Open Doors Scholarship in Russia

The Open Doors Russian Scholarship Program Olympiad now has four tracks – for prospective Undergraduate, Master’s, Doctoral, and postdoctoral students. 

The Open Doors International Olympiad is starting for the eighth time! Depending on the chosen direction, the winners of the Olympiad will be able to enrol for free in the bachelor’s, master’s, or postgraduate programs of their chosen University. Or, if the postdoctoral track is chosen, to get employed as a researcher in one of the suggested research projects.

Winners of the doctoral track will be able to choose a future research supervisor and pass an interview with them during the Olympiad. Postdoctoral track winners will be interviewed by research project leaders.

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's 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 PhD) in the year of the Olympiad.

To be considered for the 2027 Open Doors Russian Scholarship Program, you must satisfy the following criteria:

• The competition is open to foreign citizens and stateless persons, including compatriots living abroad, having a Bachelor’s degree or completing a Bachelor’s degree program in the year of the Olympiad final for the Master’s track and having a Master’s or Specialist’s degree for the doctoral track (analogous to a PhD) in the year of the Olympiad final.

• All participants are expected to agree to the processing of personal data.

• The official languages of the Olympiad are English and Russian.

• The Olympiad is organised in Subjects, uniting several fields of Master’s studies (for the Doctoral track – several fields of doctoral studies). A Subject is a set of degree programs, having the same fundamental theoretical basis.

• The list of Subjects is published on the websites of higher education institutions – organisers of the Olympiad.

• The winners of the Olympiad, having a Bachelor’s degree, are eligible to be admitted to Master’s degree programs run by Russian universities in the fields of study corresponding to the profile of the Olympiad within the quota established by the Government of the Russian Federation for foreign citizens and stateless persons (hereinafter – quota).

• The Scholarship offers a full scholarship program for Bachelor’s, Master's, and PhD Students. 

The following are the procedures involved in the application for the Open Doors Scholarship 2027;

• 1

  Participants are requested to register online in the Olympiad registration system from August 21 to November 1. It can be done from any computer with internet access.

• 2

  To register for the Open Doors Scholarship, applicants should click the “SIGN UP” button on the Olympiad website.

• 3

  After successful registration, participants gain access to their personal accounts.

• 4

  By registering, participants give their consent to the processing of personal data in accordance with the legislation of the Russian Federation.

• 5

  A participant may register and take part in the Olympiad only once (possessing a single account) during the year when the Olympiad is conducted. Any breach of this rule results in the participant’s disqualification.

• 6

  During registration, each participant provides his/her personal data, login (which is the same as the participant’s email address), and password. After the registration, the participant is automatically subscribed to all notifications of the Olympiad schedules and procedures.

• 7

  After registration, the participant gets access to information about the structure of the portfolio, the criteria for its evaluation, as well as the demo versions of the tasks of the second stage.

• 8

  Click on the button below to begin your application.