The first qualifying stage of the Global Universities Association’s International “Open Doors” Olympiad for Master's and postgraduate studies has ended. More than 56,000 applicants from 196 countries expressed their desire to take part in the competition in one or more of the 14 profiles offered by the Olympiad. Overall, 78,000 portfolios were submitted by foreign applicants, including more than 9,000 portfolios submitted to the two specializations organized by Novosibirsk State University, Earth Sciences and Biology and Biotechnology. The jury recommended more than 800 portfolios to participate in the second qualifying round for these two fields.
Anna Ryzhova, Global Universities Association’s International Olympiad Project Manager explained,
The Olympiad became the first project in Russia to globally attract talented foreign applicants to Master's and postgraduate studies at leading Russian universities. Applications came from almost all countries in the world and made it possible to present Russian higher education in the open global market and compete for the best applicants. More than 90% of the applicants live in Asia and Africa. Polls show that foreign applicants consider Russian higher education as on a par with education in the traditionally attractive universities in Australia, Great Britain, Germany, Canada, China, and the USA. Interest in the Olympiad has remained stable over the past three years, regardless of the political situation and restrictions associated with the COVID-19 pandemic.
According to the organizers, the competition makes it possible to select the strongest candidates. Only every 10th participant, that is, only 6.5 thousand people, make it past the first stage and are invited to participate in the Olympiad problem solving stage. Those who successfully pass all the tests and fall into the top 5-25% in terms of total points, receive the status of a winner or prize-winner and are invited for admission to a program in Russian or English at a Russian university. Upon admission to Novosibirsk State University, the Olympiad winners are enrolled at the University free of charge and without exams and prize winners receive a 20% discount on tuition for their chosen Program.
More detailed information about the programs, supervisors, and admission procedure is available on the Olympiad page: https://events.nsu.ru/open_doors/.
Olympiad results for graduate students will be published on February 10, 2023 and for postgraduate students on March 17, 2023.
