Saint Petersburg State University Graduate School of Management

Establishment and early programs

Rector Stanislav Merkuryev signed the founding order on 25 January 1993.^[2] Yuri Vasilievich Pashkus, the faculty's first dean, led it from 1993 to 1996.^[3] The first undergraduate intake comprised 33 students.^[2]

According to Valery Katkalo's institutional history, the school had faculty status within the university from its establishment in 1993, although its initial title was Faculty "School of Management".^[1]

An English-language Master of International Business program began in 1999, supported by the Tempus–TACIS program and a consortium of four Nordic business schools led by Copenhagen Business School. It used the European Credit Transfer and Accumulation System. An MBA program followed in 2000. In 2005 the school piloted an English-language Executive MBA with a consortium led by HEC Paris.^[1]

The faculty began publishing the management series of Vestnik of Saint Petersburg University in 2002 and helped establish the Russian Management Journal in 2003. The Research Institute of Management opened in 2004.^[1]

Reorganization and campus development

The development of the school was included in the Russian government's national education project in 2006. A foundation-stone ceremony for the Mikhailovskaya Dacha campus took place on 29 November that year, attended by Vladimir Putin. On 29 January 2007, Rector Lyudmila Verbitskaya issued the order merging the Faculty of Management, the Research Institute of Management and a specialist management-retraining faculty into the Graduate School of Management.^[5]

The campus project involved the conversion of an imperial estate and the construction of educational facilities.^[21] Mikhailovskaya Dacha opened to students in 2015; student accommodation followed in 2021.^[26][23]

Leadership and advisory board

The advisory board was established in 1993 with John E. Pepper Jr. of Procter & Gamble as its first chairman; he led it for ten years.^[22] Its functions have included strategic advice, corporate liaison and fundraising. The school's 2008 development plan described board committees concerned with academic development and audit.^[5]

By November 2006, Sergei Ivanov was chairman of the advisory board of the planned Graduate School of Management.^[27] He was identified as the school's advisory-board chairman at its thirtieth-anniversary celebrations in September 2023.^[26]

Ivanov died on 26 June 2026.^[28]

A December 2019 report described the advisory board as comprising 36 representatives, including the heads of 20 companies.^[29]

Valery Katkalo served as dean in 1997–2010 and as a vice-rector of Saint Petersburg State University in 2010–2012, according to his professional biography published by HSE University.^[30]

Andrey Kostin became dean in 2012 and director after the school acquired institute status in 2014. Olga Dergunova succeeded him as director in June 2019.^[31][32] A letter from Dergunova as director appears in the school's December 2024 report, and she was still listed in that position in an August 2026 biographical profile.^{[33]: 7 [13]}

The school's handbook covering 2019 identified Konstantin Krotov as first deputy director, responsible for operational management and educational units.^[2] In its English-language progress reports, Krotov signed as Head of School on 10 July 2015, 10 July 2017 and 8 October 2019, and as Executive Director on 9 December 2021.^{[34]: 7 [35]: 8 [36]: 10 [37]: 11}

Strategy and internal governance

At its meeting on 10 December 2019, the advisory board decided to update the school's development strategy through 2025.^[29] The board approved the GSOM Strategy 2025 in December 2020. The school's 2021 report described responsible leadership and the integration of corporate social responsibility, environmental, social and governance issues, and sustainable development into teaching and research as elements of that strategy.^{[37]: 1, 4}

The 2024 report assigns the director formal responsibility for integrating responsible management education and sustainable development into the school's teaching, research and operations.^[33]: 10

The school's ethical code was introduced in 2007 in a project involving the Caux Round Table and revised in 2012. By 2017, the academic council had established a committee concerned with implementing the values of the Principles for Responsible Management Education (PRME).^{[34]: 3 [35]: 3} Its 2019 report recorded the committee's examination of two cases: an anonymous-denunciation postbox in March 2018 and plagiarism in a conference paper in June 2019. It also described a faculty discussion on teaching ethics in October 2018 at the school's Knowledge Café, a forum for sharing teaching experience.^[36]: 4

The 2017 report stated that the objective of establishing a network of Russian federal universities and other social-entrepreneurship-education stakeholders had not been met in 2015–2017 because of financial constraints, with networking taking place on a limited scale through individual conference events. The 2019 report described the separate objective of creating an international advisory board for the CSR center as not fully achieved during 2017–2019.^{[35]: 3, 5, 7 [36]: 9}

Generative artificial intelligence

In the first half of November 2024, the academic council approved a policy on the use of generative artificial intelligence in teaching and research. The school's announcements described requirements to disclose AI use and allowed instructors to set restrictions for individual courses.^[42][43] A 2026 study by A. G. Filipova and S. A. Skliarova examined the policy as part of a comparison of AI regulation in Russian higher education. Their discussion described a recommended limit of 20% AI-generated content where an instructor had not provided other guidance; the cited document was the policy of GSOM rather than a university-wide policy.^{[44]: 41–42}

Funding

In March 2007, Vedomosti reported Valery Katkalo's expectation of creating a US$150 million endowment to support the school, alongside fundraising for scholarships and research. The amount was a fundraising objective.^[45]

In February 2010, first deputy dean Igor Baranov told Kommersant that about 70% of the school's bachelor's and master's students occupied state-funded places, while public funding represented about 15% of its income. The same report stated that BFA had begun managing the school's endowment assets in December 2007; the asset manager reported a 3.1% return for 2008.^[46]

The acknowledgements in the school's 2011 Russian GUESSS report identify financial support from the Charitable Foundation for GSOM Development and the US–Russia Center for Entrepreneurship.^[47]: 2

The charitable foundation's published support schemes also included student project work. Terms for a field internship in Achinsk, scheduled for 10 August–10 September 2025, offered each participant a one-off scholarship of 51,800 rubles from the foundation, separately from university reimbursement of specified expenses.^[48]

Faculty and students

An institutional brochure from approximately 2011 reported 1,200 students and 65 full-time faculty members. It also described teaching by visiting professors, faculty members from other university units and management practitioners.^[49]

A Vedomosti report recorded master's admissions of 77 students in 2008 and 123 in 2011.^[50] In its account of the December 2024 advisory-board meeting, the school reported 170 admissions to master's programs during 2024.^[15] These figures describe annual admissions, rather than the total student population.

The school's development strategy for 2026–2030 uses an annual total of 15,500 participants across all programs as its 2025 baseline.^[18]: 5

Academic departments

The school's academic departments include:

• Department of Public Administration.^[51]
• Information Technologies in Management Department.^[52]
• Marketing Department.^[53]
• Department of Operations Management.^[54]
• Organizational Behavior and Personnel Management Department.^[55]
• Department of Strategic and International Management.^[56]
• Department of Finance and Accounting.^[57]
• Language for Academic and Business Communication Department.^[58]

Undergraduate education

GSOM offers bachelor's programs in Management, International Management, and Public and Municipal Administration. The university's course catalogue classifies the first two under management (38.03.02) and the third under public and municipal administration (38.03.04).^[59] The school's undergraduate handbook describes a four-year course of study, with placements following the second and third years.^[2]

Master's programs

The school's master's provision includes programs in management, corporate finance, business analytics and big data, smart-city management, and strategic human resource management.^[78][79] In the university's course catalogue, Smart City Management is classified under public and municipal administration, while the other four are classified under management.^[79]

Executive and continuing education

The school introduced an MBA program in 2000.^[1] Its executive-education portfolio subsequently developed to include its own MBA and Executive MBA programs, jointly delivered programs, and corporate and short-course provision.^[49][5]

Digital and immersive education

The school's center for immersive technologies in business education was established in 2021 with VTB's participation. Its work includes virtual-reality simulations, scenario-based learning and educational activities in Minecraft.^[124] The school operates VR laboratories at the Volkhovsky and Mikhailovskaya Dacha campuses, with simulations for public speaking, job interviews and giving feedback. Its project description dates integration into the curriculum to 2023 and reports use in eight courses in 2025.^[125]

The digital-education center's project-management workshops in Minecraft combine team construction tasks under time constraints with instruction on project life cycles, Gantt charts and after-action reviews. Participants allocate roles and plan time and resources.^[126]

Its project portfolio also includes a Minecraft game about drug development, created in 2023 with BIOCAD's support for Saint Petersburg University's tricentenary, and a geological quest for Gazprom simulating field development and natural-gas extraction. The latter introduces roles such as geologist, economist and drilling supervisor.^[126]

Method GSOM reported developing a small-group hybrid-classroom configuration in 2024 and publishing a white paper in 2025.^[127] The project is designed for up to ten students attending in person, alongside remote participants, with an emphasis on collaborative work.^[128]

In 2025, Method GSOM staff Alexandra Bordunos and Olga Akimova co-authored university courses on artificial intelligence for students and educators.^[127] The Open Education platform lists AI for Students: Effective and Responsible Use in Learning and AI for Educators: Innovative Technologies in Education as nine-week Russian-language courses offered by Saint Petersburg University.^[129][130]

The university course AI at the University: Teaching, Learning, Researching received AI Special Recognition in the 2025 GMA Awards. The organizer's list names Alexandra Bordunos and Olga Akimova among its teaching team; Method GSOM's 2025 report also records their participation in the university's AI course development.^[131][127]

Doctoral education and research support

GSOM offers doctoral programs in Management taught in Russian and English. The school describes both as preparation for the degree of Candidate of Sciences in economics.^[17] The programs are full-time and last three years.^[132]

The faculty's dissertation council began considering Candidate of Sciences dissertations in 2002 and Doctor of Sciences dissertations in 2006.^[1]

Responsible management education

The school's progress reports describe required and elective courses in business ethics, corporate social responsibility, sustainable supply chains and social entrepreneurship. In the curricula reported for 2019–2021, Business Ethics and Corporate Social Responsibility were required undergraduate courses, while Business and Society was required in the MBA and Executive MBA. Master's electives included Sustainability and Stakeholder Marketing, Social Entrepreneurship, Strategies for Sustainable Business, and Business and Climate Change.^{[36]: 5 [37]: 5–6}

The 2021 progress report described a strategic target for ESG-related content to be included in 15% of undergraduate and master's disciplines. The December 2024 report described a revised target of 40% and an inventory methodology updated in 2023, involving syllabus screening, discussion with instructors and program directors, and external expert review. It reported a sustainability-related course share of 36% for 2022–23 and 40.4% for 2023–24 in its main curriculum section.^{[37]: 5 [33]: 15–18 [b]}

The report divides the 2023–24 inventory into four categories, reported as average shares across undergraduate and graduate programs.^{[33]: 17–18}

The classification distinguishes courses centered on sustainability concepts or particular sustainable-development goals from courses incorporating relevant topics within another discipline.^{[33]: 17–18}

The reports also distinguish completed changes from unmet objectives. The 2017 report described CSR and sustainability content as embedded in core management courses while recording incomplete integration into program-level learning goals and an unfulfilled faculty-seminar objective. The 2019 and 2021 reports stated that a proposed CSR or sustainability seminar for doctoral students had not been introduced during their respective reporting periods.^{[35]: 3, 5 [36]: 6 [37]: 7}

The 2021 report described the introduction of a 'strategic sustainability mindset' as the first learning goal of the Executive MBA in a pilot project, and stated that the Master in Corporate Finance had begun reorienting its curriculum towards the ESG agenda.^[37]: 5

In its 2024 report, GSOM emphasized horizontal integration of sustainability into existing courses, alongside dedicated courses. Its account also described monitoring sustainability-related content in students' theses, using service-learning and learning-by-teaching methods, and involving students in campus sustainability projects as a form of living laboratory.^{[33]: 21–23}

The curricula described in the reports also included a required final-year undergraduate course, Ethics for Public Administration, and a Global Responsible Leadership seminar for CEMS/MiM students. The 2015 portfolio separately listed Eco Management and Green Economy, International Corporate Social Responsibility and a skills seminar in Moral Reasoning in Management.^{[34]: 3–4 [37]: 6} The 2015 report also described social entrepreneurs and MBA/EMBA participants contributing guest lectures and seminars for undergraduate and master's students.^[34]: 4

Norilsk Nickel supported the development of CSR video lectures and a company-based teaching case in 2016–2017. The school's reports describe the video lectures as part of undergraduate CSR teaching and Business and Society instruction for Executive MBA students in 2017; the 2019 account also records their use in MBA teaching.^{[35]: 4, 6 [36]: 5}

The school's 2024 report describes a Corporate Volunteering online course developed by Yury Blagov with the National Council for Corporate Volunteering and Philip Morris International's Russian operations. At GSOM, the course was offered as an undergraduate elective combining video material with group consulting projects.^[33]: 32 A December 2025 report by Siberian Federal University describes more than 20 students completing Blagov's video course and developing proposals for six companies; following a project presentation on 19 December, participants received certificates from GSOM and the council.^[137]

The CSR center held an integrated-reporting thematic day on 20 May 2024, combining a hybrid committee meeting involving more than 60 university and business representatives with a lecture by Ivan Topola for second-year Management and International Management students. An earlier hybrid guest lecture, delivered by SIBUR sustainability director Maxim Remchukov on 5 April 2023, addressed ESG implementation, closed-loop production and environmental risks.^{[33]: 12–13}

Social entrepreneurship and project-based learning

In 2015, the school described a Project Management for Social Entrepreneurs program supported by the Citi Foundation and offered without charge to participating social entrepreneurs. Undergraduate and master's students took part as volunteer mentors and consultants.^[34]: 4 The CSR center introduced an open Summer School in Social Entrepreneurship in May 2018, involving students from Saint Petersburg University, Ural Federal University and Siberian Federal University. The 2021 report described cooperation with IBM Russia from that year on digital solutions for social entrepreneurs.^{[36]: 6 [37]: 7}

In September 2019, GSOM and MegaFon opened 5G Dream Lab at the Mikhailovskaya Dacha campus. The laboratory included a test environment for developing services based on 5G technology.^[138]

Its training model distinguished two tracks: Digital Solutions Developer and Digital Solutions Integrator. The former covered software development, user interfaces and automated quality assurance; the latter addressed product selection, development management, customer requirements and budgeting. The project's website, archived in April 2022, described online teaching with access to a coworking space at Mikhailovskaya Dacha.^[139]

The school's 2024 progress report traces the Dream Lab method of project-based learning to the joint 5G Laboratory in 2019. It describes interdisciplinary student teams working on problems supplied by partner organizations, supported by mentors, with much of the work conducted remotely.^{[33]: 33–34}

The Center for Entrepreneurship's educational projects have included GSOM Idea Crush, described as a consultation and mentoring service for students considering or developing a business. Its stated scope includes reviewing business ideas, launching and expanding ventures, and addressing specific business problems. The center also described a pilot project-support training course scheduled for October 2020, in which students and alumni were to apply the methods to student projects in the second intake of the 5G Dream Lab.^[140]

Projects described in the 2024 report include:

For the 2024 More Than an Idea season, the school reported 29 students from four universities working with five social enterprises. A September account described the projects' completion following a June summer school and a period of practical work, and named the Our Future foundation and JTI Russia among the supporters.^{[141][142][c]}

The 2024 report also records the preparation of methodological recommendations for extending the More Than an Idea approach to other educational institutions. It names Yury Blagov, Yulia Aray and invited expert Rostislav Speransky among the authors and practice supervisors.^[33]: 35

The More Than an Idea summer school ran at Mikhailovskaya Dacha from 7 to 11 July 2026. According to the supporting Our Future foundation, more than 40 students worked in eight teams on problems supplied by eight social entrepreneurs and presented their projects on the final day.^[144]

In September 2025, VTB reported that it, GSOM and the Far Eastern Leopards organization had developed an AI assistant to organize ecological archives from Land of the Leopard National Park, Kedrovaya Pad and the Ussuriysky reserve. The announcement described it as an extension of a 2024 student case competition and said it was being used for educational purposes. Audio and camera-trap image processing were described as planned extensions.^[145]

Urban and territorial education

The Urbanist Summer School brings together GSOM, the Vysokovsky School of Urban Studies at the Higher School of Economics and the Institute for Design and Urban Studies at ITMO University. In summer 2023, 36 students in six teams conducted field research and developed tourism-related concepts for Vyborg, Staraya Ladoga and Shlisselburg. The two-week program concluded with a presentation on 24 July; university experts and regional and municipal representatives reviewed the work.^[146][147]

In the second season, in 2024, 40 participants developed eight proposals for the Bolshiye Luchki neighborhood of Slantsy.^[148] The organizer's project archive records work on Ivangorod in 2025.^[149]

In 2026, approximately 30 participants worked in six interdisciplinary teams on tourism-development proposals for Tikhvin. Their work combined preliminary analysis with field visits and discussions with local officials, residents, tourism professionals and visitors, followed by presentations of the proposed development strategies.^[150]

GSOM also worked with Severstal, the Urban Development Agency and the Cherepovets administration on training for municipal employees in 2023. The first stage took place at Cherepovets State University on 27–29 April, followed by a concluding module at Mikhailovskaya Dacha on 8–9 June. Topics included urban strategy, project management, crisis management and the reuse of abandoned facilities.^[33]: 36

In its October 2024 announcement of the Center for Sustainable Territorial Development, the school described the PUSK approach as having been developed and tested in Novotroitsk and Cherepovets in 2023.^[151] The center describes PUSK as a model for tailoring territorial-management programs to a local team's needs, typically combining a two-to-four-day in-person intensive for up to 30 participants with optional project support of up to three months.^[152]

The school's continuing-education catalogue also lists a program on human-centered management and communication for municipal management teams. Its modules cover urban-development strategy, project management, external communications, team management and public speaking. The published format combines online webinars, in-person training and individual or group project work, with content adapted to the commissioning organization's needs. The program leads to a Saint Petersburg State University certificate of continuing professional development.^[153]

CEMS

GSOM joined CEMS as an associate academic member in 2006 and became a full academic member in 2008.^[121][24] It was the alliance's only Russian business school.^[155]

The school began delivering the CEMS Master in International Management (CEMS MIM) in 2009.^[121] The one-year program combined study in different countries and led to a CEMS MIM diploma alongside the qualification awarded by the participant's home institution. In September 2009, Vedomosti reported the arrival of 20 international CEMS participants who studied alongside 65 second-year master's students at GSOM.^[156] The school's 2015 and 2017 reports describe block seminars on corporate social responsibility for CEMS/MiM students delivered in cooperation with Aalto University.^{[34]: 4 [35]: 4}

GSOM hosted the 27th CEMS Annual Events on 25–29 November 2015, with the graduation ceremony held at the Mariinsky Theatre.^[157] On 1–2 March 2019, it hosted the CEMS Club Conference, attended by 24 presidents of CEMS student clubs and three organizing members of the CEMS Student Board.^[158]

Teaching activities continued in 2021. A September report by CEMS described a week-long social-entrepreneurship seminar organized with the Normal Place charity cluster, during which students developed proposals for products and services.^[159] In December, CEMS reported that a multinational group of 16 students had visited the Moscow offices of Boston Consulting Group and L'Oréal.^[155]

On 2 March 2022, following the Russian invasion of Ukraine, CEMS stated that it was working with GSOM to ensure the safety of students on exchange in Saint Petersburg. It also stated that Russian CEMS students should not be held responsible for the invasion.^[160] On 11 March, the alliance announced the suspension of its institutional partnership with GSOM, citing the invasion and its perceived moral obligation to suspend institutional ties with a state university.^[10]

Centers and research projects

The school's research directory groups its activities into three broad areas: strategic management, including strategic marketing, in the context of globalization and the knowledge economy; organizational dynamics in the Russian economy; and relations between business and society, including institutional reform in healthcare and education. Research is conducted through organized projects and individual work, supported by research centers, doctoral studies, conferences and academic partnerships.^[19]

The directory lists eight research centers. Their activities combine research, contributions to degree-program teaching and continuing education for managers and entrepreneurs, with participation by master's and doctoral students.^[19]

A brochure from approximately 2011 described research centers concerned with entrepreneurship, corporate social responsibility, strategic marketing and innovation, and international logistics and supply chains.^[49]

The school's research report for 2014, printed in 2015, records the establishment of centers for public–private partnership studies and for international business and emerging markets during 2014.^{[134]: 2–3} Its center profiles identify Svetlana Maslova as head of the former and Lilac Nachum as director, with Andrei Panibratov as deputy director, of the center studying emerging-market and Russian multinational enterprises.^{[134]: 20–21}

The PPP center's reported 2014 projects included healthcare risk management using the planned perinatal center at Saint Petersburg Maternity Hospital No. 17 as a case, and research into the legal framework for the Devyatkino transport hub.^[134]: 20

The International Logistics and Supply Chain Management Centre opened at GSOM on 17 March 2010. A notice published by the International Union of Railways identifies DB Schenker, Russian Railways, GSOM, the European Business School and Saint Petersburg State Railway University as parties to its founding agreement. Its stated remit included developing advanced training for railway and logistics personnel.^[166]

Galina Shirokova directed the school's Center for Entrepreneurship from 2008 to 2020 and was academic director of its Economics and Management doctoral program from 2017 to 2020, according to her professional biography published by HSE University.^[167]

In October 2024, the school announced the opening of the Center for Sustainable Territorial Development, identifying Anastasia Golubeva as its head.^[151]

The Center for Corporate Social Responsibility worked with the Russian Managers Association on research into social investment in Russia. The reports discuss projects associated with the 2014, 2018 and 2019 reports on social investment, and research on corporate philanthropy with the Russian Donors Forum, including work associated with reports for 2014, 2018 and 2019–2021. PwC and Vedomosti are named among partners in the earlier philanthropy projects.^{[34]: 5 [36]: 7 [37]: 8} The 2017–2021 reports also describe participation in the International Comparative Social Enterprise Models (ICSEM) research project associated with the EMES network.^{[35]: 6 [36]: 7 [37]: 8}

The school reported that its professors established an Association of Business Ethics and CSR in 2016. In spring 2017, it began a CSR School seminar series with Vedomosti, concerned in particular with cooperation between businesses and non-governmental organizations.^{[35]: 7 [36]: 10}

The 2019 report also records GSOM's participation in activities of the Association of Business Ethics and CSR, including a student-paper competition, a collection of teaching cases and an online database of teaching materials.^[36]: 10

Research on social entrepreneurship included Yury E. Blagov and Yulia N. Aray's 2019 article in Social Enterprise Journal, which developed a typology of Russian social enterprises using documentary and organizational data. The publisher identifies both authors' affiliation as GSOM.^[168]

The Center for Market Efficiency and Applied Finance Research held seminars titled ESG Ratings: In Search of the Ideal from December 2023 through 2024, involving researchers from GSOM and HSE in Saint Petersburg.^[33]: 25

Entrepreneurship surveys

Researchers at GSOM prepared Russia's first national report for the Global University Entrepreneurial Spirit Students' Survey (GUESSS), following the country's participation in spring 2011. The report was authored by Galina Shirokova and Alexander Kulikov.^{[47]: 2, 6} Later reports for the 2016 and 2018 survey waves identified GSOM as the national partner, responsible for recruiting Russian universities, translating the questionnaire and distributing the survey.^{[169]: 11 [170]: 12}

These were national, multi-university samples, not enrollments at GSOM. The report for the 2021 survey wave, published in 2022, identified HSE University in Saint Petersburg as the national partner.^{[171]: 2, 11}

The school's 2014 research report identifies its Center for Entrepreneurship as the Russian partner in the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor and names Olga Verkhovskaya as project leader.^[134]: 16

GSOM also participated in the separate Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM) project. In June 2020, Kommersant reported the publication of the Russian GEM-2019 study by GSOM with Sberbank, identifying Olga Verkhovskaya as the school's project leader.^[172]

The article reported increased entrepreneurial intentions and early-stage business activity in Russia in 2019, while describing conditions for starting businesses as unfavorable. It stated that 14% of non-entrepreneurs reported an intention to start a business.^[172]

Territorial research

The Center for Sustainable Territorial Development studied Achinsk's attractiveness to young people aged 14–35 between October 2024 and July 2025. A local newspaper reported the project's launch in October 2024; the center's subsequent register marked it as completed and reported 43 recommendations for municipal and regional authorities.^[173][174]

In the project register consulted in September 2026, a separate study of the role of the planned Arctic Star campus in Arkhangelsk's development was listed as ongoing, with a March–December 2026 timetable. Its stated tasks included stakeholder research, recommendations for the campus's functions and a framework for monitoring socioeconomic effects.^[174]

Research on teaching and learning

In 2022, the school's digital-education center collaborated with the School of Advanced Studies at the University of Tyumen on a study involving about 60 first-year undergraduates. Over two weeks, three groups prepared English-language presentations using VR rehearsal, face-to-face training or independent practice. The study collected expert assessments, self-reports and pulse measurements; the June announcement stated that data analysis was still underway.^[175]

A 2023 iLRN study co-authored by GSOM researchers examined adaptation before VR-based training in giving workplace feedback. Its abstract describes 102 participants, including students and working managers, divided between general familiarization, communication-specific familiarization and no familiarization, with EEG used to assess cognitive load. The authors reported better learning outcomes and lower load in both familiarization groups, without a difference between the two types of familiarization.^[176][177]

Teaching cases

The school established a Russian Case Development Center in 2007.^[49]: 13 Its 2014 research report describes full-length and shorter teaching cases concerning Russian firms and international companies operating in Russia, most based on field research. Cases and accompanying teaching notes were also distributed through The Case Centre.^{[134]: 22–23}

A 2024 study of the case method in Russian management education surveyed 146 instructors from more than 30 universities and corporate universities and included 20 in-depth interviews. It examined how instructors understood and used teaching cases, their preferred formats, access to materials and barriers to adoption, comparing the findings with a 2014 study.^[178]

Method GSOM's report for 2025 records the development of 14 teaching cases and four case-based assignments using company materials and interviews. The materials were used in undergraduate, master's, MBA and continuing-education programs.^[127]

Reported research activity

The 2021 report counted 11 publications on CSR, ESG and sustainable development during 2019–2021, and six doctoral research projects related to those subjects in 2021.^[37]: 7 In a separate assessment for 2023, the school reported that 62 scientific articles by its researchers had been recorded in Saint Petersburg University's publication-monitoring system. Its analysis classified six articles, or 9.7%, as focusing on conceptual sustainability or ESG issues, and sixteen, or 25.8%, as focusing on individual sustainable-development goals.^{[33]: 28–29}

The 2019 report estimated approximately six CSR- or sustainability-related undergraduate course papers and six bachelor's theses per academic year, together with about five master's theses. The corresponding estimates in the 2021 report were 10–12 undergraduate course papers, 8–10 bachelor's theses and approximately five master's theses per year.^{[36]: 5 [37]: 6}

The school's 2017 report records the presentation of two PhD dissertations in corporate social responsibility by the CSR center.^[35]: 6

Conferences and academic exchange

The school organizes the annual Economy and Management Conference, which began in 2014 as the Emerging Markets Conference. It brings together academic researchers, doctoral students and practitioners and includes a doctoral colloquium.^[135] The first conference took place on 14–16 October 2014. In 2023, the series was renamed Economy and Management Conference while retaining the abbreviation EMC; the tenth conference's theme was Performance, Sustainability and Public Values.^{[34]: 5–7 [33]: 26–28}

The Business in Society track of the Emerging Markets Conference was organized in cooperation with ABIS, the Academy of Business in Society, in the editions reported for 2017–2021.^{[36]: 7 [37]: 8}

The 2015 report dates the Public Sector Transition conference series, organized with the Association for Studies in Public Economics, to 1998. The series is also described in the 2021 report.^{[34]: 6–7 [37]: 10} The school's Public–Private Partnership Research Center organized the ninth PPP in Transport Sector: Models and Experience conference on 26 May 2023, addressing transport infrastructure, investment and sustainable development.^[33]: 27

The school's Game Theory and Management conference series dates to 2007.^[49]: 13 Its nineteenth edition was held on 1–3 July 2026. The organizers were Saint Petersburg University, represented by GSOM and the Faculty of Applied Mathematics and Control Processes, and the Russian chapter of the International Society of Dynamic Games.^[179]

Its educational-development projects also include Method GSOM SPbU, directed at faculty members and university leaders.^[180]

The 2015 report also lists a conference titled Teaching Social Entrepreneurship: Current Agenda held that year.^[34]: 7

The Pashkus Readings, named in memory of the founding dean, began in 1996.^[3] Since 2022, the conference has focused on teaching methods in higher and corporate education. Its 21–22 April 2026 edition at Mikhailovskaya Dacha addressed graduate competency models. The Russian Association of Business Education, an information partner, reported 280 participants from 24 Russian regions and Belarus and 79 presentations. A classroom dedicated to Pashkus was opened during the event.^[181]

Academic journals and publication series

GSOM began publishing the management series of Vestnik of Saint Petersburg University in 2002. Its 2014 research report describes the journal's coverage as management research, teaching cases, book reviews and developments in business education.^[134]: 30

Russian Management Journal was established by Saint Petersburg State University in 2003 at the school's initiative, with a focus on general and strategic management.^[134]: 29

The school's Conference Papers collection includes volume X of Contributions to Game Theory and Management (ISSN 2310-2608). Its bibliographic record identifies Leon Petrosyan and Nikolay Zenkevich as editors and gives 2017 as the publication year, distinguishing it from the conference held on 7–9 July 2016.^[182] The Math-Net.Ru catalogue provides an archive covering 2007–2024 and identifies Saint Petersburg University as the copyright holder.^[183]

Library and information resources

GSOM's library is the management branch of Saint Petersburg State University's M. Gorky Scientific Library. It supports teaching through printed holdings and electronic resources, including textbooks, research monographs and databases.^[184] The Library Council's published agendas cover acquisitions, subscriptions, the availability of literature for degree courses, the use of research databases and user training.^[185]

Volkhovsky campus

The urban campus is at 1–3 Volkhovsky Lane on Vasilyevsky Island.^[121] A historical account of Pashkus's work dates the transfer of a building in Volkhovsky Lane to the university to 1996.^[3]

A September 2001 Delovoy Peterburg report described reconstruction underway since 1997, financed through donations, including US$1 million from the Arthur B. Schultz Foundation. It gave US$4.5 million as the projected cost of the reconstruction.^[186] The renovated building opened on 2 July 2002 and was named after donor Arthur B. Schultz.^[1] A contemporary report in Delovoy Peterburg put the total investment in reconstruction and repairs at US$4.5 million, provided by Russian and foreign donors.^[187]

Contractor M.I. Systems describes a later phase of work at No. 1 Volkhovsky Lane, undertaken between July 2005 and July 2006 with Spetsproektrestavratsiya. Its project description gives the building's area as 2,700 square metres and records the adaptation of the attic into a library with 100 workspaces while preserving surviving stucco and paintings.^[188]

The handbook covering 2019 placed most administrative offices, master's and doctoral teaching, and MBA/EMBA programs there.^[2] In 2021, master's teaching was based at the island campus, while undergraduate teaching was based at Mikhailovskaya Dacha.^[23]

Mikhailovskaya Dacha

The Mikhailovskaya Dacha campus occupies the former estate of Grand Duke Michael Nikolaevich of Russia near Peterhof. The estate was transferred to Saint Petersburg State University on 5 July 2006 for conversion into a business-school campus. The redevelopment combined the adaptation of historic buildings with new educational facilities.^[21]

Studio 44, led by architect Nikita Yavein, designed the redevelopment. A 2008 report in Kommersant put its planned construction cost at 7.36 billion rubles.^[21] The campus opened to students in 2015; the school's handbook dates the beginning of undergraduate classes there to 1 September.^[26][2]

The main teaching building occupies the estate's former stables, designed by Harald Bosse in 1861. Studio 44's project description gives a floor area of 20,120 square metres and a teaching capacity of 1,400, with a separate, partly sunken conference hall seating 450.^[189] A December 2015 architectural report described the completed adaptation of the stables and the addition of new facilities; a March 2016 construction report identified Studio 44 as designer and Setl Group as builder, and described the teaching, dining and service buildings as ready.^[190][191]

The conversion removed elements of Soviet-era alterations and restored surviving nineteenth-century facades and interiors. Four of the original five courtyards were roofed over to increase the enclosed space, while the northern courtyard facing the Gulf of Finland remained open. Glazed roofs brought daylight into the building's atriums and circulation spaces.^[190]

Student accommodation was added in 2021, with a reported capacity of 600 places.^[23] Sports facilities and a restored lime-tree avenue opened as part of the school's thirtieth-anniversary celebrations in September 2023.^[26]

The separate student cafe-club combines dining and public-event spaces in a pentagonal building with five entrances and spiraling terraces. Studio 44 gives its area as 4,960 square metres.^{[192][193][e]}

In 2008, Studio 44's design for the Mikhailovskaya Dacha campus received a Gold Diploma in the projects section of the Zodchestvo architectural festival.^[194]

In the completed-buildings competition at the 2017 Zodchestvo architectural festival, Studio 44's main teaching-building project received a Gold Sign in the Restoration and Reconstruction category.^[195]

Construction audit

In February 2014, Fontanka reported on an Accounts Chamber examination of federal funding for the Mikhailovskaya Dacha redevelopment. The report described objections to the use of a 1.5 design-complexity multiplier. Saint Petersburg University responded that the classification had been determined by federal construction and education authorities and that the project involved the restoration of historic buildings.^[196]

Program accreditation

Institutional accreditation and the triple crown

Suspension of activities following the invasion of Ukraine

On 11 March 2022, AACSB, AMBA and its Business Graduates Association, and EFMD jointly announced the suspension of all membership and accreditation activities with Russian institutions until further notice. Their statement cited the humanitarian crisis caused by the Russian invasion of Ukraine and attributed Russian universities' situation to the "decisions and actions of their government".^[9]

The statement, updated on 15 March, specified that accreditation remained valid for students and that degrees already conferred under accredited status continued to be regarded as degrees from accredited schools at that time.^[9] On the same date, the education publication Mel reported Russian Association of Business Education president Sergey Myasoedov's clarification that the measures concerned new accreditations and reaccreditations, rather than the withdrawal of existing awards. He explicitly included GSOM among the schools retaining accreditation.^[202]

As of September 2026^[update], EFMD listed St. Petersburg University's Graduate School of Management in its directory of EQUIS-accredited schools, with a five-year designation.^[6]

Financial Times

The school's Master in Management program entered the Financial Times ranking in 2013 at 65th place.^[203] The following table distinguishes the global program ranking from the newspaper's separate ranking of European business schools.

A dash indicates that no result is supplied in this table; it does not establish non-participation.

The school's Executive MBA was ranked 93rd in the Financial Times global ranking in 2020 and 79th in 2022.^{[212][213][214]} The 2022 school profile also reports the 2020 result and supplies no rank for 2021.^[215]

QS

In the 2018 edition of the QS Business Masters Rankings, the school's management and finance programs were placed 83rd and 69th respectively, as reproduced in a December 2017 report by the Prague University of Economics and Business.^[216]

QS reports the following ranking bands for the school's master's program in business analytics.^[22]

MBA.SU's reproduction of the 2023 QS results places the Master in Management in the 121–130 band and the Executive MBA in the 111–120 global band, with the latter ranked 47th in Europe.^[217] A member-submitted report on CEEMAN's website placed the joint AlmaU–GSOM Executive MBA 22nd in the 2021 QS ranking of Joint Programmes and second on the separate Executive Profile criterion.^[115]

The school's Executive MBA was placed in the 151–160 global band in the 2025 QS Executive MBA Rankings.^[218]

The joint AlmaU–GSOM Executive MBA was ranked 24th in 2025 and 31st in 2026 in QS's separate ranking of joint Executive MBA programs, as reproduced by Poets&Quants. The 2026 table included 31 programs.^[219]

The Economist

The school appeared in The Economist Masters in Management ranking in the following editions:

In July 2022, Poets&Quants reported that The Economist was discontinuing its MBA, Executive MBA and Master in Management rankings.^[222]

MBA.SU and Eduniversal

MBA.SU's national ranking uses assessments from MBA and Executive MBA graduates, including their reported income growth, career development, business contacts, and personal and professional development. Its tables assign some positions to groups of schools rather than to a single institution.^[223] The weights assigned to the criteria were changed in the 2021 edition.^[224] The following table gives the school's positions in selected editions:^[f]

The school's 2015 SIP report recorded first places for 2011–2014 in a graduate-survey ranking it described as the Izvestia ranking.^[34]: 1 MBA.SU identifies Izvestia among its media partners; these newspaper references do not, by themselves, establish a separate survey.^[225]

The 2015 SIP report stated that the school had ranked first in Russia in Eduniversal's rankings from 2008. The 2017 report specifically recorded first places in Eastern Europe in 2013, 2014 and 2016.^{[34]: 1 [35]: 1}

In September 2025, Eduniversal reported that GSOM had received its 5 Palmes of Excellence Emeritus distinction.^[229]

As of September 2026^[update], Eduniversal's online Best Masters tables listed the Master in Management first in General Management in Central and Eastern Europe,^[230] the Master in Corporate Finance fifth in Corporate Finance in the same region,^[231] and the Master in Business Analytics and Big Data nineteenth in the worldwide Big Data Management ranking.^[232]

Positive Impact Rating

In the 2021 Positive Impact Rating, GSOM was included in Level 4, Transforming. This is a category in the rating, rather than fourth place in an ordinal ranking.^{[233][37]: 2}

In the 2022 edition, GSOM was again included in Level 4, Transforming.^[234]

Other assessments

In its 2017 study, the Expert Analytical Center placed GSOM alone in its "global business schools" category. The assessment examined international visibility through research, accreditation and partnerships.^[235]

In its 2023 mapping of business-school internationalization, the center included GSOM, RANEPA's Institute of Business Studies and the Moscow School of Management Skolkovo in its "international business schools" category.^[236]

In October 2024, Forbes Education included GSOM in a selection of 16 Russian business schools based on international accreditation and ranking results. It identified GSOM, RANEPA's Institute of Business Studies and the Moscow School of Management Skolkovo as the three most internationally recognized schools in the selection.^[237]

GSOM Family

GSOM Family brings together graduates, students, faculty and partners. Its activities include guest lectures, informal meetings and the Talent Up! student–alumni mentoring program.^[2] Its GSOM Family Day events are documented for 2016, 2018 and 2019.^{[35]: 2 [36]: 2 [g]}

The volunteer guide for the 2018 Family Day scheduled the event for 22 September at Mikhailovskaya Dacha and described a program of talks, discussions, workshops and community activities. It was intended for alumni, students, teachers, employees and partners.^[238] Talent Up! is also listed in the school's project directory as an initiative organized by students and staff for students and alumni.^[180]

The September 2019 Family Day included a main discussion panel devoted to sustainable development.^[36]: 2

The school dates the start of Talent Up! to 2013. Its April 2024 description presents a six-month mentoring relationship between a student and an alumnus or alumna.^[239] A December 2018 account by organizing-committee member Polina Gugunova describes individual matching according to a student's request, with meetings from November to April.^[240]

Career development

GSOM's Career Center supports the career development of students and alumni. Its activities include career consultations, information about jobs and internships, company-based projects, and opportunities for alumni to mentor students and share professional experience.^[241]

Alumni recognition

In the AMBA & BGA Excellence Awards 2021, the organizer listed two GSOM graduates as finalists: Ramil Khantimirov of StormWall in MBA Entrepreneur of the Year, and Ivan Syreyshchikov in the MBA Leadership Award.^[243]

Student activities and identity

Student projects listed by the school include Management Career Week, the Management of the Future conference, case and finance clubs, charity and environmental activities, and sports, cultural and dance groups. Management Career Week involves students, school employees and partner employers.^[180]

The student-organized Drucker Awards, named after Peter Drucker, began in 1995. The awards recognize students, faculty members and alumni.^[244] According to the school's published history, in 2002 Drucker sent a letter of support and donated several of his books to its library, with personal messages to students.^[245]

The school's Student Council is an elected body of student self-government that represents students' interests.^[246]

The school's sports activities include an annual five-a-side football tournament involving teams of undergraduate and master's students, alumni and university staff, and an annual table-tennis tournament. The student dance club GSOM Dance dates from 2016 and prepares performances for the school's Peter Drucker award ceremony.^[247]

The school's 2024 report dates the Management of the Future conference series (Russian: Менеджмент Будущего) to 2011.^{[33]: 25–26} The three-day event brings together competitively selected students and company representatives for lectures, workshops and other business and career activities.^[248]

The 2026 edition was scheduled for 22–24 October at Mikhailovskaya Dacha, with an organizing committee drawn from GSOM staff and students.^[249] Its announced format provided for 115 selected participants and two tracks, Corporations and Entrepreneurship, concerned respectively with corporate careers and developing business ventures.^[250]

During Management Career Week in March–April 2023, alumni provided individual career consultations; the November program included a session on careers in ESG.^[33]: 14

The volunteer club GSOM Charity was revived in 2015. Its reported activities included support for children, older people and people with disabilities, and voluntary work for non-governmental organizations.^{[35]: 2 [36]: 2–3} The reports distinguish regular volunteers from the wider group of supporters or activity participants:

For 2018–2019, the school reported more than ten visits to orphans, 15 visits to older people and 25 visits to people with disabilities by GSOM Charity volunteers. Its 2021 report named four continuing NGO partners: April, Prospects, Who, If Not Us, and Spearmint, and described the maintenance of voluntary activities during the COVID-19 pandemic.^{[36]: 2–3 [37]: 2–3}

The St Petersburg CEMS Club's reported activities included NGO Consulting'17, through which student teams advised social enterprises, and a campus book-sharing initiative. The 2021 report also lists the eighth annual CEMS White Nights Conference in July that year among the club's activities, with discussions on placing society at the center of strategy and on sustainable funding.^{[35]: 2 [37]: 3}

The Green Campus initiative and the CEMS club organized separate waste collection and a bottle-cap collection project supporting wheelchairs for children. The 2021 report also described student-led environmental lectures and work on an environmental case competition.^{[36]: 3 [37]: 3 [h]} The school's 2024 report states that its operations follow Saint Petersburg University's environmental policy.^[33]: 38

In April 2023, the student-led GSOM Impact Committee worked with the university's Psychological Clinic on a month of mental-health information and workshops. The initiative concluded with an art-therapy session. The school's report counted ten student-prepared social-media posts, with approximately 1,000 views each. Committee members also participated in environmental career-guidance lessons attended by more than 110 school students during 2023.^[33]: 33

The color page of its digital design system specifies GSOM Red as   #C31632.^[20][i]

Freddie the snowy owl

The school's mascot is Freddie (Russian: Фредди), a snowy owl associated with a real bird of the same name at the Leningrad Zoo. The school's undergraduate handbook links the owl to Minerva, the Roman goddess of wisdom depicted in the university's coat of arms and the school's logo, and describes the bird as being supported by GSOM alumni.^[2]