In the past, the institute was named Imperial Petersburg Institute of Technology (Russian: Императорский Петербургский Технологический Институт and Lensoviet Leningrad Institute of Technology (Russian: Лениградский Технологический Институт имени Ленсовета), the institute's name changing with that of the city. During the Imperial period, unlike most other Russian universities, the institute did not require completion of gymnasium education as a condition of entry; the only requirement was to pass the institute's examination.

Staff include:

• 28 Academicians and Corresponding Members of the Russian Academy of Sciences.
• 125 Professors and Doctors of Science
• 560 Assistant Professors and PhDs

The institute provides degrees in the following subjects:

• New materials for modern branches of science and technology in the fields of rocket and space techniques;
• Information science;
• Study of materials and functional materials;
• Medicine and public health;
• Maintenance of the vital activity of human and ecology;
• Reconstructive materials;
• Varnishes and paints;
• Adhesives;
• Biological materials
• Medicinal materials
• Superconductive materials;
• Optoelectronics and nanomaterials;
• Software engineering;
• Devices for control of chemical processes;
• Machines and apparatuses for chemical-technological system.
• Advertising and public relations

• Dmitri Mendeleev
• Viktor Kyrpychov
• Konstantin Petrzhak
• Friedrich Konrad Beilstein
• Dmitri Konovalov
• Boris Rosing
• Mikhail Shultz
• Shuliachenko Aleksey Romanovich (Russian: Шуляченко, Алексей Романович)
• Golovin Kharlampiy Sergeevich (Russian: Головин, Харлампий Сергеевич)

• Pyotr Nikolaevich Lebedev
• Alexander Lodygin
• Abram Fedorovich Ioffe
• Boris Galerkin
• Yuri Artsutanov
• Alexander Nesis
• Sergey Prokudin-Gorsky
• Mark Gelfand (Medical Device Inventor)^[2]

• Official English Page of the Institute
• Satellite photo of the territory

59°55′06″N 30°19′12″E / 59.9183°N 30.3200°E / 59.9183; 30.3200