Registration for the tenth anniversary season of the National Technology Olympiad (NTO) has ended. Applications for participation in the tracks of the largest engineering competitions were submitted by schoolchildren and students from all Russian regions and a number of foreign countries, including Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Serbia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan.
NTO is carried out under the coordination of the Ministry of Science and Higher Education of the Russian Federation together with the ANO “Russia – the Land of Opportunities” with the support of the “Movement of the First”, the Agency for Strategic Initiatives and the ANO “NTI Platform”. The NTO project office is deployed on the basis of the National Research University Higher School of Economics with methodological support from the Association of Technology Circle Participants (NTI Circle Movement). The Organizing Committee of the Olympiad is headed by First Deputy Head of the Administration of the President of the Russian Federation Sergei Kiriyenko and Deputy Chairman of the Government of Russia Dmitry Chernyshenko.
“For ten years, the National Technology Olympiad has already covered more than 880 thousand schoolchildren and students from all regions of Russia and 77 foreign countries. This academic year, NTO set a new record – almost 220 thousand students became its participants. Such an increase in the number of young people interested in the field of science and development is especially important today, when “Technological Leadership” is among the national development goals of the country, outlined by President Vladimir Putin. After all, it is they – today’s schoolchildren and students – who in the future will become highly qualified specialists and make new discoveries for the benefit of Russia,” emphasized Deputy Prime Minister, co-chairman of the NTO organizing committee Dmitry Chernyshenko.
Competitions within the framework of NTO are held in a wide range of modern areas: from artificial intelligence, unmanned aircraft and robotics to space engineering and computer game development. The profiles were developed jointly with the country’s leading technology companies and universities and cover the most promising areas of science and technology development. In the 2024/2025 academic year, 32 profiles are open for high school students, 7 directions are announced in the student track. In many profiles, winners and runners-up can receive 100 Unified State Exam points, the right to enter leading universities in Russia without entrance tests, and an invitation to an internship.
According to the results of the application campaign, among the most popular profiles among schoolchildren are “Artificial Intelligence”, “Computer Game Development” and “Automation of Business Processes”, in the student track – “Smart City”, “Flying Robotics” and “Genome Editing”. The largest number of applications in the anniversary season of scientific and technical education for schoolchildren in grades 8-11 came from participants living in the Novosibirsk region (22.5 thousand), Moscow (15.3 thousand), St. Petersburg (13.9 thousand), Moscow region (11.9 thousand).
“This NTO season is special and significant for everyone who stood at the origins of the Olympiad and is organizing it today. We are summing up the results of the first decade and making plans for the future; we see the place of our competition in ensuring the personnel and technological sovereignty of Russia. The most striking results of NTO are reflected, of course, in its graduates – in their achievements, victories, and breakthroughs. And to recognize the best graduates and their contribution to the technological, scientific and social development of the country, we launched the “NTO Torch” award,” said Nikita Anisimov, Rector of the Higher School of Economics, Deputy Co-Chairs of the Olympiad Organizing Committee.
As part of the NTO, for the sixth year in a row, a junior track is being held for students in grades 5-7, where schoolchildren compete in six technological areas: virtual reality, artificial intelligence, computer games, space, robots and habitats. This academic year, almost 25 thousand students from all regions of Russia applied for NTO Junior. More than 4 thousand schoolchildren have been invited to the finals, which will be held in 59 regions of the country.
“We started working with NTO with the Junior track, and now we see how children who came to the Olympiad at the age of 10-12 compete in the track for grades 8-11, continuing this difficult but very interesting Olympiad path. For us, this is an important indicator that the Olympiad is interesting not just as an event, but as a path to obtaining a quality education, expanding the intellectual circle of contacts and constant growth,” emphasized the executive director of the platform “Russia – the Land of Opportunities”, rector of the Senezh Management Workshop. Andrey Betin.
In November-December, the qualifying stage of NTO continues for high school students and students – during the second round, schoolchildren and students in teams solve complex team problems in selected profiles. The finalists will be determined based on the results of the round. The final NTO competitions will be held at the sites of leading universities and partner companies of the Olympiad, where participants in teams will solve real interdisciplinary problems using modern laboratory and technological equipment. The finals of the anniversary season of NTO will take place from February to April 2025 in Vladivostok, Zelenograd, Irkutsk, Moscow, Novosibirsk, Stavropol, St. Petersburg, Tomsk, Tyumen and Ufa.
Source: www.nkj.ru
