INTERNATIONAL OPEN DOORS OLYMPIAD: RUSSIAN SCHOLARSHIP PROJECT 
2024

GENERAL INFORMATION

1. The International Open Doors Olympiad of the Association of Global Universities (hereinafter referred to as the Open Doors Olympiad) is organized in several tracks: bachelor’s, master’s, doctoral (analogous to PhD programs) and postdoctoral.

2. Official information related to the organization of the Open Doors Olympiad (the Olympiad regulations, preparation materials, test schedule and results, etc.) is posted on the official website of the Open Doors Olympiad at od.globaluni.ru (hereinafter referred to as the Olympiad website) in two languages, Russian and English.

3. The competition is open to foreign citizens and stateless persons, including compatriots living abroad. Depending on the track, individuals are eligible:

• to participate in the bachelor’s track provided they already have or will have in the year of the Open Doors Olympiad an academic degree that allows them to apply to higher education institutions under the national legislation of their country of study;
• to participate in the master's track provided they already have or will get a bachelor's degree in the year of the Open Doors Olympiad;
• to participate in the doctoral track of the Open Doors Olympiad provided they already have or will get in the year of the Olympiad, a master's or specialist's degree;
• to participate in the postdoctoral track provided they are under the age of 39 and have a doctoral, PhD, or candidate of science academic degree.

4. The official languages of the International Open Doors Olympiad are English and Russian.

5. The Olympiad is held in subject areas that combine several fields of study. A subject area is a set of degree programs, having the same fundamental theoretical basis.

6. Winners of the International Open Doors Olympiad in the bachelor’s, master’s, and doctoral tracks are entitled to study in Russia within the quota established by the Government of the Russian Federation for foreign citizens and stateless persons (hereinafter referred to as the government quota). Their studies will be funded by the Government of the Russian Federation through higher education program funds, in accordance with Russian legislation. Winners of the International Open Doors Olympiad have the right to enroll in a degree program of their choice at universities that are members of the Association, as well as at universities co-organizing the International Open Doors Olympiad (hereinafter collectively referred to as ‘organizing universities’), provided candidates meet the language proficiency requirements: English proficiency for programs taught in English, and Russian proficiency for programs taught in Russian. The level of Russian proficiency will be assessed by the higher education institution upon admission.

7. Provided it is necessary to improve their Russian language proficiency, winners of the Open Doors Olympiad in the bachelor’s, master’s, and doctoral tracks are entitled to attend a preparatory course at their chosen university to enhance their language skills. All associated academic expenses are covered by the federal budget. Upon successfully completing the Russian language preparatory course and verification of proficiency, candidates are guaranteed the right to enroll in a degree program of their choice.

8. Runners-up in the bachelor’s and master’s tracks get the right similar to that of the winner provided there are open vacancies available within the government quota after the winners have confirmed their eligibility.

9. Winners of the Open Doors Olympiad in the postdoctoral track are offered employment as a researcher at one of the universities organizing the Open Doors Olympiad.

10. Winners and runners-up must confirm their readiness to study (for the bachelor’s, master's track and doctoral tracks) or work (for the postdoctoral track) at a Russian university by providing the necessary documents in the participant’s personal account on the Open Doors Olympiad IT platform (hereinafter referred to as the participant’s personal account) on the dates published on the Olympiad platform.

11. The Open Doors Olympiad is organized on the Olympiad IT platform. The online format requires establishing the participant’s identity as well as controlling the independence of his/her academic performance during the Olympiad.

12. The stages of the Open Doors Olympiad, both in number and content, vary depending on the track:

• there are two stages in the bachelor’s and the master’s tracks: the first stage is a portfolio competition and the second stage is an online test;
• there are three stages in the postgraduate track: the first stage is a portfolio competition; the second stage is an online test and the third stage is an interview with potential research supervisors and/or doctoral track managers;
• there are three stages in the postdoctoral track: the first stage is a portfolio competition; the second stage is the selection of candidates for interviews with leaders of research projects based on video presentations of the scientific results of the participants. The third stage is an interview with leaders of research projects.

13. The International Open Doors Olympiad has no participation fee.

14. The Project Office of the Olympiad provides assistance and answers questions that may arise. Participants can reach the Project Office via email at opendoors@globaluni.ru or through the feedback form available in the “Support” section on the main page of the official website of the Open Doors Olympiad.

REGISTRATION

15. To participate in the Open Doors Olympiad, candidates must register online by clicking the “Sign up” button on the Olympiad IT platform. After registration, the participant receives access to the personal account.

16. Registration of participants in the Open Doors Olympiad for bachelor’s, master’s, and doctoral tracks is open from September 5 to November 20, 2024. Registration of participants for the postdoctoral track is open from September 16 to December 10, 2024.

17. When registering, the participant consents to the processing of personal data in accordance with the legislation of the Russian Federation.

18. A participant can register and take part in the Open Doors Olympiad only once (have only one account) in the year of the Olympiad. In the event of a breach of this regulation, the participant may be disqualified at any stage.

19. When registering, the participant provides his/her personal data, login (which is the same as the email address) and password. When registering, the participant subscribes to automatic notifications about the progress of the Open Doors Olympiad.

20. Having registered, the participant gets access to information about the structure of the portfolio, its evaluation criteria, and demo versions of the second-stage tasks.

PARTICIPATION IN THE FIRST STAGE

21. The first stage is conducted online from September 5 to December 2, 2024 for the bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral tracks; from September 16 to December 25, 2024 for the postdoctoral track.

22. Registered participants who have passed the entrance test are eligible to take part in the first stage. The assessment of the test is fully automated. A participant can have no more than three attempts, each lasting up to one hour, to pass the entrance test. The best result out of the three is then taken into account.

23. During the first stage, the participant must fill out a portfolio (fill out all fields and upload the required documents) in the participant’s personal account in accordance with the portfolio requirements published on the Olympiad IT platform. All documents must be uploaded in the languages of the Open Doors Olympiad (Russian or English) or their translations must be provided into one of the languages of the Olympiad at the participant’s choice. All text fields must be filled out in either English or Russian. The participant can take part in the first stage at any time convenient during the established schedule.

24. The portfolio is assessed by members of the Jury. The portfolio score is then sent to the participant’s Olympiad account. Appeals are not allowed.

25. Based on the results of the portfolio assessment, ranked lists of participants in the first stage are formed separately for each subject area. No more than 45% of participants in the corresponding subject area for the bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral tracks get an invitation to the second stage. The portfolio competition is held separately for the bachelor’s and the postdoctoral tracks. For the master’s and doctoral tracks, the portfolio competition is held jointly.

PARTICIPATION IN THE SECOND STAGE OF THE BACHELOR'S, MASTER'S AND DOCTORAL TRACKS

26. The list of participants invited to the second stage of the bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral tracks is published on the Olympiad platform on December 2, 2024. In addition, information about advancing or failing to advance to the second stage is published in the participant’s personal account.

27. The second stage of the Open Doors Olympiad in the bachelor's, master's and doctoral tracks is held from December 3, 2024 to January 17, 2025. General technical requirements, procedure, and timing of the second stage are posted in the “Second Stage” section in the participant’s personal account.

28. For the bachelor's, master's and doctoral tracks, the second stage of the Olympiad is organized in a proctored format and on dates specified in the Olympiad schedule.

29. The schedule of the second stage tests for each subject area, indicating the time for completing the tasks, is published on the Olympiad platform and in the participant’s account no later than seven days before the date of the test. The participant takes the test between 08:00 and 20:00 (UTC+3) on the day of the test. The test dates for different subject areas may overlap.

30. To take part in the second stage of the Open Doors Olympiad, participants in the bachelor's, master's and doctoral tracks must fill out additional information (passport data) into the registration form in the participant’s account and upload a photograph or a scanned copy of their identity document in a size and with a resolution that allows for unambiguous identification of the participant’s identity from the photograph. Participants who are invited to take part in the second stage but who fail to provide the required information within the established time are not allowed to take the test.

31. After providing the required information, instructions for completing the second-stage tasks will become available in the “Second Stage” section in the participant’s account.

32. On the scheduled day, participants in the bachelor's, master's and doctoral tracks must log into their Olympiad account. After entering the login and password, the participant must go through the identification procedure, which requires looking motionlessly straight at the webcam of the computer or laptop for one minute and holding next to the face an identification document, the photograph or a scanned copy of which the participant has previously uploaded to the personal account.

33. After the identification procedure, participants are given access to their personal accounts with a list of tasks to be completed. There is a fixed number of points for completing each task. The time for completing the tasks is limited to three hours. After the set time has run out, the system will automatically terminate the participant’s access to the tasks. Only the answers that have been sent before the time ran out can be considered correct. After the completion of all tasks, participants should click the “Finish” button to terminate the session. Participants have the opportunity to independently determine the order of completing the tasks and can edit their answers before the time of the test is over or before they click the “Finish” button. Continuous recording of the desktop and a video recording from the webcam is done in accordance with the Technical Regulations of the Open Doors Olympiad.

34. Upon completion of the Olympiad tasks, the participant receives a notification that his/her answers have been uploaded to the Olympiad IT platform.

35. In the event of a technical failure of the participant’s computer or the Olympiad IT platform during the test, the participant must contact the Project Office within 24 hours.

36. In case of disagreement with the results of the assessment of the test tasks, participants of the bachelor’s, master’s track, or doctoral tracks have the right to file an appeal within two days after the publication of the results. The appeal must be submitted online from the participant’s personal account and is considered within no more than five days after submission.

37. The appeal must contain a clear description of the subject of appeal (specific question, task, section of the completed Olympiad assignments) and a reasoned justification of the participant’s disagreement with the points received, indicating the criterion that, in the participant’s opinion, does not correspond to the assessment and the number of points received. When arguing against the points awarded, the participant should appeal only to the completed assignments.

38. Appeals against the content, structure and system of assessment of the completed test tasks, as well as sanctions imposed on participants of the Open Doors Olympiad for breaching the rules of participation, are not allowed.

39. Based on the results of the appeal consideration, the points initially awarded may be left unchanged, increased or decreased. The reasons for rejecting the appeal or increasing/decreasing points are explained to the participant. The result of the appeal is displayed in the participant’s personal account, of which he/she is notified by email.

40. The decision regarding any changes to the participant’s score for the Open Doors Olympiad test, following an appeal, is final. No further appeals will be considered.

41. After reviewing appeals and confirming the results of the second stage test, the integral score for each participant is calculated by combining the results of both the first and second stages. If a participant receives a score of zero for the second stage, the integral score will also be zero. The participant’s integral score will be published in their personal account in the “Olympiad Results” section.

42. Ranked lists of participants in the bachelor's, master's, and doctoral tracks are created separately for each track and are arranged in descending order based on the integral score.

PARTICIPATION IN THE SECOND STAGE OF THE POSTDOCTORAL TRACK

43. The list of participants invited to take part in the second stage of the postdoctoral track will be published on December 25, 2024. In addition, information about advancing/ failing to advance to the second stage is published in the participant’s personal account.

44. The second stage of the Open Doors Olympiad postdoctoral track is held from December 26, 2024, to January 29, 2025.

45. The second stage of the postdoctoral track requires participants to present their scientific results in the form of a video presentation.

46. To take part in the second stage, the participant in the postdoctoral track must provide additional information (passport data) in the registration form in the participant’s personal account and upload a photograph or a scanned copy of an identity document in a size and with a resolution that allows the participant’s identity to be verified. Participants who have been invited to participate in the second stage but failed to provide the required information within the set deadline are not allowed to participate.

47. After providing the required information in the “Second Stage” section on the Olympiad platform, the requirements for the video presentation and instructions for uploading it to the participant's personal account will become available.

48. Evaluation of the video presentations is done in absentia by representatives of research projects.

49. The decision to invite a participant in the postdoctoral track to the third stage is published in the participant’s personal account.

PARTICIPATION IN THE THIRD STAGE OF THE DOCTORAL TRACK

50. The list of participants in the doctoral track invited to take part in the third stage of the Open Doors Olympiad is published on the Olympiad website no later than three calendar days before the date of the third stage. In addition, information about advancing/ failing to advance to the third stage is published in the participant’s personal account.

51. For the doctoral track, the third stage of the Open Doors Olympiad is held from January 20 to February 21, 2025, in the online interview mode (hereinafter referred to as the interview). Participants can have up to 6 interviews with potential supervisors and/or managers of the doctoral track.

52. The schedule of interviews with each of the selected potential research supervisors and/or doctoral track managers and the time of interviews, is published in the participant’s personal account no later than two days before the date of the interview.

53. Before the interview, the participant must complete an identification procedure using a webcam and a valid identity document. The participant is also responsible for ensuring an internet connection speed of at least 256 kbps.

54. In the event of a technical failure on the participant’s computer or the Olympiad IT platform during the interview, the participant must contact the Project Office within 24 hours from the moment of the malfunction.

55. Following the interview, potential research supervisors and/or doctoral track managers will indicate their willingness or refusal to admit the participant to a doctoral studies program at one of the organizing universities. If all potential supervisors and doctoral track managers decline, the participant will be removed from the list of potential winners. A participant who receives at least one confirmation of acceptance is recognized as a winner in the doctoral track. The results of the interviews with potential supervisors and doctoral track managers are final and cannot be appealed.

56. The winner of the Open Doors Olympiad in the doctoral track selects a university and a potential research supervisor (if available) from among those institutions whose research supervisors or doctoral track managers have indicated their willingness to admit the participant. The winner must communicate their decision to the organizers through their personal account.

PARTICIPATION IN THE THIRD STAGE OF THE POSTDOCTORAL TRACK

57. The list of participants in the postdoctoral track invited to the third stage is published on the Olympiad platform no later than three calendar days before the date of the interview. In addition, information about advancing/ failing to advance to the third stage is published in the participant’s personal account.

58. The third stage of the Open Doors Olympiad (an interview) is held in the period from January 29 to February 21, 2025. A participant in the postdoctoral track can have up to 6 interviews with leaders of research projects, whom they can select from the list offered to them in the participant’s personal account.

59. The schedule of interviews with each of the selected leaders of research projects, indicating the time, is published in the participant’s personal account no later than 2 days before the date of the interview.

60. Before the interview, the participant must complete an identification procedure using a webcam and a valid identity document. The participant is also responsible for ensuring an internet connection speed of at least 256 kbps.

61. In the event of a technical failure on the participant’s computer or the Olympiad IT platform during the interview, the participant must contact the Project Office within 24 hours from the moment of the malfunction.

62. Following the interview, the research project leaders will indicate their willingness or refusal to extend a job offer to the participant for a research position. A participant who receives at least one offer of employment is recognized as the winner of the Open Doors Olympiad in the postdoctoral track. The results of the interviews with research project managers are final and cannot be appealed.

63. The winner of the Open Doors Olympiad in the postdoctoral track chooses employment as a researcher at one of the organizing universities where research project leaders have confirmed their willingness to employ the participant. The winner must notify the organizers of the decision through the Olympiad personal account.

RESULTS OF THE INTERNATIONAL OPEN DOORS OLYMPIAD

64. Winners and runners-up of the bachelor’s and master's tracks are determined based on a ranked list of integral scores for the two stages for each subject area and each track of the Open Doors Olympiad.

65. Participants of the Open Doors Olympiad who have scored the most points and thus have the highest ranking are considered winners and runners-up in the bachelor’s and master's tracks.

66. Lists of winners and runners-up of the bachelor’s and master’s tracks are published on the Olympiad website on the final day of the second stage of the Olympiad.

67. Winners of the doctoral track are determined based on the ranked list and the results of the interview with potential research supervisors for each subject area separately. The list of winners of the doctoral track is published on the Olympiad website on the final day of the third stage.

68. Winners of the postdoctoral track are determined based on the results of interviews with research project leaders. The list of winners of the postdoctoral track is published on the Olympiad platform on the final day of the third stage.

69. To exercise the right to admission under the quota (refer to paragraphs 6 and 7), winners and runners-up of the Open Doors Olympiad in the bachelor’s, master’s, and doctoral tracks must submit the required documents for registering foreign applicants in the Information System of the Ministry of Education and Science of Russia at russia-edu.minobrnauki.gov.ru. The Project Office will send the list of required documents, submission deadlines, and the registration procedure to the email address provided during registration. This information will also be available in the personal account of participants recognized as winners or runners-up within 10 calendar days after the publication of the results.

70. When filling out an application form for studying in the Russian Federation, within the established government quota, the winner or runner-up of the bachelor’s and master’s tracks, selects one of the degree programs in the corresponding subject area and also provides a ranked list of higher education institutions running the program of choice in order of priority.

71. When filling out the application form for studying in the Russian Federation within the established government quota, the winner of the doctoral track indicates the field of doctoral studies agreed upon with the research supervisor or the doctoral track manager and the higher education institution running the program.

72. If a participant is simultaneously a winner and/or runner-up in several tracks and/or subject areas, he/she must choose one of the tracks and a subject area to use the right to free education at a Russian university.

73. Winners of the Open Doors Olympiad in the postdoctoral track receive instructions on further steps for employment as a researcher in the participant’s personal account, as well as by email specified during registration, within 10 calendar days after the completion of the third stage.