April 5, 2012 at 14:33CS Center. Impressions
Good day, dear Khabravchians.
Today you are given the opportunity to read the impressions of a Computer Science Center student based on the results of the first year of study.
I am a 3rd year student at St. Petersburg State University NRU ITMOI study at the department of "Higher mathematics". I went there because I was interested in mathematics, computer science and everything connected with them. But, as is often the case in the educational system in Russia, I was somewhat disappointed in my expectations: I thought I would go to a place where they would tell me a lot of theory and teach me how to use it in practice to solve specific problems. The theory is taught very well: the teachers are really experts in their fields and have excellent knowledge of not only the material, but also the technique of teaching it; but there are a number of subjects that, it seems to me, should have been “optional”, but were mandatory, which somewhat reduced the general mood for learning. But with practical application it turned out to be a bummer: practically no interesting projects that would include issues that were relevant in practice were found. And to be honest,
The first and most important question that needs to be answered before starting training somewhere else is the question: "Why do I need this?"
Starting from the second year, I began to attend open courses of the St. Petersburg CS club , where the theory was described with its application in practice. From there I came to the conclusion that mathematics is really applicable (sometimes in rather unexpected areas) and everything that I studied at the institute is still applied. But still, CS Club is a place where you can rather come and listen to some interesting topics, and not a place where you can study constantly.
And then CS Center appeared on the horizon. After reviewing the information on the site, I saw that there are three areas: SE (software development), DM (data analysis, under the auspices of Yandex) and CS (theoretical computer science). The choice fell on CS, since it was interesting to program only for the implementation of specific tasks, and what DM was I had little idea =)
According to the program , entering CS Center, you could get the necessary theoretical knowledge and learn how to put it into practice in various projects ( on SE and DM it’s practice , while on CS it’s R&D ). Well, I thought, just what you need is left to do.
The admission process itself was quite simple: to pass the test on the site, which included a number of tasks on the mat. analysis, combinatorics and programming, and according to the test results to pass interviews with the curator of the chosen direction. Everything seems pretty simple, but in my case there was a snag with the interview: for the summer period I went to America under the w & t program, and it turned out that I could not attend the interview personally. But the question turned out to be easily solved: alexanderskulikovwho interviewed me took into account my situation and allowed me to go through an interview on Skype, knowing full well that the person himself is much more important than following an absolute rule. This in no way means that you can do whatever you like, and you should “go into your position” all the time, but there are exceptions, and this is nice.
The interview was successfully completed, and I was enrolled in CS Center in the field of theoretical informatics (subcourse Applications).
In September, the training process began directly. The place of classes is the Physics and Mathematics Lyceum # 239 and the CS Club under the POMI RAS. Training is carried out in the evenings of weekdays from 6:30 to 9:30 (each course is read once a week.) Each semester, the student is required to take 3 courses, some of which are required, and some of which are optional. By the way, the very principle of training, when there is a mandatory skeleton to which a student can choose additional disciplines, was for me one of the most attractive factors.
Usually, a lesson at a particular course takes the form of a lecture for 1 pair, then a break, then practice in the same discipline. Teachersat CS Center - all high-class specialists in their fields who want and like to teach interested people. This educational institution is supported by their enthusiasm, for which many thanks to them!
I especially want to note two teachers: Kulikov Alexander Sergeevich and Dvorkin Mikhail Eduardovich . They teach the course Algorithms and Data Structures (1 and 2). Both are excellent specialists in their field, they can find an approach to almost all students, and their enthusiasm and performance are extremely contagious =)
For each course homework assignments are set, which must be taken at certain dates, and it also happens that they conduct tests and tests during training. Difficulty depends on both the course and the preparation of the student, but there is nothing too heavy.
At the end of the first semester, a holiday was held where students from all directions gathered together with all the teachers, and in a relaxed atmosphere marked the end of the first stage of training.
I would also like to note an interesting fact that in addition to the lectures and practices, their videos are also available . So if on some day you just do not have time to come to classes - this is not a reason for refusing training, you can always watch the video of the lesson and understand everything that was read there. Again, this is a “feature”, which should not be abused: this opportunity is aimed at helping a student who, due to other circumstances, does not have time to do something, and not a student who does not want to go anywhere, but wants to pass assignments.
Since I am studying in the direction of Theoretical Informatics, one of the obligatory tasks for fulfillment is research work in the direction chosen by the student. My choice fell on an extremely interesting and promising field of bioinformatics. Under the guidance of a scientist from the University of South Carolina Maxim Alekseev, I am engaged in one of the tasks of combinatorial biology, or rather, setting an upper estimate for the value of the median genome for the triple of cyclic genomes.
Research itself gives a lot:
Now I understand that the decision to do research in this area most likely helped me answer the most important question that I had before entering CS Center: “What will I do to leave the institute?” Now I am going to enter the magistracy of the Academy of Sciences of the Russian Academy of Sciences in the direction of Algorithmic Bioinformatics and further deal with issues from this field.
Summing up, we can say that admission and training at CS Center is probably the most important event of all the time in higher education that I have ever taken. They say that change is always for the better, well, well, this change certainly will not bring anything bad!
Today you are given the opportunity to read the impressions of a Computer Science Center student based on the results of the first year of study.
Bio: a small retreat
I am a 3rd year student at St. Petersburg State University NRU ITMOI study at the department of "Higher mathematics". I went there because I was interested in mathematics, computer science and everything connected with them. But, as is often the case in the educational system in Russia, I was somewhat disappointed in my expectations: I thought I would go to a place where they would tell me a lot of theory and teach me how to use it in practice to solve specific problems. The theory is taught very well: the teachers are really experts in their fields and have excellent knowledge of not only the material, but also the technique of teaching it; but there are a number of subjects that, it seems to me, should have been “optional”, but were mandatory, which somewhat reduced the general mood for learning. But with practical application it turned out to be a bummer: practically no interesting projects that would include issues that were relevant in practice were found. And to be honest,
Admission
The first and most important question that needs to be answered before starting training somewhere else is the question: "Why do I need this?"
Starting from the second year, I began to attend open courses of the St. Petersburg CS club , where the theory was described with its application in practice. From there I came to the conclusion that mathematics is really applicable (sometimes in rather unexpected areas) and everything that I studied at the institute is still applied. But still, CS Club is a place where you can rather come and listen to some interesting topics, and not a place where you can study constantly.
And then CS Center appeared on the horizon. After reviewing the information on the site, I saw that there are three areas: SE (software development), DM (data analysis, under the auspices of Yandex) and CS (theoretical computer science). The choice fell on CS, since it was interesting to program only for the implementation of specific tasks, and what DM was I had little idea =)
According to the program , entering CS Center, you could get the necessary theoretical knowledge and learn how to put it into practice in various projects ( on SE and DM it’s practice , while on CS it’s R&D ). Well, I thought, just what you need is left to do.
The admission process itself was quite simple: to pass the test on the site, which included a number of tasks on the mat. analysis, combinatorics and programming, and according to the test results to pass interviews with the curator of the chosen direction. Everything seems pretty simple, but in my case there was a snag with the interview: for the summer period I went to America under the w & t program, and it turned out that I could not attend the interview personally. But the question turned out to be easily solved: alexanderskulikovwho interviewed me took into account my situation and allowed me to go through an interview on Skype, knowing full well that the person himself is much more important than following an absolute rule. This in no way means that you can do whatever you like, and you should “go into your position” all the time, but there are exceptions, and this is nice.
The interview was successfully completed, and I was enrolled in CS Center in the field of theoretical informatics (subcourse Applications).
Training
In September, the training process began directly. The place of classes is the Physics and Mathematics Lyceum # 239 and the CS Club under the POMI RAS. Training is carried out in the evenings of weekdays from 6:30 to 9:30 (each course is read once a week.) Each semester, the student is required to take 3 courses, some of which are required, and some of which are optional. By the way, the very principle of training, when there is a mandatory skeleton to which a student can choose additional disciplines, was for me one of the most attractive factors.
Usually, a lesson at a particular course takes the form of a lecture for 1 pair, then a break, then practice in the same discipline. Teachersat CS Center - all high-class specialists in their fields who want and like to teach interested people. This educational institution is supported by their enthusiasm, for which many thanks to them!
I especially want to note two teachers: Kulikov Alexander Sergeevich and Dvorkin Mikhail Eduardovich . They teach the course Algorithms and Data Structures (1 and 2). Both are excellent specialists in their field, they can find an approach to almost all students, and their enthusiasm and performance are extremely contagious =)
For each course homework assignments are set, which must be taken at certain dates, and it also happens that they conduct tests and tests during training. Difficulty depends on both the course and the preparation of the student, but there is nothing too heavy.
At the end of the first semester, a holiday was held where students from all directions gathered together with all the teachers, and in a relaxed atmosphere marked the end of the first stage of training.
Lecture video
I would also like to note an interesting fact that in addition to the lectures and practices, their videos are also available . So if on some day you just do not have time to come to classes - this is not a reason for refusing training, you can always watch the video of the lesson and understand everything that was read there. Again, this is a “feature”, which should not be abused: this opportunity is aimed at helping a student who, due to other circumstances, does not have time to do something, and not a student who does not want to go anywhere, but wants to pass assignments.
Research
Since I am studying in the direction of Theoretical Informatics, one of the obligatory tasks for fulfillment is research work in the direction chosen by the student. My choice fell on an extremely interesting and promising field of bioinformatics. Under the guidance of a scientist from the University of South Carolina Maxim Alekseev, I am engaged in one of the tasks of combinatorial biology, or rather, setting an upper estimate for the value of the median genome for the triple of cyclic genomes.
Research itself gives a lot:
- Work with scientific articles of other scientists, without which any research in any field of study is impossible
- The technique of marking up documents using LaTeX, which is extremely useful, since in the West all scientific publications are accepted only in PDF format with markup for it from LaTeX
- The opportunity to deal with a popular problem under the guidance of an experienced scientist who helps and directs throughout the study
- The realization that specifically you can answer a question that no one has answered before
- Study tons of additional material that may come in handy. And new knowledge is always good, it's just an axiom
Now I understand that the decision to do research in this area most likely helped me answer the most important question that I had before entering CS Center: “What will I do to leave the institute?” Now I am going to enter the magistracy of the Academy of Sciences of the Russian Academy of Sciences in the direction of Algorithmic Bioinformatics and further deal with issues from this field.
Conclusion
Summing up, we can say that admission and training at CS Center is probably the most important event of all the time in higher education that I have ever taken. They say that change is always for the better, well, well, this change certainly will not bring anything bad!