ITMO Students Sweep National Contest ‘Your Turn,’ Clinching Multiple Prizes and Accolades
Eight ITMO University students have emerged victorious during the third season of the national student contest Your Turn. Three of the winners, taking part in the contest’s project competition, received grants of 1 million rubles to develop their projects further. Another three students, who accumulated the most points through research surveys, were presented with certificates for a trip across Russia. Two more students were chosen as part of the contest’s top 100 ambassadors.
This year, participants of Your Turn competed in two tracks: I Make and I Define. Within the first track, they were asked to present projects in one of five subject areas: socially conscious targeted initiatives; IT projects; new devices and mechanisms; ideas for tourism, agriculture, and nature conservation; and creative projects.
Following defenses before expert committees, the best projects in each subject area were chosen, with 200 winners receiving invitations to World Youth Festival 2024, certificates for online courses, and 1-million-ruble grants. The money can be spent on education, accommodation, or projects. Among winners of I Make were three students of ITMO University.
Oleg Novikov, a first-year student at the university’s Infochemistry Scientific Center, and his partner Margarita Abdullina, a student of the Faculty of Physics at the Lomonosov Moscow State University, presented BioSense, an interregional research project, at the contest.
“We’re working on a quartz glass-based sensor substrate with uniformly distributed silver nanoparticles. This device would be able to detect pathogenic substances, such as various antibiotics, in dairy products. Here’s how it works: a light beam of a specific wavelength impacts a molecule and interacts with it; meanwhile, our device analyzes the spectrum to identify the molecules that are placed onto the substrate. Right now, we’re writing a scientific paper that will describe the results of our study,” says Oleg Novikov.
Oleg Novikov. Photo courtesy of the Your Turn organizing team
Eldar Shaikhiev, a first-year student at the Information Technologies and Programming Faculty, won with a project within the IT subject area. Together with his team, he’s working on a next-gen anti-plagiarism system. The proposed service can assess the originality of texts and detect copied fragments of writing in scientific papers written in any of 100 available languages. For that purpose, the text is split into fragments that are compared against a database.
Elder Shaikhiev. Photo courtesy of the Your Turn organizing team
Olga Semochkina, a first-year Master’s student at the Faculty of Technological Management and Innovations, came to the contest with the project STRATEG.Y. Soft Skills Development Club. Earlier on, the student won 100,000 rubles to develop her club as part of the Microgrant contest by the Federal Agency for Youth Affairs. In over a year of the club’s existence, it has hosted some 20 events, including lectures, interactive workshops, business and board game nights – all focused on developing students’ soft skills.
“At the club, our focus is on developing communication and cooperation skills among teams, as well as everyone’s creative and critical thinking. These are the qualities that help students build their careers, navigate the data space, and identify trends. Starting in January 2024, I will continue to host events at various venues in St. Petersburg, as well as at ITMO,” comments Olga Semochkina.
Olga Semochkina. Photo courtesy of the Your Turn organizing team
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Within the I Define track, participants logged in to the contest’s website twice a week over the course of six months to complete various surveys. The topics varied greatly: from student exam traditions and mentorship to family customs. Students had the chance to share their opinions on hot topics and affect the life of their university, region, and country. The 200 most active participants each received a certificate for a trip across Russia. Among these winners were three first-year Master’s students – Olga Deniskina (Institute of International Development and Partnership), Kirill Sheshukov (Faculty of Technological Management and Innovations), and Dmitry Vasilyev (Faculty of Software Engineering and Computer Systems).
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The organizers of the contest also awarded diplomas, merch, and trip certificates to the top 100 most active ambassadors of Your Turn. Among them were Ilya German, a second-year Master’s student at the Faculty of Infocommunication Technologies, and Elizaveta Loskutova, a second-year Master’s student at the Faculty of Software Engineering and Computer Systems. The students conducted workshops and lectures, promoted the contest on social media, in schools, and at universities, and encouraged others to participate.
At the national contest Your Turn. Credit: vk.com/tvoyhodonline
The national student project Your Turn is a contest held annually with support from the Federal Agency for Youth Affairs and the Russian Ministry of Science and Higher Education. Within the project, students of secondary and higher education institutions take part in workshops, implement projects, and receive funding to study or travel the country. The finals of the third season of Your Turn took place on December 12-14 in Moscow, gathering more than 2,200 students from 80 regions of Russia.
