#StudentsPro - Victoria Verbnikova

#StudentsPro - Victoria Verbnikova

Victoria Verbnikova, a student of the Institute of Energy, an activist and leader of many initiatives, is the heroine of our project #ScholarsPro. She will talk about what every student wants to know - about the opportunities to get scholarships and " perks" while studying. But first, let's get to know her better.

Who am I?

I am Victoria Verbnikova, at the moment I am studying at two master's programs in "Engineering of electrical materials and systems" and "Economics and management of organization".

I have been involved in research and project activities for 4 years.

I started my journey with the Energy Economics Olympiad in my freshman year in 2019, then became a speaker at REN Youth Day 2019. I went on to be the captain of the team that participated in CASE-IN 2019 Fall Cup, winning it.

I hold the title of International Champion in engineering case solving. At the Finals, my amazing oratorical skills opened up, which certainly helped a lot in the presentation of the project. Since then, I have become the permanent captain of the teams I am a part of. This is not my personal choice: the guys are happy to have me as their leader, because I am a good team organizer and try to make sure everyone is engaged, but not overwhelmed. Being one of the most experienced members, I have a lot of projects on the national and international level in my portfolio. Here is a list of some of them:

- Awarded a 2nd degree diploma for winning the Interregional Student Olympiad with international participation "Economics of Energy".

- Winner of the Russian Energy Week Youth Project Competition, 3rd place in the team.

- Winner of the international championship CASE-IN 2019. Captain of the team.

- Russia and SIC Finalist of Schneider Electric's Global Business Case Challenge Schneider Go Green 2020.

- Finalist of CASE-IN International Championship 2020 (Oil and Gas Business). Team Captain.

- Participant of MIT EnergyHack 2020.

- Semifinalist of the International CASE-IN 2020 Championship. Team captain.

- Russia and SIC Finalist of Schneider Electric's Global Business Case Challenge Schneider Go Green 2021.

- 3rd place at the qualifying round of CASE-IN 2021 (Project Engineering) international championship. Team Captain.

- Winner in Cup Technical 2021 on Changellenge platform in Corporate Culture Immersion category. 4th place in the main nomination. Team Captain.

- Participant of OilCase 2021. Team Captain.

- Captain of the winning teams of TWO Youth Global Energy Forecasts 2021 and 2022.

- Captain of the winning teams of TWO Interactive Youth Project Creation Sessions at REN Youth Day 2021 and 2022.

I am also the author of about ten publications indexed in Scopus, VAK and RSCI. Besides studying and participating in projects, I am also working in other fields. For example, I am a graphic designer and make logos, screensavers, banners, layouts for my projects as well. Among my qualities, besides oratory, there is another interesting one - I process a large amount of information very quickly and learn fast. This is why I often searched for the data I needed for calculation (and searching for data is a very time-consuming process). I have a variety of professional experience: I was Vice-President of the department "Design & Production" of the Energy Club of Polytechnic University for six months, then worked as a designer in the interior design of the Politech co-working room. I am still a member of the international organization Electrical Engineering STudents' European association (EESTEC). In addition I had an internship and an industrial practice in NTC UES, where I am working now, and two internships at Gazprom Export. In my spare time, which is often very scarce, I am fond of drawing and pyrography.

As an experienced contestant, I now often act as a mentor for teams, as well as an organizer of events. Most recently, I moderated the qualifying stage of the Student League of the International Engineering Championship CASE-IN direction "Electric Power Engineering", the participant of which I was just recently.

What do I get right now in scholarships and benefits per academic year?

Grant of the President of the Russian Federation

This academic year, 700 people from all over the country received this grant for research activities. I'm somewhere in the middle of that list.

The fact that I got selected was a pleasant surprise and New Year's present from myself, when I mistakenly applied a year early. This year, because of the active work in other projects, I missed the deadline and ended up winning on the application of a year ago, in which some of the achievements have already exceeded their limit of relevance (according to the rules for up to two years).

But I still missed the deadline for the Potanin Scholarship.

Grant for the winner of the portfolio competition

In the year when I finished my bachelor's degree and was preparing to continue my studies at the University, Polytechnic introduced a portfolio competition for admission to the master's program.

I was the absolute winner at Polytechnic, scoring 580 points in "Engineering of Electrical Materials and Systems" . But also in the second master's program I entered by this competition, becoming the first in the second direction. (Article: https://www.spbstu.ru/media/news/education/podvedeny-itogi-konkursa-portfolio-abiturientov/)

According to the regulation, I received this grant in the first semester of the master's program.

Increased state academic scholarship for research activities

Every semester, I participate in a competition for research activities, where my achievements are evaluated according to the Regulations and a degree is awarded. For the entire third and fourth year of my undergraduate studies, I took first place in the ranking of the entire Polytechnic University for research activities.

Scholarship of the Russian Government

I only met the criteria to participate in the competition for this scholarship when I started my master's degree program, because my grades in the bachelor's program were not so smooth.

I applied for the scholarship through Polytechnic University's personal profile and won the competition, which I was very happy about.

Academic Excellence Scholarship

Quite unexpectedly for myself, for the first time in all my education at Polytechnic I became an honor student when I was already in the master's program. Grades, of course, are not the most important thing, and I did not try to push myself to fulfill this criterion during my studies, however, excellent studies have their bonuses - and this is gratifying.

What would I like to tell students?

First of all, don't be afraid and try. There will always be ups and downs, but it's better to try to participate, win, than not to try - and then regret. Our achievements are expressed not only in the form of diplomas and scholarships, but also in our own personal growth and development. We form our own soft and hard skills, as well as professional competencies, because the environment of the University and the Institute facilitates this. You just have to try and find something that will spark you and move you towards your goals, the main thing is to take the first step.

We thank Victoria for the insights and wish her success in all her projects, endeavors and, of course, in her studies.