Dear freshmen!

On behalf of the entire team of the GSOM SPbU and on my own behalf, today I am glad to welcome you as students of our Business School. You made your choice, passed all exams with good results, and now you will have difficult but interesting years of study: immersion in the networking of our community, participation in interesting extracurricular projects and the first internships and job offers. We wish you that this path was exciting, so that you meet all difficulties with interest and even with passion.

Our teachers, many of whom are researchers of GSOM SPbU Research centers and practicing specialists, will share their knowledge of important academic disciplines with you. Be sure to take the opportunity to communicate with them, learn from their experience and competencies. You will also meet experts in different areas of business, government, culture and education during guest lecturers. I urge you to be proactive and try to get the most out of your studies.

At the beginning of last year, we launched the process of updating the GSOM SPbU Strategy. Now we are already seeing the first results: we are making our educational programs more modern and practice-oriented, developing a digital ecosystem, continuing to equip our campuses and striving to make both students and teachers feel comfortable within the walls of the Business School. And this is the great merit of members of the GSOM Advisory Board and partner companies. We hope you appreciate our common efforts.

This year, we also formulated the Business School values — the cultural code by which members of our community will be able to get to know each other: it will help them quickly find a common language and solve tasks. The main values of GSOM SPbU are professionalism, responsible leadership, continuous development, openness and multiculturalism, customer focus and a team of like-minded people. They are interconnected, and we, as representatives of the Business School, will broadcast them and pass them to you during the education process.

Dear freshmen, I congratulate you on the start of a wonderful journey and immersion in the life of the Business School. Communicate more, do not be afraid to take risks and try new things, learn, criticize, doubt and look for the best. Now, together with you, following the mission of GSOM SPbU, we will create knowledge, develop leaders and change the world for the better!

Olga Dergunova
Deputy President and Chairman of the Management Board of VTB Bank,
Director of the Graduate School of Management, St. Petersburg University