If you're a foreign Specialist or Master's student who wants a PhD at Saint Petersburg University on a budget-funded place, this is your route. An olympiad built specifically for foreign nationals, fully remote, assessed on your scientific portfolio and a language test.
The new season usually opens mid-November — sign up with us and we'll alert you as soon as it's confirmed.
🗓️ The exact date isn't set yet
Registration expected: 12 نوفمبر — according to the official source. We'll alert you the moment it's confirmed.
Deadline expected: 6 فبراير — according to the official source. We'll alert you the moment it's confirmed.
Can you apply? Read this first
🎓 Who exactly? The regulation says: foreign students on Specialist and Master's programmes — with the aim of admitting them to programmes for training scientific and teaching staff at doctoral level (аспирантура). 🏛️ And the legal basis is named explicitly: Russian Government Decree No. 2150 of 18/12/2020, and Ministry of Science Order No. 1378 of 3/11/2020. 🔬 And the nature of the assessment matters here: the portfolio measures “academic and/or scientific achievements” — and for a doctoral route that means your research and publications are your strongest card. Start gathering them now.
3subjects maximumyou may enter three
2tests per subjectportfolio + language
remoteall the tests
budget-fundedwithin the government quota
The opportunity
What is this olympiad?
“Saint Petersburg University's Open International Olympiad for Foreign Specialist and Master's Students” — the university runs it to select foreign nationals for doctoral study (аспирантура) on federal budget places within the Russian government quota.
🔀 This is the third version of the same olympiad: one for school students (← Bachelor's), one for Bachelor's students (← Master's), and this one for Specialist and Master's students (← PhD).
The format: each subject has a document competition (portfolio) + an oral-written Russian test. There is no subject exam — your scientific file is what gets assessed.
The potential prize
What could you reach?
🏛️ An official recommendation to the ministry for a PhD place at SPbU on the federal budget within the government quota — the regulation's own text (clause 4.2). This is one of the rarest announced funded doctoral routes.
🎯 The available doctoral programmes are tied to your subject — and the mapping table is published no later than 5 February (clause 4.3).
💻 All the tests are remote — no travel to take part.
🔬 A funded doctoral route at one of the two oldest universities in Russia — these opportunities are rare and rarely advertised.
🎯 How it actually works: the university's admissions committee sends your name to the ministry as a recommendation for a place within the quota, and the ministry is what issues the final study referral. So winning opens the door and you hold official backing from the university — but it doesn't secure you the place. And tuition coverage ≠ living coverage, so prepare your budget.
The path
The timetable and the steps
1
Register in your personal account and choose your subjects
On the university's site. You submit an application addressed to the rector in one or more subjects — a maximum of 3, then print it, sign it and upload it.
2
🔴 Check the subject-to-programme mapping table — published 5 February
The regulation (clause 4.3) says the correspondence between study programmes and olympiad subjects is set by the admissions committee and published on abiturient.spbu.ru no later than 5 February. So your subject determines which programmes you can enter — read the table before you choose.
3
Upload your documents — before 6 February
Proof of identity + its notarised Russian translation, your education document and its annexes + their translation, consent to data processing, and a copy of your study visa if you have one. 🟢 And if you haven't graduated yet: the regulation (clause 2.3.4) lets you submit a certificate from your university with your grades for all completed study periods instead of the diploma.
4
The achievements portfolio
Each subject includes a document competition whose purpose is “to reveal the participants' academic and/or scientific achievements” — meaning your research, publications and participations are what get assessed. It must be uploaded before 6 February.
5
The language test — oral-written, remote
To prove Russian at ТРКИ-II (B2) level for subjects held in Russian. For subjects held in a language other than Russian: ТЭУ (A1) is enough, plus a written test in that language. All tests are remote — official text.
6
Results — by 13 March
The participant lists, with the winners' list marked out, are published on the admissions committee's site no later than 13 March (clause 4.4). And the regulation says the “winner or not” decision is taken for each participant individually — there is no relative ranking between you (clause 4.1).
7
🔴 If you win: one week only
Before 20 March you must email [email protected] confirming you wish to study (or declining) — using a form attached to the regulation (clause 4.5.1) — and submit your admission application and upload the full document file: the form in block capitals with a colour photo · a medical certificate of no health contraindications and freedom from all types of hepatitis and tuberculosis · an HIV-free certificate · a 3×4 photo.
🔴 All documents must be in Russian or with a notarised Russian translation, or from a body authorised under the law and international agreements. A notarised translation takes time and money — start it now, not after you win.
Tracks
The subjects
The subject list and the table mapping them to doctoral programmes are published on the international admissions page — check it before you choose:
A maximum of 3 subjectsPer subject: portfolio + languageRussian-language subjects require B2Subjects in another language require A1 + a test in that language
Eligibility
Who can take part?
🌍
Foreign nationals and stateless persons
The olympiad is built for them.
🎓
A student on a Specialist or Master's programme
This is the version that leads to doctoral programmes. If you're a Bachelor's student, your version is the one leading to a Master's.
🔬
You have scientific achievements
The portfolio measures academic and scientific achievements — research, publications and conferences are the strongest card on a doctoral route.
🗣️
Russian: ТРКИ-II (B2) for Russian-language subjects
And for subjects in a language other than Russian: A1 + a written test in that subject's language.
📄
You don't have to have finished
A certificate from your university with your grades for all completed study periods is allowed instead of the diploma (clause 2.3.4).
Common questions
Tap any question to open the answer ▾
💬How many subjects can I enter?▾
A maximum of 3 subjects. And your subject determines which doctoral programmes you can enter — the mapping table is published no later than 5 February.
💬Are the tests in person or online?▾
All of them are remote — official text on the olympiad's site.
💬What matters most in the portfolio for a doctoral route?▾
The regulation says the document competition aims “to reveal academic and/or scientific achievements”. On a doctoral route that means published research, conferences and scientific participations. Start gathering and documenting them now — a portfolio isn't built in a week.
💬Does winning mean I've been admitted?▾
Winning opens the door — and the ministry is what issues the final decision. The regulation (4.2) says the university's admissions committee gives winners an official recommendation to study on budget places within the quota — meaning the university itself nominates you to the ministry, and that is the strongest backing you can enter the quota with. After that the ministry issues the final study referral.
🟢 And something in your favour: the “winner or not” decision is taken for each participant individually (clause 4.1) — the regulation announces no closed number of winners, so you are not competing for a pre-set number of slots.
💬🔴 I found two websites — which one is mine?▾
int-olimpiada.spbu.ru is yours (the Open International one for foreign nationals). Whereas olympiada.spbu.ru is the local “school students' olympiad”, whose benefit is conditional on your ЕГЭ result, whose final is in person and whose costs are on the participant.
This opportunity is competitive — and winning gives you an official recommendation from the university's admissions committee to the ministry (рекомендация) for a place within the government quota, and the final decision is issued by the Ministry of Science. So the recommendation is the door — but it is not the place itself. Final reference: int-olimpiada.spbu.ru and the international admissions page at abiturient.spbu.ru — the dates change every season, so open them and check before any step.
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