The final Federal Student Tournament of Three Sciences took place at Voronezh State University between 27 and 31 October. Among the participants were 17 teams from 7 federal districts. Young researchers competed for the main prize: a certificate for a scientific trip or a grant for equipment.
The prizes in the final scientific battle were awarded as follows:
- 1st prize: “Vegetables” (Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology, Dolgoprudny);
- 2nd prize: “Gegel’s Rose” (a combined team of National Research Nuclear University MEPhI, National Research University Higher School of Economics, Dagestan State University, Lomonosov Moscow State University, and Omsk State Technical University).
- 3rd prize: “Pavlov’s Dogs” (Peter the Great St. Petersburg Polytechnic University);
- 4th prize: “A Cognitive Machine” (the Ural Federal University named after the first President of Russia B.N. Yeltsin, Yekaterinburg).
“We were happy to win and we were also excited by the chance to communicate with other teams and incredible people from different parts of Russia. Many of them supported us in the final, and it was so great! The strongest opponent at all qualifying rounds was the “Pavlov’s Dogs” team: the guys from St. Petersburg Polytechnic University showed very good results. The victory was very emotional and it motivated us to take part in the tournament again next year, and we also earned great reputation among the participants, the jury, and the organisers. It was so amazing to be congratulated by all of them!” said Vladimir Kuleshov, the captain of the “Vegetables” team that won the first prize.
The winners of the individual contests were also announced. Alexey Veretennikov (“Pavlov’s Dogs”, St. Petersburg Polytechnic University) was named the best contestant and he shared his impressions about the event.
“I went to the tournament in search of useful acquaintances, internships, and to promote my career. But after the first day I realised that it is a wonderful contest where everyone can communicate with young scientists from different areas of research as equals. The participants can watch the scientific battles which are also limited by time! Becoming a part of this “boiling pot of science” was an invaluable experience. For me as a beginner assistant it was a real discovery. And I really want to become a better participant, so I will definitely take part in the tournament again!”
The final stage of the tournament began with the official opening and a business game. The daily educational programme presented by experts and employees of partner companies was a new feature of the 2022 final. The participants listened to lectures about technological entrepreneurship and interactions with real businesses and learnt how to build a scientific career and popularise the researcher’s brand.
Sofia Maryanchik, a researcher in the field of molecular oncoendocrinology, presented a report “Being a scientist: the choice of a minority? Joys, challenges, and instructions on how to survive in fundamental science”. Denis Kasymov, Associate Professor of the Department of Forestry and Landscape Engineering from Tomsk State University, talked about the popularisation of science during in his report “A scientist in media: how to appear on the radio and in podcasts, how to develop social networks and find a publishing house”. Elvira Muratova, a postgraduate student of the Skolkovo Institute of Science and Technology, co-founder of Eco Energy, and former participant of the tournament, talked about her unique experience in the report “How to create a tech startup?”. Igor Kolesnik, director general of the Fomalhaut production and trade enterprise, shared his expert opinion at the “Science and Real Business” meeting. Natalya Savitskaya, Clinical Research Manager, talked about putting ideas into practice and implementing projects at ООО Splat Global.
Valeria Ivanova, Head of the Press Service at HeadHunter, made a speech at the closing ceremony and talked about the research into professions of the future and about the current state of the market. Svetlana Zakirova, Vice President for Research and Development at OOO Nanolek, made a presentation about the laboratory of the early development centre and talked about career opportunities, advanced pharmaceutical technologies, and production of vaccines at their company.
“Over the past few years, the Tournament of Three Sciences has transformed from a student event to a whole ecosystem. Even before the regional stages, most participants completed the educational online programme which taught them how to solve scientific and technical problems, work with academic literature, process scientific experiments, and understand the specific features of the tournament format. The last regional stages were held offline and online. And after those we had several success stories: at first, the participants for internships and then they were employed by one of the partner companies. The final stage of this season was unique because of the integration with the partners’ representatives. This idea was implemented in several formats: the invited guests did not only act as judges in scientific battles but also took part in the business game held on the first day of the tournament, conducted a series of informal workshops, and also presented motivating lecture on the last day of the competition. The next stage of interaction between the organising committee, participants, and representatives of companies will be the Career Centre of the Tournament of Three Sciences which is to be held in November,” said Dmitry Koyuda, Chairman of the Federal Organising Committee of the Tournament of Three Sciences.
The Tournament of Three Sciences is a student competition the goal of which is to create a platform for interaction between talented students and the business community. Participants present their solutions during a scientific battle where they take turns to act as a speaker, an opponent, or a reviewer. Young scientists practice their theoretical knowledge in an unusual way. The expert jury which includes university lecturers from all over Russia, representatives of partner companies, and former participants of the tournament watch the battle.
Scientific practicability is not the only valuable thing about the Tournament of Three Sciences: it also helps students to develop soft skills, such as teamwork, rhetorical skills, negotiating skills, and working with text editing programmes. It also gives a chance to find friends and like-minded people from other cities of Russia and other countries.
The Tournament of Three Sciences is organised by the ANO Laboratory for Educational Projects and supported by Voronezh State University. In 2022, the event was supported by the Presidential Grants Fund. The partners of the event are OOO Splat Global, OOO Nanolek, ООО Fomalhaut, GS Leader, Blastim recruiting agency, HeadHunter online recruitment company, and Sci Career telegram channel.
