Terms and conditions

1. General terms and conditions

1.1. The current Terms and Conditions define the purpose, objectives, and procedure of the International Competition of the “Global Universities” Association for Master’s students (hereinafter Competition).

1.2. The Competition is organized and conducted by the “Global Universities” Association (hereinafter Association).

1.3. The name of the Competition in Russian: Международная олимпиада Ассоциации «Глобальные университеты» (hereinafter Олимпиада). The name of the Competition in English: Open Doors: Russian Scholarship project.

1.4. Foreign citizens and stateless citizens including compatriots abroad with a Bachelor’s degree (or higher) or expected to receive one in 2018 who gave permission to process their personal data can participate in the Competition.

1.5. The Competition’s purposes are:

1.5.1. to enhance the quality of admission of foreign citizens on educational programs of higher education - Master’s programs (hereinafter Master’s programs) of universities - members of the “Global Universities” Association (hereinafter Association’s programs) and other higher education establishments of the Russian Federation that offer Master’s programs that correspond to the Competition’s subject areas;

1.5.2. to ensure a global competitive advantage among the Association’s member-universities and other higher education establishments of the Russian Federation through early occupational guidance of talented youth and their enrollment into Master’s programs;

1.5.3. to promote visibility of universities - members of the Association and Russian education in general in the global educational space and to increase their geographic footprint;

1.5.4. to discover talented prospective Master’s students who possess advanced knowledge, skills and considerable groundwork in their chosen professional fields and provide them with additional opportunities for professional development.

1.6. The Competition is conducted in particular subject areas each covering several Master’s program tracks. Program tracks are blocks of educational programs for Master’s students pooled based on the similarity of the fundamental training they imply. The list of Master’s programs that correspond to a Competition’s subject area is established by the educational organizations themselves (upon the condition that an educational program can correspond to only one of the Competition’s subject fields) and is published on their websites.

1.7. The Competition is funded by target contributions of the universities - members of the Association that act as the Competition’s organizers. No fees are to be collected for participation in the Competition.

1.8. The list of subject areas, organizing universities and the lineup of the Organizational Committee (hereinafter - Organizational Committee) of the Competition is established by decision of the General Assembly of the Association’s members.

1.9. The Competition’s working languages are English and Russian.

1.10. Official information concerning the Competition’s organization and procedure is published on od.globaluni.ru (hereinafter the Competition’s website).

1.11. Issues concerning the Competition’s organization and conduct which are not regulated by the present Terms and Conditions are to be resolved by the Organizational Committee.

2. Competition organization and procedure

2.1. The Competition is conducted in two rounds, online, with the use of the Competition’s dedicated system. The first (qualification) round is conducted as a portfolio contest, the second (final) round is conducted as a test. Online participation implies the participant’s authentication and additional measures taken to ensure participants’ compliance with the Competition’s rules.

2.2. The Organizational Committee, methodological boards for each subject area (hereinafter - Methodological Boards) and juries for each subject area (hereinafter - Juries) provide for the Competition’s organizational and methodological support.

2.3. The Organizational Committee is comprised of representatives of the organizing universities that coordinate the Competition’s organization and procedure and representatives of the Ministry of Education and Science of the Russian Federation and the Federal Agency for the Commonwealth of the Independent States Affairs, Compatriots Living Abroad, and International Humanitarian Cooperation (Rossotrudnichestvo).

2.4. Organizational Committee:

2.4.1. provides for the organization and conduct of all of the events that are part of the Competition;

2.4.2. approves the lineup and defines the operating procedures of the Methodological Boards and Juries;

2.4.3. decides on the Competition’s timeframe and assessment of results.

2.4.4. approves the Competition’s Rules that define the procedures for the participants’ registration and participation in the qualification and final rounds, as well as the procedure for exercising the right for educational quotas for the Competition’s winners and runners-up;

2.4.5. in collaboration with Methodological Boards, develops and approves the list of Master’s program tracks that correspond to the Competition’s subject areas from those approved by the Ministry of Education and Science of the Russian Federation in accordance with part 8 article 11 of the Federal Law “On Education in the Russian Federation” #273-ФЗ from 29.12.2012.

2.4.6. collaborates with the Juries on preparing the list of participants approved for participation in the Competition’s final round;

2.4.7. approves the list of the Competition’s winners and runners-up;

2.4.8. provides for the Competition’s winners’ and runners-up’ registration as foreign applicants in the informational system of the Ministry of Education and Science of the Russian Federation.

2.4.9. is responsible for the Competition’s informational support, promotion and advertising;

2.4.10. exercises other functions according to its Rules and Procedures.

2.5. Methodological Boards:

2.5.1. develop the subject area programs: topics for the Competition’s tasks that allow to assess the level of knowledge and the command of competencies that are essential for studying at program tracks that correspond to the Competition’s subject areas.

2.5.2. develop the portfolio structure and tasks for the final round of the corresponding subject area, as well the criteria for their assessment;

2.5.3. develop the criteria for forming the integral estimation of participants based on the results of the qualification and final rounds

2.5.4. develop a demo version and solutions for the tasks of the final round for publishing on the Competition’s website;

2.5.6. exercise other functions on the decision of the Organizational Committee.

2.6. Jury:

2.6.1. assesses the portfolios, checks and assesses the participants’ results for a corresponding subject area;

2.6.2. proposes candidates for participation in the final round based on their portfolios in accordance with the criteria developed by Methodological Boards;

2.6.3. deals with appeal claims and approves the results of the final round with regard to appeal claims;

2.6.4. proposes candidates for the list of the Competition’s winners and runners-up in corresponding subject areas;

2.6.5. exercises other functions on the decision of the Organizational Committee.

Competition’s procedure

3.1. The Competition’s participants are to register on the Competition’s website.

3.2. By registering, the Competition’s participants confirm their knowledge of these Terms and Conditions and give their consent for processing (which includes collecting, storing, and sharing) and publishing their personal data, including their completed tasks, on the internet. Access to personal data and its processing is performed in accordance with the corresponding Russian Federation legislation.

3.3. The qualification round is conducted online, and involves filling out a portfolio in the Competition’s dedicated system in accordance with the requirements to portfolios developed by the corresponding Methodological Boards and published on the Competition’s website, as well as uploading documents and files.

3.4. The portfolio assessment results are published on the participants’ personal pages.

3.5. Participants of the qualification round who are invited to the final round are chosen for each subject area based on a ranked list of participants formed in accordance with the points earned as result of portfolio assessment. The lists of participants invited to the final round are published on the Competition’s website.

3.6. Participants who scored no less than 50% of maximum possible amount of points are invited to the final round. The total number of participants invited for the final round can not exceed 20% of the actual number of participants of the qualification round.

3.7. The final round of the Competition is conducted online on the Competition’s dedicated platform in accordance with the schedule. The schedule ensures that the final round’s sessions in different subject areas are conducted on different dates.

3.8. In case of disagreement with the results, the participants have a right to file an appeal claim. Results of portfolio assessment are not subject to appeal claims.

3.9. The Competition’s results are compiled based on a ranked list of integrated estimations (with regard to appeal claims) of participants in a corresponding subject field made in accordance with the criteria developed by the Methodological Boards, with regard to the points for the first and the second (final) rounds.

Procedures for determining winners and runners-up and their rights

4.1. Winners and runners-up for each subject area are determined separately.

4.2. The share of winners and runners-up for each subject area can not exceed 25% of the actual number of participants of the final round of the Competition in a particular subject area; the share of winners can not exceed 5% of the actual number of the participants of the final round of the Competition in a particular subject area.

4.3. Winners and runners-up receive the right to receive tuition-free education on educational programs that correspond to the Competition’s subject areas at Russian higher education institutions. Winners and runners-up are able to choose an educational program in their subject area in either Russian or English. provided it enrolls foreign citizens.

4.3.1. In case additional training in Russian is necessary, it is possible to enroll on the educational organization’s preparatory department with a guaranteed position on a desired Master’s program in Russian, given the applicant confirms their fluency in Russian upon completing the preparatory course.

4.3.2. The participants’ level of Russian is assessed by the higher education establishment during the admission process.

4.3.3. The Competition’s winners may be awarded with additional benefits on decision of the higher education establishments.

4.4. In order to exercise their right to a tuition-free education as foreign or stateless citizens, or compatriots abroad, in Russia on Master’s degree educational programs, winners and runners-up must provide the paperwork, necessary to register them as foreign applicants, to the Competition’s Organizational Committee to ensure their inclusion in the Russian Ministry of Education and Science’s informational system.

4.5. When filling out an application on getting education in Russian Federation financed from the federal budget of the Russian Federation as part of the provided quota, the winner or runner-up has to choose a Master’s program track that corresponds to his/her subject area, as well as provide a ranked list of three higher educational establishments that offer programs in this track. During admission, the winner or runner-up chooses one Master’s program that enrolls foreign citizens from the ones that correspond to the program track which is part of his/her subject field.