Open Doors Russian Scholarship Project 2026

Open Doors is a free international olympiad run by Russia's Global Universities Association. Winners get a state-funded, tuition-free place at a Russian university, with tuition paid by the Government of the Russian Federation.

Tracks and age limits

• Bachelor's — 16 to 23
• Master's — 20 to 33
• Doctoral — 22 to 35
• Postdoctoral — 24 to 39

What it covers

• Tuition, paid by the Russian federal budget
• A monthly stipend, the amount set by each university — no single figure is published
• One free year of Russian language training for Russian-taught programmes

What it does not cover: travel, accommodation, insurance and personal costs are your responsibility. Budget for these before you commit.

Who can apply: foreign citizens and stateless persons, with no country restrictions — Cameroonian applicants are eligible. Participants have come from more than 200 countries. There is no participation fee.

Subjects: 14 interdisciplinary areas, including Applied Mathematics and Artificial Intelligence, Biology and Biotechnology, Clinical Medicine and Public Health, Computer and Data Science, Engineering and Technology, Economics and Econometrics, Politics and International Studies, and Russian Language and Culture.

Schedule

• Registration: 20 August – 1 November 2026 (no time of day is published officially)
• First stage, portfolio: 20 August – 13 November 2026
• Second stage: 13 November – 21 December 2026
• Third stage, doctoral and postdoctoral: 22 December 2026 – 26 February 2027

Verified against the organiser's own site: https://od.globaluni.ru/rules