The Olympiad is organized by The Association of Global Universities, in collaboration with the Ministry of Science and Higher Education of the Russian Federation and the Federal Agency for the Commonwealth of Independent States Affairs, Compatriots Living Abroad, and International Humanitarian Cooperation (Rossotrudichestvo).

The competition is aimed at talented foreign students who would like to enroll in master’s and postgraduate programs in Russia for free.

The winners of the Open Doors are granted a free early admission at any Russian university, without entrance examinations and with tuition fees covered by the Russian Federation.

The competition winners will be able to enroll in a program using a single-window system, choosing any of 500 Russian universities, including 21 leading universities-participants of the 5-100 Project. The language of instruction is English or Russian depending on the chosen program and the university.

The Olympiad has two tracks – for prospective Master’s and doctoral students (analogous to Ph.D.). The Olympiad is held in two rounds for the Master’s track and in three rounds for the doctoral track (analogous to Ph.D.). The first round is a competition of portfolios, and the second round is a problem-solving challenge. The third round of the Olympiad involves the selection of a prospective research supervisor for the chosen doctoral program (analogous to Ph.D.) and an interview with him/her.

The competition is open to foreign citizens and stateless persons, including compatriots living abroad, having a Bachelor’s degree or completing a Bachelor degree program in the year of the Olympiad for the Master’s track and having a Master’s or Specialist’s degree for the doctoral track (analogous to Ph.D.) in the year of the Olympiad.