About us

The Olympiad is organized by The Association of Global Universities, in collaboration with the Ministry of Science and Higher Education 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 master's and postgraduate programs 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 a program using a single-window system, choosing any of Russian universities. The language of instruction is English or Russian depending on the chosen program 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 stateless persons, including compatriots living abroad, having a Bachelor's degree or completing a Bachelor degree program in the year of the Olympiad for the Master's track and having a Master's or Specialist's degree for the doctoral track (analogous to Ph.D.) in the year of the Olympiad.


First time here? Check this out to learn what Open Doors is all about!


A webinar conducted by SPbPU and the Open Doors Organizing Committee with detailed video instructions about:

How the Olympiad works
What you need to do to get the scholarship
How to apply
How to register and what to do after that
How to fill in your portfolio
How to write the motivational letter
How to take the entrance test
What to do next


The INTERNATIONAL OPEN DOORS OLYMPIAD for prospective master and doctoral students - General overview of the rules

A comprehensive step-by-step guide to all stages of the Olympiad process. It contains everything you need to know on what, how and when to do if you’d like to win our scholarship. If you have any question at all about Open Doors - most likely, you’ll find the answer here.