English entrance exam (for English-taught programs). The results are accepted in accordance with the following table:

A certificate of passing the state test in Russian as a foreign language (at least at the TRKI - I level) shall be taken into account as the result of the entrance test in Russian language for foreign citizens. The results shall be scored as follows:

Exam samples:

• Russian language exam (for those applicants who graduated from Russian universities)
• Russian language exam (for those applicants who graduated from non-Russian universities)
• Study field exam

TECHNICAL REQUIREMENTS FOR A PERSONAL COMPUTER OR LAPTOP:

Русский	English	汉语

During the application period 2025 all entrance exams will be organized online.

Schedule for the online entrance exams:

Exams schedule is uploaded to SPbPU online application system. You will be able to sign up for the preliminary testing or entrance exams when your application is accepted.

DORMITORY

Foreign students enrolled in full-time degree programs have an opportunity to stay at the student dormitory on campus. Detailed information you may find here.

RENTING A FLAT

If you are not interested to be a dormitory resident, you have to find housing independently. This process could take more time in the end of August –beginning of September due to the beginning of study year.

Please note that starting from summer 2019, students renting apartments/rooms must register themselves with the help of landlords. We advise you to discuss this issue with the landlord in advance, as there are more cases of owners refusing to register students.

Foreign students have to obtain medical insurance certificates after arrival. This certificate should be valid in Russia and include health insurance, life insurance and cover repatriation in case of death. We strongly recommend you to obtain medical insurance certificate on the territory of Russia.

More information about medical insurance you can find here.

ADMISSION OFFICE FOR INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS

• interstudy@spbstu.ru
• interadmission@spbstu.ru
• admissioninfo@spbstu.ru
• 8 (800) 101-18-99 
• 195220 Russia, St. Petersburg, 28 Grazhdansky Ave. (Grazhdansky prospect), room 228
• Working hours: Monday-Friday 10 am – 5 pm, Saturday and Sunday are days off