Called SET University, which stands for “Science. Entrepreneurship. Technology,” it promises to be different from existing facilities by educating not just IT specialists but also IT entrepreneurs. Students will study artificial intelligence technologies, defend startup ideas instead of a thesis, and pay for tuition with a percentage of their future salaries.
The presentation of the university took place on December 7 in Kyiv’s Parkovyi Congress and Exhibition center. According to its founders, Serhiy Tokarev, founding Partner at Roosh, and the Kyiv School of Economics, the university’s approach is aimed at developing the skills required to become an IT entrepreneur.
Students will develop their ideas, business plans, launch startups, and work with real cases of IT companies. Also, the university will become a base for a venture studio that will invest in the most successful student startups.
Serghiy Tokarev told at the opening that
“My global goal is to change the thinking in the Ukrainian technology industry from outsourced thinking to a product one, to create a new economy. I want to help Ukrainian IT specialists be not only someone’s ‘hands’ but also generate ideas and implement them themselves.”
The university is currently analyzing the needs of applicants and the IT market to determine the final list of study areas. SET University is already considering disciplines such as Artificial Intelligence, Data Science, Cybersecurity, and others.
As teachers and mentors for students, there will be top managers of Ukrainian and foreign IT companies.
“We do not want to create an institution that would fit into the old education system. We will set an example of what IT universities should look like and thus change the system,” adds Tymofiy Mylovanov, President of the Kyiv School of Economics, Minister of Economic Development, Trade, and Agriculture of Ukraine in 2019-2020.
The founders of the university are planning that 100% of SET University graduates will be able to find a job in the best Ukrainian and foreign IT companies or start their own successful startup immediately after graduation.
Studying at SET University will be available to every student, as it will be possible to sign an income share agreement. Students will be able to pay tuition with a percentage of their salary in an IT company for several years after graduation. Thus, both students and their teachers are interested in the best result.
The first intake of students for bachelor’s and master’s programs will be in 2022.
After the presentation of SET University, the event hosted a panel discussion on the development of IT education in Ukraine.
At the beginning of the discussion, Mykhailo Fedorov, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Digital Transformation, made a welcoming speech. The discussion was attended by government officials and businessmen: Oleksandr Bornyakov, Deputy Minister of Digital Transformation of Ukraine on IT industry development, Head of the Diia City project; Sergey Tokarev, Founding Partner at Roosh, founder of SET University; Tymofiy Mylovanov, President of the Kyiv School of Economics, Minister of Economic Development, Trade, and Agriculture of Ukraine in 2019-2020; Sofia Vyshnevska, co-founder of Propertymate, Techstars Alumni; Artem Borodatyuk, founder of the IT companies group Netpeak Group.
In particular, panelists discussed how business and government can work together to reform IT education.
