Published on: 2026-10-12
Source: Novosibirsk State University –
An important disclaimer is at the bottom of this article.
In 2014, a research olympiad in cryptography was established in Novosibirsk: NSUCRYPTO. Over thirteen years of its existence, the olympiad has reached a high international level.
This is the only international cryptography olympiad containing both educational problems and unsolved scientific issues. The goal of the olympiad is to attract young researchers to the challenges of modern cryptography. After each olympiad, scientific articles are published analyzing the problems presented to participants, including unsolved ones that require separate scientific research.
Natalya Tokareva, the long-standing Chairman of the Olympics’ Program Committee, comments:
— In the first round of the olympiad, we recorded 1,140 registrations from 49 countries worldwide — an absolute record. The thirteenth edition of the olympiad stands out vividly from those held previously. We understand the realities in which it is conducted — the explosive development of artificial intelligence has prompted us to completely rethink our approach to task development and testing. We prepare tasks right away considering that participants will actively use neural networks. More than that, we expect it, not trying to restrict it. We want neural networks to work towards solving complex and sometimes unsolved research problems in cryptography.
Some interesting facts about the first round: all tasks offered to school students (category A), university students and professionals (category B) were solved by participants. In total, the organizers received 2144 solutions — a historic record. Participants come to compete with each other from different countries, organizations, and scientific schools. Currently, applications for the olympiad have been received from 49 countries, such as Australia, Algeria, Bangladesh, Belarus, Belgium, Bulgaria, Brazil, the United Kingdom, Hungary, Vietnam, Germany, Greece, Israel, India, Indonesia, Iran, Italy, Spain, Kazakhstan, Cameroon, Canada, Kenya, China, Kyrgyzstan, Morocco, Mexico, Mongolia, Nepal, Nigeria, the Netherlands, UAE, Pakistan, Palestine, Peru, Poland, Russia, Romania, Saudi Arabia, Serbia, Singapore, the USA, Sierra Leone, Tunisia, Turkmenistan, Turkey, Uzbekistan, France, Sweden, and South Korea. Such a representative geographical spread of participants is rarely found at other international olympiads.
— I wish all participants good luck and success in cryptographic research and thank you for your interest in cryptography! We look forward to seeing you in the second round, friends! It will start on October 12 at 4 p.m. NOVT (UTC+7). Registration for the second round is still open on the website, — adds Natalia Tokareva.
The organizers and partners of the olympiad are the Cryptographic Center (Novosibirsk), Novosibirsk State University, the companies “Kryptonite,” “Crypto-PRO,” “Aktiv,” the University of Leuven (Belgium), the Southern Federal University, Khakademia, Belarusian State University, Tomsk State University, and the company “Enseucrypo-lab.”
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