Russian Olympiad in Artificial Intelligence

Applications open for the Russian Olympiad in Artificial Intelligence

2026-09-10 09:00
Registration has opened for the All-Russian Olympiad in Artificial Intelligence (AI) — applications are accepted here. This year, alongside Russian and international school students in grades 8–11, students of colleges, technical schools and vocational schools can take part for the first time.
The Olympiad has been held since 2021 by the Ministry of Education of the Russian Federation as part of the national programme “Digital Economy of the Russian Federation”. This year, Central University acts as the organisational and technical partner of the competition, providing the academic, methodological, technical and international coordination of the project.
Its partners also include the State University of Education, the Roscosmos State Corporation, T-Bank and VK.
This year the Olympiad will be held in several stages:
•10 September – 6 October — registration on the competition website;
•21 September – 6 October — the qualifying stage, held online. Participants will solve problems in mathematics, algorithms, data analysis and machine learning;
•14–18 October — the main round, in which participants will solve machine learning problems.
Based on the results of the qualifying and main stages, 50 Russian and 10 international participants will meet on 16 November for the final in Moscow, hosted at MEPhI. At the final stage, in addition to the individual round, finalists will solve problems in a team format. The award ceremony will take place on 21 November.
Participation in the Olympiad is free of charge, and travel and accommodation costs for international and out-of-town participants during the in-person final in Moscow are covered by the organisers. All online stages of the Olympiad will run on All Cups, VK’s technology platform for online competitions and IT championships.
Until 21 September, school students can prepare for the Olympiad by solving problems from previous years, working through the methodological materials and attending a series of online webinars.
The All-Russian Olympiad in AI is the only federal intellectual competition in Russia dedicated to artificial intelligence for students in grades 8–11 from all over the world and for students of secondary vocational institutions. More than 50,000 children take part in it every year.
Winners and prize-winners of the final stage of the All-Russian Olympiad in Artificial Intelligence receive benefits when applying to leading Russian technical universities — 100 Unified State Exam points in computer science.
The theme of the 2026 All-Russian Olympiad in AI is “Space”. The space-themed tasks were developed by experts from Central University in partnership with methodologists from other leading universities in the country: HSE University, MIPT and RUDN University. The organising committee includes the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Science and Higher Education, the Bank of Russia, the Ministry of Digital Development, the Ministry of Industry and Trade, Roscosmos, experts from the Russian Academy of Sciences, and leading Russian universities and companies.
For the third year in a row, starting in 2024, participants of the All-Russian Olympiad in Artificial Intelligence have won awards at the International Olympiad in Artificial Intelligence (IOAI). Especially for this season, Central University, which prepares national school teams for the IOAI, has developed an advanced preparation course for AI olympiads in Russian and English.
Sergey Kravtsov, Minister of Education of the Russian Federation:
“The country’s technological sovereignty today is inseparable from the development of artificial intelligence and from how the education system responds to these global changes. Introducing extracurricular courses in AI and information security into the school curriculum this year, together with holding the All-Russian Olympiad in AI for the sixth time, are important elements of this strategic work. This season we are also inviting, for the first time, students in secondary vocational education. This step is aimed at seamless educational and career development for college students, enabling universities and the IT industry to engage strong young practitioners.”
Evgeny Ivashkevich, Rector of Central University:
“For Central University, providing organisational and technical support for the All-Russian Olympiad in Artificial Intelligence is part of our mission to shape a new generation of technology leaders. CU has been developing the school olympiad movement in the country for several years: running its own olympiads, developing courses and methodological guidelines, and preparing the national team for international competitions. Under the guidance of our experts and partners, Russian teams have been absolute champions of the International Olympiad in AI three years in a row. The expertise we have accumulated over this time will allow us not only to run the All-Russian Olympiad in AI at the highest level, but also to help young people realise their talent.”
Anna Stepanova, Deputy Vice President for Educational Projects at VK:
“For VK, taking part in organising the All-Russian Olympiad in Artificial Intelligence is an opportunity to support talented school students and help them unlock their potential in a field that is in high demand. The competition gives participants from any region the chance to test their AI skills on tasks close to real industry cases and to demonstrate the competencies that matter most in this area — technical, mathematical and product-related. As a technology partner, VK has supported the Olympiad for several years and provides the All Cups platform for all stages of the competition.”