Ural Federal University: Open Doors Olympiad Refresher Course to Be Held at UrFU

The Open Doors International Olympiad of the Association of Global Universities for undergraduate and graduate students, implemented as part of the National Project “Science and Universities”, for 5 years successfully promotes Russian higher education on the global market and attracts talented young people to graduate and postgraduate studies at Russian universities.

Open Doors Olympiad is supported by the Ministry of Science and Higher Education of the Russian Federation and Rossotrudnichestvo. During the time the Olympiad has been opening its doors to talented young people from all over the world, it has attracted about 400 000 participants from 197 countries, annually involving more than 80 000 potential applicants for admission to graduate and postgraduate programs at Russian universities. Since 2020, talented applicants from different countries can try their skills in intellectual competitions for admission to graduate school. The project is implemented entirely in the online format.

The preparation and realization cycle of the Olympiad covers an entire year. This cycle includes the preparation of methodological materials, promotion program, and several stages of the selection of participants.

The organizers of the Olympiad are the leaders of Russian education – the member universities of the Association of Global Universities, whose scientific research is known and demanded in the global educational and research market.

The methodological seminar on preparation of the Olympiad cycle for the academic year 2022-23 is held at the Ural Federal University named after the first President of Russia B.N. Yeltsin, an active organizer of intellectual educational events.

“It is important for Ural Federal University to be an active participant of the project, to be included in the Olympiad at all stages of its organization and conduct. We are ready to work on a wide list of subjects, provide an opportunity to choose an academic supervisor in different fields of science, offer additional opportunities for prizewinners and participants of the competition. Today, several dozens of winners and medalists of the Olympiad are currently studying in graduate programs at Ural Federal University. There are 17 supervisors in postgraduate programs within five fields of study. I would like to emphasize once again that the Open Doors International Olympiad is a relevant mechanism to promote the Russian educational system, a system of values that is significant for all of us and to build a stable and positive global world agenda,” commented Victor Koksharov, Rector of the Ural Federal University.

The development of the methodological framework of the Olympiad 2022-23 involves the design of approaches to identify the target audience in the open market more accurately. This will allow the future participants of the intellectual competitions to better prepare for the tests and successfully pass all stages of selection from forming a portfolio, preparing a motivation letter, passing the entrance test to solving tasks of the second stage and interviews with potential scientific supervisors, which is fundamentally important for the participants of the postgraduate program track.

Irina Karelina, Executive Director of the Association of Global Universities, noted that the Olympiad is the first and only project in Russia to attract talented international applicants for graduate and postgraduate studies in leading Russian universities, which covers almost all countries and allows the successful participants of the intellectual competition to enter any Russian university through a “single entry” system.

“The refresher course will improve the methodological products of high-level intellectual competitions for target audiences of graduate and postgraduate students in the open market,” Irina Karelina commented.