International olympiad · Fully online · Free to enter
The Open Doors Olympiad
Association of Leading Russian Universities (Global Universities)
An international online competition designed mainly for students outside Russia. Winners may earn the right to tuition-free study within the Russian government quota — depending on competition results, with the final decision resting with the ministry and university.
Season 2026/2027 — registration: August 20 – November 1, 2026
This is the window to register and submit your portfolio on the olympiad platform. Don't wait for the last week — a strong portfolio takes time to prepare. The official website is always the final reference for dates.
62 days left until it closes1 November 2026
🌍
International eligibility
We found official evidence supporting international-student eligibility, but the edition or time scope is not yet clear.
2026/2027 cycleNext up: Stage 1 — the portfolio competition · 20 August 2026 ← 13 November 2026
Tuition covered plus a monthly stipend — all remaining living costs are the student's own.
Can you apply? Read this first
🎯 First things first: check that you're eligible — age is a gate, not a detail.
Track
Age as of 20 Aug 2026
Additional condition
Bachelor's
16 – 23
You must not already hold a Bachelor's or Master's
Master's
20 – 33
You must not already hold a Master's · and you've finished (or are finishing) a Bachelor's
PhD
22 – 35
You must not already hold a PhD · and you've finished (or are finishing) a Master's
Post-doctoral
24 – 39
You must hold a PhD
↳ The rule that sums the table up: you can't apply for a level you already hold. And the olympiad is for foreign nationals and stateless persons (including citizens residing abroad). ⚠️ These figures come from the currently published season regulations — regulations are updated when registration opens, so check the final version on the official rules page the moment the door opens. 📌 And a note about the official site itself: the rules page still displays the 2025 season's dates (“from 1 September to 16 November 2025”) — the correct dates are on the timetable page, and those are the ones we've used here.
The Open Doors olympiad is an online competition organized by the Association of Leading Russian Universities (Global Universities), aimed mainly at students from outside Russia. The idea is simple: instead of applying for a scholarship the traditional way, you compete in an olympiad — and if your result is among the top, you may earn the right to study within the government quota.
Participation is free of charge and fully online — you can compete from home without any travel. Study afterwards is in Russian or English, depending on the university and program.
The potential prize
What could you gain?
The right to study without tuition fees at Russian universities — tuition is covered by the Government of the Russian Federation, per the official site.
Levels: Bachelor's, Master's, PhD — each level has its own track in the competition.
A monthly stipend that varies by university — there is no single figure, so don't build your plans around a specific number. This is the academic stipend paid by the university itself — a different thing from the support grant payment (the trilateral contract), which has its own page below. The final details depend on your university and your contract.
🆕 A free preparatory year of Russian if you need one — funded from the federal budget, and the regulation says it secures your place on the study programme once you have proven the required level.
🆕 Runners-up on the Bachelor's and Master's tracks have the same rights as winners — provided places remain after the winners have confirmed. So second place is not a loss.
🆕 And you can use your right the following year — a winner on the Bachelor's or Master's track may use the admission right in the year of the competition or the year after . That gives you flexibility if your circumstances get in the way.
🆕 For winners on the post-doctoral track: a job offer as a researcher at one of the organising universities.
🆕 Participation carries no fee whatsoever — stated in the regulation.
Mind the limits of the coverage: travel, accommodation, insurance and personal expenses are on the student, per the official site. So “full funding” here means tuition — not everything.
And stage two runs to 21 December — so if you get through, December is not free. Plan your exams and travel around that now.
📄 Source: the olympiad's official site — checked 15 August 2026
⚠️Things to watch out for
Appealing the score for an advanced-level written-response task: you submit within two days of the score being published, and it is reviewed within five days.
The oral task, the assessment criteria and the structure of the tasks cannot be appealed.
And your mark after an appeal can go up or down — the decision is final.
Portfolio assessment cannot be appealed at all.
Postdoctoral track: the stage-two video assessment cannot be appealed either.
And a rule that removes you from the whole competition: one account per participant per cycle — breaking it can get you excluded at any stage.
📄 Source: the olympiad's official regulation — 2026/27 season
The path
The stages — how it works
1
Portfolio assessment
Your file is evaluated: motivation letter, educational documents, and achievements. This is the first filter — and a strong portfolio takes weeks, not days, to build.
2
Proctored online test
Those who pass the portfolio stage take a proctored online test in their subject track — for the Bachelor's, Master's and PhD levels.
3
PhD and post-doctoral: interviews
Both tracks have a third stage: the PhD track interviews potential academic supervisors and doctoral track directors, and the post-doctoral track interviews research project leaders — up to six interviews either way.
🗓️ Your door is 1 November 2026 — not the last date on the timetable. The stages after it are only reached by those who got through.
Tracks
Subject areas
These are the subject areas listed on the official website at the time of writing — actual availability per level is set each season:
Applied Mathematics & Artificial IntelligenceBiology & BiotechnologyBusiness & ManagementChemistry & Materials ScienceClinical Medicine & Public HealthComputer & Data ScienceEarth & Environmental SciencesEconomics & EconometricsEducation & PsychologyEngineering & TechnologyPhysical Sciences & TechnologyPolitics & International StudiesRussian Language & CultureUrbanism & Civil Engineering
The complete Open Doors guide
We've built a full section covering every detail of the competition:
🌍 The olympiad is for foreign nationals and stateless persons — including citizens residing abroad.
🎂 And the age limits for each track are in the table above — check it before anything else, because age is counted as of the registration opening date (20 August 2026), not the day you register and not the start of study.
🗣️ Language: the competition itself is in Russian or English (both are official languages of the olympiad), and study afterwards depends on the university and the programme.
Prepare for the test
Practice with the smart tutor
▾
Every Open Doors subject area has a smart tutor (a custom GPT) prepared by Abdelrahman — a helper tool for practicing the area's questions and understanding its concepts, not a substitute for real studying and not a promise of any admission. Opens in ChatGPT in a new tab.
Applied Mathematics & Artificial IntelligenceBachelor'sA smart tutor that drills you with the official questions all the way to the examOpen tutor ↗
Business & ManagementBachelor'sDiagnoses your level, builds a plan, and trains you on the official questionsOpen tutor ↗
Biology & BiotechnologyBachelor'sTests you, explains, and trains you on the questions step by stepOpen tutor ↗
Clinical Medicine & Public HealthBachelor'sGives you a question, you answer, and it explains until you master itOpen tutor ↗
Computer & Data ScienceBachelor'sDiagnosis, a plan, and practice on the official questionsOpen tutor ↗
Chemistry & Materials ScienceBachelor'sQuestion practice and step-by-step problem solvingOpen tutor ↗
Earth & Environmental SciencesBachelor'sTests you and trains you regularly on the recurring question patternsOpen tutor ↗
Economics & EconometricsBachelor'sPractice on the official questions, with explanations of concepts and graphsOpen tutor ↗
Education & PsychologyBachelor'sLevel assessment, a plan, and question practiceOpen tutor ↗
Engineering & TechnologyBachelor'sQuestion practice and step-by-step problem solvingOpen tutor ↗
Physical Sciences & TechnologyBachelor'sGives you the question, explains it, and trains you on the calculationsOpen tutor ↗
Politics & International StudiesBachelor'sDiagnosis, a plan, and practice on the official questionsOpen tutor ↗
Russian Language & CultureBachelor'sQuestion practice, simple explanations, and mock examsOpen tutor ↗
Urbanism & Civil EngineeringBachelor'sTests you, builds you a plan, and trains you on the official questionsOpen tutor ↗
Computer & Data ScienceMaster's & PhDPlacement, a plan, and practice on the official tasks.Open tutor ↗
Business & ManagementMaster's & PhDFinds your level, builds a plan, and drills the official tasks.Open tutor ↗
Earth & Environmental SciencesMaster's & PhDTests you and drills the patterns that keep coming back.Open tutor ↗
Education & PsychologyMaster's & PhDFinds your level, builds a plan, and practises with questions.Open tutor ↗
Clinical Medicine & Public HealthMaster's & PhDAsks, you answer, and it explains until you master it.Open tutor ↗
Chemistry & Materials ScienceMaster's & PhDPractice on the tasks, with problems solved step by step.Open tutor ↗
Engineering & TechnologyMaster's & PhDPractice on the tasks, with problems solved step by step.Open tutor ↗
Physical Sciences & TechnologyMaster's & PhDAsks, explains, and drills the calculations with you.Open tutor ↗
Applied Mathematics & Artificial IntelligenceMaster's & PhDPlacement, a plan, and practice on the official Master's and PhD tasks.Open tutor ↗
Economics & EconometricsMaster's & PhDPractice on the official tasks, with concepts and figures explained.Open tutor ↗
Urbanism & Civil EngineeringMaster's & PhDTests you, builds a plan, and drills the official tasks.Open tutor ↗
Russian Language & CultureMaster's & PhDPractice, plain explanations, and mock exams.Open tutor ↗
Politics & International StudiesMaster's & PhDPlacement, a plan, and practice on the official tasks.Open tutor ↗
Biology & BiotechnologyMaster's & PhDTests you and explains every step.Open tutor ↗
No. Language of participation in the Open Doors is something you choose during registration — Russian or English — and it is the language you complete the olympiad tasks in. The language of instruction is a separate decision, made after the results are announced, and it depends on the university and programme. If the programme is in Russian, preparatory language courses are available per the official site.
💬Does winning mean confirmed admission?▾
No. Winning gives you the right to apply within the government quota, and the final decision rests with the ministry and the university, depending on competition results and available places. The opportunity is competitive and not guaranteed — which is normal for any real competition.
💬Does participation cost money?▾
Taking part in the olympiad itself is free of charge per the official site. What it costs you is preparing your file and your time getting ready.
This opportunity is competitive and not guaranteed — nobody can promise you admission. What is actually in your hands is the quality of your portfolio and your preparation for the test. And for any information here, the final reference is the olympiad's official website.
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Registration opens August 20, 2026 — start preparing now
Follow the Telegram channel — we'll prepare the portfolio step by step before the door opens, and any official update on dates will reach you right away.
Open Doors Practical Guide 2026–2027
A 67-page practical walkthrough of Open Doors — from registration and your Portfolio to the Entry test and stage two.
67 pagesVersion 1.0Updated 24 August 2026
⬇ Download the Practical Guide (PDF)