Russian Olympiad in Artificial Intelligence

Launch of the 2026 Training Stage

2026-07-01 10:00

Central University becomes a co-organizer of the All-Russian Artificial Intelligence Olympiad

Moscow, Russia — July 1, 2026
This year, Central University has become a co-organizer of the All-Russian Artificial Intelligence (AI) Olympiad for school students in grades 8–11 and international students. The Olympiad has been held since 2021 by the Ministry of Education of the Russian Federation.
Central University will act as a co-organizer of the Olympiad and provide scientific-methodological, technical, and international coordination for the project.
This year, the State University of Education is also a co-organizer of the competition, with support from the state corporation Roscosmos, T-Bank, and VK.
The All-Russian AI Olympiad is the only federal intellectual competition in Russia for students in grades 8–11 from around the world dedicated to artificial intelligence as a distinct subject area. Each year, more than 50,000 school students from across Russia, the CIS countries, Cyprus, and other states take part in the Olympiad.
Winners and medalists of the final stage of the All-Russian AI Olympiad receive benefits when applying to leading Russian technical universities — a score of 100 on the Unified State Exam (EGE) in computer science.
The theme of the 2026 All-Russian AI Olympiad will be "Space." The space-themed problems were developed by experts from Central University in partnership with methodologists from other leading universities in the country: HSE University, MIPT, and RUDN University. Dmitry Bakanov, CEO of the state corporation Roscosmos, has joined the organizing committee.
Access to the training stage of the Olympiad is open to school students until September 21. Participants will be able to review problems from previous years, study methodological materials, take part in a series of online webinars, and complete an advanced AI-Olympiad preparation course in Russian and English from Central University. The course materials were developed by the university's experts as part of preparing teams for the International Olympiad on Artificial Intelligence (IOAI). In 2024 and 2025, Russia's national teams became absolute champions of the world's premier intellectual AI competitions under the guidance of the university's experts.
The main stages of the All-Russian Olympiad will take place in the autumn. The qualifying stage will begin on September 21, 2026. All stages of the Olympiad will be held on All Cups — VK's technology platform for online competitions and IT championships.
Participation in the Olympiad and the preparatory stages is free. Travel and accommodation costs for international and out-of-town participants during the in-person final in Moscow will be covered by Central University.
In addition, until July 15, 2026, Central University is organizing free courses titled "Artificial Intelligence at School: From the Classics to Neural Networks" to provide professional development for computer science teachers, enabling them to effectively prepare students for AI olympiads.
Sergey Kravtsov, Minister of Education of the Russian Federation:
«The All-Russian Artificial Intelligence Olympiad is an important tool for supporting school students and developing a system for training the workforce for the economy of the future. Today, AI technologies are an integral part of science, industry, education, and public administration, so it is essential to create conditions in which students can study this field in depth and apply their knowledge in practice.

It is important that, alongside the competition, the educational ecosystem is also developing. School students gain access to modern preparation programs, and teachers gain new opportunities for professional development. I am confident that the collaboration between the Ministry of Education, Central University, and technology companies will allow us to hold the Olympiad at a worthy level, expand opportunities for participants, and contribute to training the future leaders in the field of artificial intelligence».
Evgeny Ivashkevich, Rector of Central University:
«For Central University, taking part in organizing the All-Russian Artificial Intelligence Olympiad is a contribution to shaping a new generation of Russia's technology leaders. Artificial intelligence is becoming one of the key technologies that determine a nation's competitiveness. Our task is to create the best opportunities for talented school students to develop their potential. It is wonderful that the Olympiad brings together participants not only from Russia but also from other countries, strengthening international scientific and educational cooperation.

Central University is actively developing the olympiad movement in the country and around the world, including in the field of AI. Our experts prepare national teams for victories at the largest international competitions, develop educational programs for school students and teachers, and contribute to creating the methodological foundation for training future specialists. It is important to us to hold the All-Russian AI Olympiad at the highest level and to make quality education in this field accessible to school students and teachers across the country.».
Anna Stepanova, Deputy Vice President for Educational Projects at VK:
«We are glad to support the All-Russian Artificial Intelligence Olympiad and, together with the Ministry of Education and Central University, to give school students the opportunity to gain valuable experience in solving practical AI problems. The competition takes place on our All Cups platform — a modern environment that allows participants to compete in comfortable conditions and organizers to efficiently run competitions of any level. We are confident that such intellectual competitions help young people better understand their strengths and choose their future path in IT."».