Open Doors Russian Scholarship Project

The Olympiad is organized by The Association of Global Universities, in collaboration with the Ministry of Education and Science of the Russian Federation and the Federal Agency for the Commonwealth of Independent States Affairs, Compatriots Living Abroad, and International Humanitarian Cooperation (Rossotrudichestvo). The competition is aimed at talented foreign students who would like to enroll in a Master’s programme in Russia for free. The winners of the Open Doors are granted a free early admission at any Russian university, without entrance examinations and with tuition fees covered by the Russian Federation. The competition winners will be able to enroll in the Master’s programme using a single window system, choosing any of 500 Russian universities, including 21 leading universities-participants of the 5-100 Project. The language of instruction is English or Russian depending on the chosen Master’s programme and the university. The Olympiad has two tracks – for prospective Master’s and doctoral students (analogous to Ph.D.). The Olympiad is held in two rounds for the Master’s track and in three rounds for the doctoral track (analogous to Ph.D.). The first round is a competition of portfolios, and the second round is a problem-solving challenge. The third round of the Olympiad involves the selection of a prospective research supervisor for the chosen doctoral program (analogous to Ph.D.) and an interview with him/her. The competition is open to foreign citizens and sta