Educational Olympiads
The Educational Olympiad is an intellectual competition among university applicants that offers a real chance to be admitted to a university past the entrance exams and receive either a state scholarship or a significant discount on tuition. Participation for prospective students is absolutely free.
Some Olympiads are held exclusively for international applicants. Their goal is to attract the most talented students to Russia. Usually, these competitions are held by the universities with the support of state organizations, educational organizations associations and large state corporations.
Russia also has a whole system of Olympiads for high school students. Some of them can be attended by applicants from other countries. Olympiads are of I, II or III level depending on the scale and complexity of the problems. Prizes differ as well. It could be the admission to the university without entrance exams, the maximum EGE score (unified state exam of the Russian Federation) in the Olympiad's subject, or a state scholarship (quota) for education. Please note that participation in these Olympiads often requires high proficiency in the Russian language.
As a rule, all Olympiads are held in two main stages – qualifying and competitive. Each can be divided into several internal steps. The selection stage begins with an online portfolio submission, and then Participants are interviewed by the committee. The Competition Stage may include separate competition tracks and subjects. Until 2020, many Olympiads were held mainly offline. It was possible to apply remotely, but the participation itself required a personal presence. Due to restrictions in the context of a pandemic, the rules have changed. Now you can qualify, take part and win online without leaving your country.
Olympiads for international applicants
Open Doors: Russian Scholarship Project International Olympiad
Organizer: The Association of Global Universities with the support of Rossotrudnichestvo and the Ministry of Science and Higher Education of the Russian Federation.
Education level: master's degree, PhD study.
Participants: citizens of any country and stateless persons, including Russians living abroad, who have a bachelor's degree or a specialist degree.
Directions
Master's track: biology and biotechnology, computer science and data science, mathematics and artificial intelligence, business and management, political science, neuroscience and psychology, physical sciences, linguistics and modern languages, chemistry and materials science, economics and econometrics, engineering and technology, clinical medicine and public health, geosciences, education.
PhD track: biology and biotechnology, clinical medicine and public health, linguistics and modern languages, mathematics and artificial intelligence, physical sciences, chemistry and materials sciences.
Format: online.
Stages: 2 general stages – portfolio competition and problem–solving in the chosen subject. For the PhD track, there is the 3rd stage – an interview with a potential scientific advisor.
The winners get the opportunity to enrol into one of the 500 Russian universities without entrance exams and study for free.
HSE Global Scholarship Competition
Organizer: National Research University Higher School of Economics with the support of Rossotrudnichestvo.
Education level: bachelor's degree.
Participants: international students of high school and college graduating classes, as well as students and graduates of international universities under the age of 30.
Directions: English, Asian studies, design, journalism, history, cultural studies, mathematics, media communications, international relations, law, psychology, advertising and public relations, modern politics, social sciences, physics, philology, philosophy.
Format: online and offline.
Stages: one stage includes solving problems for the selected direction. You can participate in the Olympiad in person in your country or online.
Winners and awardees will receive a full or partial scholarship from the Government of the Russian Federation and discounts on tuition for bachelor programmes at the Higher School of Economics.
International Open Competitions in Mathematics and Computer Science for school students and graduates
Organizer: ITMO University
Education level: bachelor's degree or speciality.
Participants: international citizens – graduate students, as well as school graduates.
Subjects: mathematics, computer science.
Format: online and offline.
Stages: qualifying is held online and finals – in-person or online.
Winners will have the opportunity to receive state a scholarship (quota) to apply not only to ITMO University but to any university in Russia for bachelor's or specialist's technical programmes.
Phystech.International
Organizer: Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology with the support of Rossotrudnichestvo.
Education level: bachelor's degree.
Participants: international citizens of graduating classes.
Directions: physics, mathematics, biology – you can choose several directions.
Format: online and offline.
Stages: the first qualifying stage of the Olympiad will be held online, the second – offline simultaneously in several countries.
Winners: school graduates will receive additional points for admission at MIPT and the opportunity to participate in the Phystech Olympiad finals, as well as a recommendation for a state scholarship (quota) at MIPT. School students automatically go on to the final of the Phystech.International or Phystech Olympiads next year.
Olympiads for international and Russian applicants
Highest standard Russian Olympiad for school students
Organizer: National Research University Higher School of Economics.
Education level: bachelor's degree.
Participants: school students, regardless of citizenship.
Directions: biology, oriental studies, oriental languages, geography, design, journalism, international languages, informatics, history, history of world civilizations, cultural studies, mathematics, social science, business fundamentals, political science, law, psychology, Russian language, sociology, physics, philology, philosophy, financial literacy, chemistry, economics, electronics and computing.
Format: online, offline.
Stages: qualifying’s online, main – offline.
The winners and awardees will receive benefits for applying to HSE University and other universities of the Russian Federation.
Siberian Olympiad for school students
Organizer: Novosibirsk National Research State University.
Education level: bachelor's degree.
Participants: school students of grades 7–11, regardless of citizenship.
Directions: computer science, chemistry, physics, mathematics, biology, astronomy.
Format: online, offline.
Stages: two qualifying (online and offline) and final (offline). Offline stages are held in Russia, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan.
The winners are able to receive benefits for admission to NSU and other universities in Russia.
Engineering Olympiad for school students
Organizer: National Research Nuclear University MEPhI, RUSSIAN UNIVERSITY OF TRANSPORT, NSTU named after R.E. Alekseev, Samara University, ETU LETI, BSTU named after V.G.Shukhov, VlSU in partnership with Rosenergoatom Concern JSC.
Education level: bachelor's degree.
Participants: school students of grades 9–11, including citizens of other states.
Directions: physics problems with an engineering angle.
Format: online, offline.
Stages: online qualifying stage and offline final stage.
The winners can receive benefits for admission to the organizing universities and other universities in Russia.
KFU Interregional subject Olympiads
Organizer: Kazan Federal University.
Education level: bachelor's degree.
Participants: school students of graduation classes, citizens of the Russian Federation, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Belarus.
Directions: KFU bachelor programmes in various directions.
Format: online, offline.
Stages: online qualifying stage, offline main stage.
The winners receive benefits upon admission to the KFU bachelor programme.
I’m a KFU Master’s Student Olympiad
Organizer: Kazan Federal University.
Education level: Master's degree.
Participants: last year students or graduates of a bachelor's or speciality degree, citizens of the Russian Federation, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Belarus.
Directions: most of the KFU master's programmes in various fields.
Format: online, offline.
Stages: online qualifying stage, offline main stage.
Winners receive benefits for admission to the KFU master's programmes.
Technocup Olympiad in programming for school students
Organizer: Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology and Bauman Moscow State Technical University.
Education level: bachelor's degree.
Participants: school students of grades 8–11, citizens of the Russian Federation and other countries.
Directions: : informatics.
Format: online, offline.
Stages: online qualifying stage, offline main stage.
The winners and awardees receive benefits for admission to the majority of the technical universities in Russia.
Major League Olympiad for Students and Alumni
Organizer: National Research University Higher School of Economics
Education level: Master's degree.
Participants: bachelor students, bachelor or specialist graduates from any country.
Directions: 38 directions of education.
Format: online, offline.
Stages: online qualifying stage and the main stage of 2 offline contests: in the chosen direction and in the chosen track.
The winners and awardees receive benefits when applying for a previously selected master's programme at HSE University.
Phystech Olympiad
Organizer: Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology.
Education level: bachelor's degree.
Participants: high school students from Russia, Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Ukraine, as well as winners of the Phystech.International Olympiad.
Subjects: physics, mathematics, biology.
Format: online and offline.
Stages: online qualifying stage, offline main stage in the chosen subject.
International winners can receive a quota for free tuition at MIPT.
Rosatom Physics and mathematics Olympiad for school students
Organizer: National Research Nuclear University MEPhI in cooperation with the Rosatom State Atomic Energy Corporation, VSU, KAI, NSTU named after R.E. Alekseeva, UrFU.
Education level: bachelor's degree.
Participants: school students of grades 7–11, including citizens of other countries.
Directions: mathematics, physics.
Format: online, offline.
Stages: online qualifying stage, offline final stage.
The winners can receive benefits for admission to the organizing universities and other universities in Russia.
When you apply to a Russian university, it’s not only the Olympiads victories that are taken into account, but also the participation in individual and team contests of international or national competitions. The university admissions committee will pay special attention to these successes.
Winning the Olympiad is absolutely possible! First, carefully approach the process of preparing and submitting your portfolio. Russian universities are looking for talented students from all over the world. A prize in an Olympiad will allow you to get higher education that is paid in whole or in part by the Russian Federation. Follow the news about the registration openings for various Olympiads, apply for several contests and tracks at once, practice to complete the test problems provided by the organizers, and never doubt your abilities!
