Published on: 2026-08-28
Source: Government of the Russian Federation –
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Participants of the 2025 National Technological Olympiad. Photo by the NTO press service https://clck.ru/3VGRgV.
The junior track finals for students in grades 5–7 will take place in December 2026, while high school students and university students will meet for the final competitions from February to April 2027 at the campuses of leading technological universities in the country: HSE University, ITMO, MEPhI, MIREA – Russian Technological University, Moscow Polytechnic, NSU, FEFU, and others.
“Leading universities in our country participate annually in the National Technological Olympiad. In the new season, three new partners have joined the organization of the NTO: Immanuel Kant Baltic Federal University, Surgut State University, and the University of Biotechnology. The expansion of participating universities opens even more opportunities for the most capable students and schoolchildren to immerse themselves in real engineering challenges,” noted the Deputy Co-chairman of the NTO Organizing Committee, head of the Ministry of Science and Higher Education, Valery Falkov.
The junior track will offer participants seven fields: agrotech, gametech, AI tech, cybertech, cosmotech, medtech, and robotech. The goal of NTO in the “Juniors” category is to help each schoolchild take the first step into the world of modern technologies and develop an interest in studying them.
For high school students in the 2026/2027 academic year, 34 profiles are available at the National Technology Olympiad, including 5 new ones: “Agroecological Control,” “Data Analysis and Decision Making,” “Rehabilitation Engineering,” “Chemical Power Sources,” and “Chemical Industrial Technologies.” As part of the Olympiad, participants will create satellites and planetary rovers, underwater robots, VR simulators and computer games, train artificial intelligence, prevent cyberattacks, develop smart prosthetics and flexible electronics, edit genomes, and synthesize new materials.
Another innovation of the 12th season of NTO will be the expansion of opportunities for students enrolled in secondary vocational education programs after 9th grade. For the first time, 1st and 2nd year vocational students will be able to participate in the senior track alongside 8th to 11th grade school students.
“The engineering environment is formed as early as school through the introduction of specialized classes and career guidance work. Today, skills in the effective use of artificial intelligence and innovative equipment are becoming an important factor in technological development. And here, the National Technological Olympiad acts as a link between educational programs and the real sector. It is a platform where not only schoolchildren but also college and technical school students solve real engineering problems and gain team experience. Victory gives schoolchildren additional advantages — 100 points on the Unified State Exam or admission to universities without exams, and students — advantages when entering master’s programs or the opportunity to undergo internships at leading technology companies. This is a systemic approach to workforce training — from the school bench to professional self-determination, from the student audience to the first workplace,” noted Minister of Education Sergey Kravtsov.
Participants in the student track of the NTO will choose the olympiad direction from five profiles. Among the student track tasks are the development of nuclear and quantum technologies, ensuring cybersecurity, designing unmanned transport systems, and genome editing.
“By competing in the NTO, schoolchildren and students develop not only their professional skills but also the personal qualities necessary for successful work in the modern world. Participants learn to interact effectively in teams, distribute roles, justify their decisions, take responsibility for the results, and find unconventional approaches to complex problems. Such experience shapes the universal competencies of future specialists – the ability to work under uncertainty, quickly adapt, and create solutions together with others,” emphasized the deputy co-chair of the NTO organizing committee, HSE University rector Nikita Anisimov.
Students who win the NTO can receive invitations for internships at research centers and companies that are partners of the olympiad, as well as apply benefits when enrolling in the master’s programs of universities that organize the profiles.
“One of the main principles of the Olympiad is to create opportunities for talent development at every stage: to help schoolchildren try themselves in technology, find their interests, and take the first steps toward their future profession from an early age. The Presidential platform will continue to support talented youths and create conditions for their professional growth,” said Andrey Betin, CEO of the Presidential platform “Russia – Land of Opportunity” and rector of the Senezh Management Workshop.
Recall that the National Technological Olympiad has been supporting talented schoolchildren and students for 11 years, helping them find their path in the field of research and development. In the 11th season of the NTO, 226 thousand applications were submitted from all regions of Russia, as well as from foreign countries including Belarus, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Moldova, Kyrgyzstan, Georgia, and Turkmenistan. More than 1,800 schoolchildren and students became winners and prize-winners in the 2025/2026 academic year.
The NTI is conducted under the coordination of the Ministry of Science and Higher Education together with the presidential platform “Russia – Land of Opportunity” as part of the national project “Youth and Children” with the support of the “Leaders of the First” movement, the Agency for Strategic Initiatives, and the ANO “NTI Platform.” The project office of the olympiad is deployed at the National Research University Higher School of Economics with methodological support from the NTI Circle Movement.
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