The Open Doors Russian Scholarship Project – Your Gateway to Tuition-Free Education in Russia
Officially known as the Open Doors Russian Scholarship Project of the Global Universities Association and internationally recognized under the Open Doors brand, this academic competition has been conducted annually since 2017 under the auspices of the Ministry of Science and Higher Education of the Russian Federation.
• In 2024, over 146,000 participants from 185 countries took part in the competition.
• 6,500 of them became winners or runners-up.
The Open Doors Russian Scholarship Project spans 14 broad subject areas and offers three academic tracks: master's, doctoral, and postdoctoral. Participation is entirely free of charge, fully remote, and open to open to candidates from around the world.
Winners of the competition are granted the opportunity to enroll tuition-free in leading Russian universities without entrance exams (master's, doctoral tracks) or to join research projects run by the organizing universities (postdoctoral track).
For those who want to enter Sechenov University the subject areas of the Open Doors Russian Scholarship Project include:
• Clinical Medicine and Public Health.
• Biology and Biotechnology.
All stages of the competition are held online in both English and Russian. Eligible participants include foreign citizens, stateless individuals, and compatriots living abroad. The specific requirements for each track—age limit, educational background, and academic degrees—are detailed in the rules of participation.
The Open Doors competition is held in two stages for the master’s tracks, and in three stages for the doctoral and postdoctoral tracks.
• The first stage, which is common to all tracks, consists of completing an entrance test, submitting a motivation letter, and preparing a portfolio of academic achievements.
• The second stage for the
master’s, and doctoral tracks requires completing subjectspecific tasks under online proctored supervision to ensure academic integrity. In the postdoctoral track, this stage takes the form of a video presentation in which participants demonstrate their research results.
• The third stage involves online interviews with prospective research supervisors for doctoral students and with research project leaders for postdoctoral candidates.
The Global Universities Association will open registration for the Open Doors Russian Scholarship Project on September 1, 2025. Details: https://www.sechenov.ru/eng, https://od.globaluni.ru/