Research Centers and Laboratories

International Research and Education Centers (IREC) established in cooperation with some of the top manufacturing companies of the world are one of the key application areas for the research and education activities of the Polytechnic University. 

IREC are organizational units of the University located on the premises of one or more SPbPU Institutes or divisions. They operate on the order of the Rector and the Regulations on the Center. Ongoing research and education activities are carried out in accordance with the provisions of the Cooperation Agreement concluded between SPbPU and its Partner. 

The first IREC of the Polytechnic University were founded in the 1990s on the premises of the Department of Engineering Cybernetics (now, IITM) in collaboration with leading IT companies: Intel, Motorola и LG Electronics. 

Currently, SPbPU hosts 5 IREC operating as its organizational units. They are engaged in research projects spanning a range of the natural sciences: materials science, mechanics, power engineering, laser technologies, mechanical engineering, etc. Also SPbPU has 2 joint institutes.

The main benefit of integrating such centers into the University structure is that it ensures that the problems below are solved in a prompt manner and in close cooperation with an industry partner: 

• providing relevant topics and avenues for research with the aim of improving the quality of the professional development and scientific skills of staff, undergraduate and postgraduate students, graduate and postgraduate research works;
• providing center laboratories with specialized equipment, access to the technological solutions and equipment of the company for the purpose of implementing training and research programs;
• offering the staff and students of the University a wide range of opportunities to collaborate with the top manufacturing companies currently active on the market;
• providing education program attendees with career advancement prospects;
• wide opportunities for study at a joint institute both in Russia and in the partner country.

1. Research and Education Center «LG – Polytechnic»

Established in 2004 in cooperation LG Electronics, South Korea.
The Center conducts the following activities:

• search for and training of high-quality specialists in mobile device technologies in compliance with the profile of the LGE Russia R&D Centre
• running recruitment campaigns among final-year SPbPU students, aiming to endorse employment with LG Electronics;
• initial training of students, the further training and retraining of LGE Russia R&D Centre staff, Korean students and LG Electronics employees;
• conducting research in line with the innovation program of LG Electronics;
• performing project and design works or outsourcing as part of cooperation with the LGE Russia R&D Centre.

2. International Research and Education Center «National Instruments – Polytechnic»

Established in 2010 in cooperation National Instruments, USA.
The Center conducts the following activities:

1. Training programs developed by National Instruments. On completion, the following certificates are awarded:

• LabVIEW Core 1: Introductory Course (24 hours)
• LabVIEW Core 2 (16 hours)
• Data Acquisition Systems (24 hours)
• LabVIEW Real-Time (24 hours)
• LabVIEW and CompactRIO. Basics of Application Development (24 hours)

2. «LabVIEW Software Development Environment and National Instruments technologies in research and educational objectives» program for further training of teaching staff («Information and Computer Science» Program Track). 72 hours. A certificate is awarded on completion.

3. «LabVIEW Software Development Environment and National Instruments Technologies for Designing Signal Data Processors for Telecommunications and Information Systems» training program for skilled professionals. The Programs was sanctioned by the Edict of the President of the Russian Federation of 7 May 2012 (№594). 72 hours. A certificate is awarded on completion.

4. «Development of Real-Time Applications in LabVIEW. CompactRIO Platform» training program for skilled professionals («Information and Computer Science» Program Track). 48 hours. A certificate is awarded on completion.

5. Using NI technologies for training purposes: experimental methods of research, optical-digital telecommunications systems, optical-electronic devices, analog electronic circuits, digital devices and microprocessors, information science, automation of physics experiments.

Hardware:

• NI Elvis II
• Data acquisition systems
• Modular instrumentation, PXI
• Reconfigured ПЛИС CompactRIO system
• SCXI/SCC signal conditioning systems
• Such instrument control systems with an interface as GPIB, RS 232, etc.

Software: LabVIEW, NI Circuit Design Suite (Multisim) (two classrooms, 25 seats)

3. Russian-German Laser Technology Center

The Center was established in 2009 in cooperation with a consortium of German universities. The joint Russian-German Laser Technology Center was created to facilitate scientific and industrial research and development activities in the area of laser technologies with the aim of further integrating them into the production process.

Activity Areas:

• teaching students, training specialists, providing laboratory experiences;
• conducting scientific research;
• rendering services in the field of applied research and consultations in the field of laser metal processing;
• providing Russian scientists and engineers with access to state-of-the-art laser equipment and processing operations.

4. Russian-China Research and Educational Center «Additive technologies»

The Center was established in 2017 in cooperation with ENV (Beijing) New Energy Technology Research Institute Co., Ltd. (CHN&RUS NEMTRI). The joint Russian-China Research and Educational Center «Additive Technologies» was created to facilitate scientific and industrial research and development activities in the area of new materials with the aim of further integrating them into the production process.

Activity Areas:

• teaching students, training specialists, providing laboratory experiences;
• conducting scientific research;
• rendering services in the field of applied research and consultations in the field of laser metal processing;
• providing Russian scientists and engineers with access to state-of-the-art laser equipment and processing operations.

5. International Research and Educational Center «BaltTribo-Polytechnic»

The Center was established in 2016 in cooperation with a consortium of leading universities of Baltic Region. The International Research and Educational Center «BaltTribo-Polytechnic» was created to support and development of joint scientific research and the training of specialists in tribology.

Activity Areas:

• triboscientific materials;
• friction and wear in machines;
• chemological science;
• physical and mathematical modeling

6. Joint Polytechnic Institute XATU-SPbPU

Joint Polytechnic Institute of Xi'an University of Technology and Peter the Great St. Petersburg Polytechnic University was established in 2024. The main activity of JPI XATU-SPbPU is training of students on different educational programs.

7. Joint Engineering Institute JNU-SPbPU

Joint Polytechnic Institute of Xi'an University of Technology and Peter the Great St. Petersburg Polytechnic University was established in 2024. The main activity of JPI STU-SPbPU is training of students on different educational programs.

Joint Engineering Institute of Jiangsu Normal University and Peter the Great St. Petersburg Polytechnic University was established in 2024. The main activity of JEI JNU-SPbPU is training of students on different educational programs.

Besides IERC, the Polytechnic University hosts designated research laboratories established and operating in cooperation with foreign companies and research institutions:

1. Russian-Chinese Research Laboratory «Functional Materials» (in cooperation with TSE, China, and the Harbin Institute of Technology, China)

Institute of Cybersecurity and Computer Science

• Specialized Scientific, Educational and Research Center for Information Security
• Laboratory "Mobile Device Management Systems"
• Research Laboratory of Neural Network Technologies and Artificial Intelligence
• Laboratory of Automation of Industrial Installations
• Laboratory of Information and Measuring Equipment
• Educational and Scientific Laboratory of Intelligent Systems and Technologies

School of Advanced Engineering Studies in Digital Engineering

• Research and educational center "Digital engineering of the main equipment of chemical-technological systems"
• Research and educational center "Aircraft engines and power plants"
• Research and educational center "Digital engineering in nuclear and thermonuclear energy"
• World-class scientific center "Advanced digital technologies"
• Scientific and technological complex "Intellectual advanced production technologies"

Institute of Civil Engineering

• Research Laboratory "Technologies for Industrial and Surface Wastewater Treatment"
• Research and educational center "Renewable energy sources and installations based on them"
• Research Laboratory "Facade structures of buildings and structures"
• Research and educational center of general construction technologies "Height"
• Laboratory of Technosphere Safety
• Research testing laboratory of building structures and materials "Polytech-SKiM-test"

Institute of Machinery, Materials, and Transport

• Research and educational center "Robotics"
• Laboratory "Mechanical Science and System Reliability"
• Laboratory of Mechanical Engineering Technology
• Laboratory of forging and pressing equipment
• Laboratory of Structural Materials Technology
• Center for High Performance Computing and Cluster Technologies
• Research Laboratory of Hydraulic Drive
• Experimental laboratory on hot enamel
• Laboratory of the Theory of Mechanisms and Machines
• Research and educational center "Research and modeling of materials": Laboratory "Research and modeling of the structure and properties of metallic materials" and Center for New Materials
• Research and educational center "Mechanical engineering technologies and materials": Research testing laboratory of construction and building materials "Polytechtest KSM", Engineering Center "Design, Certification and Testing of Advanced Energy Sources", Testing center Polytechtest with Innovative production laboratory of vacuum and cryogenic systems
• Research and educational center "Nanotechnology and coatings" with Scientific laboratory "Laboratory of optical materials science"
• Research and educational center "Modern methods of obtaining metals and alloys"
• Engineering Development Center "Engineering Center for End-to-End Automated Design and Digital Technologies in Mechanical Engineering" with Engineering center for additive technologies and production "Gazprom-Polytech"
• Research and educational center "Structural and functional materials": Laboratory of Materials Design and Additive Manufacturing, Laboratory of Lightweight Materials and Structures, Research Laboratory "Laser and Additive Technologies" and Research Laboratory "Coatings, Materials and Technologies for Lithium Power Sources"

Institute of Electronics and Telecommunications

• Research and educational center "Physics of nanocomposite materials of electronic engineering"
• Scientific laboratory "Fiber Optics"
• Scientific laboratory "Space telecommunication systems"
• Scientific laboratory "Laser photometry and spectroscopy"
• Scientific laboratory "Self-organizing high-temperature nanostructures"
• Scientific laboratory "Special technological center-Polytech"
• Scientific laboratory "Microelectronics (Design center for integrated circuits)"
• Scientific laboratory "Passive electronics (REKOND-Polytech)"
• Scientific laboratory "Digital technologies RISC-V (YADRO-Polytech)"
• Scientific laboratory "Applied photonics and electronics (Elektropribor-Polytech)"
• Research Laboratory of Epitaxial Nanostructures of A3B5 Compounds on Silicon

Institute of Physics and Mechanics

• Laboratory of Strength of Materials
• Educational and scientific laboratory "Computer technologies in mechanics"
• Research Laboratory "Applied Micromechanics of Fracture"
• Research and educational center "Biomechanics and medical engineering" with Research Laboratory "Bionic Systems"
• Scientific and educational center "Gazpromneft-Polytech" with Laboratory "Digital modeling of underground oil and gas reservoirs and well-test analysis"
• Scientific laboratory "Diagnostics of high-temperature plasma"
• Scientific laboratory "Theory and modeling of tokamak plasma"
• Scientific laboratory of advanced methods of studying plasma of spherical tokamaks
• Research Laboratory "Center for Computational Biology"
• Research Laboratory of Virtual Simulation Modeling
• Research Laboratory of Hydroaerodynamics
• Research Laboratory of Mathematical Biology and Bioinformatics
• Research Laboratory of Controlled Thermonuclear Fusion
• Scientific and educational center "Computer technologies in aerodynamics and heat engineering"
• Joint Laboratory of Computational Mathematics (jointly with the St. Petersburg branch of the Steklov Mathematical Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences)

Institute of Biomedical Systems and Biotechnology

• Scientific and educational center "Fundamentals of medical and biomedical technologies": Laboratory of Molecular Neurodegeneration (LMN) and Research Laboratory "Laboratory for Biomedical Image and Data Analysis"
• Food Quality Control Laboratory
• Laboratory of Microbiology and Molecular Biotechnology
• Laboratory of General and Analytical Chemistry
• Laboratory of organic synthesis
• Laboratory of Applied Biotechnology
• Research Center for Biomedical Engineering and Biotechnology: Laboratory of nano- and microencapsulation of biologically active substances; Research Laboratory "Polymer Materials for Tissue Engineering and Transplantology"; Research Complex "Immunobiotechnology and Gene Therapy; Research Complex "Nanobiotechnology" with Laboratory of Molecular Biology of Nucleotide-Binding Proteins and Laboratory of Molecular Microbiology; Scientific and technological complex "Nuclear Physics" with Isotope laboratory, Cyclotron laboratory and Laboratory of powerful sources of ionizing radiation

Institute of Energy

• Scientific and educational center "Thermophysics in power engineering"
• Educational and scientific production center "Technical diagnostics and reliability of nuclear and thermal power plants"
• Laboratory of Theoretical Foundations of Electrical Engineering
• Laboratory "Electrical systems and networks"
• Laboratory "Electrotechnology"
• Laboratory of General Electrical Engineering
• Laboratory of electrical apparatus
• Laboratory of Hydromechanical Engineering
• Compressor Engineering Laboratory
• Turbine Engineering Laboratory named after. I.I. Kirillova
• Research Laboratory of Engineering Electrophysics and High Voltage Technology
• Electric Transport Development and Innovation Center

Institute of Industrial Management, Economics and Trade

• Research laboratory "Polytech-Invest"
• Research Laboratory "Digital Economy of Industry"
• Research Laboratory "Management of Production Systems and Business Processes"
• Laboratory "Interdisciplinary Research and Education on Technological and Economic Issues of Energy Transition (CIRETEC-GT)"
• Research Laboratory "System Dynamics"
• Research and Educational Center for Information Technologies and Business Analysis "Gazprom Neft"