St Petersburg University Graduate School of Management (GSOM)

Age: 18

History: The School of Management was founded as a department of the St Petersburg State University in 1993, in co-operation with W.A. Haas School of Business, UC Berkeley. In January 2007 it was reorganised into the Graduate School of Management with a view to becoming a world-class Russian business school.

Address: The school is located in the centre of St Petersburg, with a new campus due to open in the southern suburbs of the city in 2011.

Ambience: St Petersburg is the most European city in Russia, and is also called “Northern Venice” thanks to its numerous rivers and canals. The school's main building, on Bazil Island in the heart of St Petersburg, is a fully restored architectural monument dating back hundreds of years with modern auditoriums, a library and IT facilities conveniently integrated into historical interiors to suit XXI century educational and research processes.

Vital statistics: GSOM has a portfolio of degree programmes typical for university business schools – undergraduate degrees, Masters, PhDs and executive MBAs are all offered. Since 1993, the number of students has grown from 33 to 1,350 and there is now a full-time teaching staff of 65 academics. The alumni association has a membership of more than 3,000. All major programmes are internationally accredited.

Added value: GSOM has probably the best library on economics and management in Russia. The school also has its own Case Development Centre for those all-important case studies and “business simulators”.

Easy to get into? Applicants to Master programs (taught in English) have to get through an interview and need an undergraduate degree, a TOEFL and GMAT qualification (minimum score 500). For the Dual degree executive MBA (taught in collaboration with HEC Paris, English track), at least five years of management experience is required.

Glittering alumni: Eugene U. Zinin, director, RBC Media North-west Area; Andrei V. Zasipkin, chairman of the board of directors, National Telecommunications; Igor M. Bokov, director general, Heineken Russia.

Gurus: Professor Dmitry L Volkov, financial accounting and analysis; Professor Yury E Blagov, cross-cultural management, corporate social responsibility and strategic management.

International connections: GSOM has 32 partner schools around the world, and more than 200 students take part in exchanges every year.

Cost: The dual degree executive MBA is €39,000 for 18 months.

Who's the boss? The dean of the school is Professor Valery S Katkalo, specialist in strategic and international management.

Prospectus: +7 812 323 8448; www.gsom.pu.ru; office@gsom.pu.ru