International Academic Competition Engineers iPolytech Winners from Seven Countries Will Be Able to Study for Free in the Baikal School of BRICS Master's Program

INRTU Rector Mikhail Korniakov congratulated the winners of the International Academic Competition for Prospective Master's Students Engineers iPolytech. The leaders received the opportunity to study for free in English-language master's programs at the Baikal School of BRICS.

This intellectual tournament was held for the first time at INRTU. In October 2023, the Ministry of Education and Science of the Russian Federation allocated 13 places to INRTU for foreign citizens who won the Olympiad for master’s studies within the quota of the Government of the Russian Federation in the 2024/25 academic year.

The organizer of the project was the International Admission Office of INRTU. The Olympiad was held in three areas corresponding to the profiles of the English-taught master's programs of BS BRICS - Renewable Energy, Big Data Analytics and AI, Global Management and Leadership.

At a meeting with the winners, Vice-Rector for International Affairs Stepan Bykov mentioned that 90 students from 10 countries showed interest in the Olympiad. Citizens of Morocco, Benin, China, Liberia, Ghana, Egypt and Nigeria showed the best result.

Mikhail Korniakov rewarded the future master's students with diplomas and memorable gifts from INRTU and addressed the foreign students:

“You have passed a strict selection process due to your high level of knowledge. I got acquainted with the programs that you learn in your undergraduate studies and the topics of scientific research. Each of them is a priority for INRTU, which allows you to participate in the research activities of the university.

The winners of the Olympiad will study at the Baikal School of BRICS together with Russian students. Such communication can contribute to the development of joint scientific research or startups”.

After the official part, Mikhail Korniakov chatted with the winners in an informal setting. During the conversation, students talked about their positive experience at the university and shared their future plans.

Currently, most students are enrolled in undergraduate programs at the Baikal School of BRICS and take part in the scientific, creative and social life of the university. Some of the guys are studying Russian at the Preparatory Course of the Baikal School of BRICS.

Elhamidi Mohamed Ali Mohamed Shehata from Egypt is a student of the Preparatory Course, in his master's program he intends to study Global Management and Leadership. The student also prepared basbousa, the national dessert, specially for the tea party.

Errahel Nazih from Morocco is studying at the Baikal School of BRICS graduate course in Artificial Intelligence and Computer Science, and also works as a neural network programmer in the educational and research laboratory of artificial intelligence and machine learning.

“At first I studied Russian at the preparatory course in one of the universities in Krasnoyarsk. Then I learned about an English-language program in Artificial Intelligence at the Baikal School of BRICS. A program in English is very rare, so I decided to continue my studies at INRTU.

My supervisor is Professor Alexander Diomidovich Afanasyev. We are conducting research projects in the interests of the aluminum industry, as well as in the use of computer vision methods to recognize forest fires,” says Errahel Nazih.

The student added that his main goal in science is to improve various processes using artificial intelligence. In addition, Errahel Nazih plans to accumulate a wealth of knowledge in order to share his experience with junior students.

During the informal conversation, the rector was told that most of the difficulties for international students arise due to the language barrier. Adaptation to the harsh Siberian weather is not easy. However, the Irkutsk region's unique nature made a huge impression on each of the students.