Schaffhausen, Switzerland, December 16, 2020 – SIT´s ecosystem presented its main activities in 2020 while revealing ambitious expansion plans for next year. No more just an institute but a unique education ecosystem with global impact, SIT successfully links science, research, education, and business across 8 projects. The SIT community is growing, too, with 42 new master students out of 1864 applications.

2020 is coming to an end and the entire SIT team looks back to a year full of activities that provide a good fundament to the ecosystem´s plans in 2021. In under a year, the institute transformed into a unique ecosystem, that drives knowledge in various forms through science via its newly launched educational programs:

• SIT Masters in Computer Science and Software Engineering
• Cyber Security Online Course for executives by SIT Academy
• SIT Alemira digital learning ecosystem for education and research
• SIT Programming School for children
• SIT Autonomous

Next year, SIT leadership is planning an even bigger expansion, both in terms of projects and geography. The ecosystem’s founder and key investor Serguei Beloussov supports SIT’s swift shift from an institute to an ecosystem: “SIT grew amidst an unprecedented healthcare crisis, showcasing the importance of interdisciplinary approach. Both the team and students see transformative science as a driver of change, positioning the ecosystem very well for future expansion.”

SIT STAR Contest

SIT Masters is expecting the graduation of its 2019 cohort. All 8 students attend SIT’s double program and are now engaged in thesis writing. The 2020 intake listed 42 students from 22 countries. Notably, 7 of them were admitted to SIT Masters thanks to SIT STAR Contest, the institute’s online computer science competition, which put to test 416 contestants in the 2020 final round.

The next SIT STAR Contest will be taking place in February 2021, gathering the contestants for a practice round from February 1 to 7. The SIT STAR Contest Final is scheduled for February 10. Registration for the contest will be open in January. All contest-related news will be published on the institute’s website.

From SIT to SIT Ecosystem in 2020 and 2021 Plans

In 2020, SIT Academy launched its flagship online course in Cyber Security for executives, generating the interest of 1500 professionals. SIT Alemira secured its first customers as a digital ecosystem for Acronis, SIT Masters, and SIT Academy, reaching a 200% monthly growth rate and more than 10k learning hours per month. SIT Programming School started cooperating with the International School of Schaffhausen, helping children aged 7 to 13 learn programming skills. In 2020, the school streamlined 60k teaching hours to 6500 students.  SIT Automonous launched the Acronis SIT Autonomous team to take part in Roboroce, the world’s first racing series for autonomous cars, winning 1st place in Roborace Season Beta Round 3.

SIT’s next-year ambitions spell out expansion, both country- and program-wise. At the moment, the Swiss-based ecosystem is considering different locations for its first foreign campus. SIT Programming School is expanding too, having already chosen Singapore for its new school in 2021. SIT Academy is developing 8 brand-new online courses, branching out into Advanced Materials, Quantum Technologies, Artificial Intelligence, and Machine Learning. SIT Alemira is preparing to launch SIT Alemira Bootcamp, a practice-based integrated online learning environment. SIT’s startup ecosystem SIT StartGarden is collecting the first pipeline of startups for incubation and acceleration in SIT in 2021. The startup ecosystem is aiming to start its first programs in May 2021, having already arranged IP and legal consulting for young companies. Next year, SIT StartGarden is planning to have its first 10-15 teams in Schaffhausen and implement them in the SIT Ecosystem. SIT is establishing SIT Capital venture fund with its first size of $50M, average check of $0,5-1M, and a focus on Quantum Tech, Smart Materials, Computer Science, Software Engineering, and Business Sciences. Specifically, the venture fund will be looking for deep tech startups related to AI&ML, Cyber Security and Info Integrity, Autonomous Machines, and Digital Transformation, mainly working on the seed stage and round A and very rarely jumping into a later stage.

About SIT

Schaffhausen Institute of Technology (SIT) is an international institution, founded by entrepreneurs, led by scientists, and advanced by world-class researchers.

SIT Master offers a cutting-edge blended degree in Computer Science and Software Engineering.

SIT Academy helps executives and companies stay ahead of emerging technologies.

SIT Alemira is a digital ecosystem for education and research.

SIT StartGarden is a startup ecosystem, where students, researchers, and science and tech professionals collaborate on innovative solutions.

SIT Programming School teaches programming skills to children aged 7 to 13.

SIT Automonous specializes in AI and machine learning consulting services in driverless mobility, robotics, and professional sports.

SIT Capital supports early-stage digital startups around the world.