«All Roads Lead to MADI»
The Moscow Automobile and Road Construction University (MADI) — Russia's leading university in transport and road specialties. Its international intellectual competition is fully online and aimed at international students and graduates — winners gain the right to tuition-free Master's study, state-funded (federal budget).
An extra benefit for the Master's track: winners and prize-winners may apply through the Russian Government quota path for Master's programs 2026/27 — subject to the list's and the quota's conditions
Official file (PDF) ↗From the official timetable for the 2025 season: registration 21 January – 10 March, the qualifying tests 13 March (with 14 March as a reserve day), the winners' lists by 31 March, and the complete document file by 4 April. Sessions start at 10:00 and end at 18:00 Moscow time, and the exact timing is posted on grant.madi.ru at least a day in advance. The new season's dates are updated on the website — we'll add them here as soon as they're confirmed.
International students are eligible according to the official list (the Russian Ministry of Science and Higher Education's 2026/27 Master's list). Admission benefits themselves vary by programme, track and admission rules.
🌍 A rare advantage: MADI publishes an official information file in Arabic, French, Spanish, Chinese and Vietnamese — and we've read it. The competition's documents page carries all of those versions, and there is a hotline on WhatsApp/Telegram — this is a university that takes international applicants seriously.
🔴 And the most important thing to know before you register: the regulation says you will not be admitted to the qualifying tests at all until you have uploaded, in your personal account, scans of your passport and your education certificate with a notarised Russian translation (a copy of the original if it is in a foreign language). That notarised translation takes time and money — start it now, not after you register.
🎯 And one field only: the regulation says you choose a single direction from the list (unlike other olympiads that allow several) — but the regulation lets you change it at any point before registration closes.
✅ And your registration isn't complete until you receive an email with a username and password for your personal account — sent within a maximum of two days of your application (2.3 · 2.4). And if you register more than once, the one that counts is your first registration.
↳ Open the official documents page and look for «Arab_MADI_Olympiad … Informationprograms» — it also carries the timetable, the list of Master's programmes and the regulation.
What is the MADI competition?
An international intellectual competition run by MADI's international service, aimed at foreign citizens, stateless persons and applicants living abroad who are applying to Master's programs within the government quota. The test is online via the grant.madi.ru portal and the Master's track has two stages: (1) portfolio + interview, and (2) a specialist test. The official website itself sums it up in English: «WIN FREE MASTER'S DEGREE TRAINING AT A LEADING RUSSIAN TECHNICAL UNIVERSITY».
Study after winning, according to the official site, is on-campus (очная) and in Russian — and those who need the language get the «Preparatory Faculty» (Подготовительный факультет): a preparatory year of Russian before the Master's, included in the offer.
What could you gain? (one of the strongest offers in this batch)
It's a strong offer — but remember the rule: covering tuition ≠ covering full living costs. The stipend and housing (if provided) are no substitute for a real living budget, and winning itself is competitive and not guaranteed.
📄If you win: the document file — and this is what catches people out
📄 Source: the olympiad's official regulation — MADI order No. 784 of 15 September 2023
The stages
An account on grant.madi.ru — registration is completely free and the form is filled in in Russian or English. Choose one direction, and make sure you're on the Master's track specifically.
🔴 Without this step you will not be admitted to the tests at all. If you are still studying, you upload a document with your latest year's results, stamped by your university — all with a notarised Russian translation.
In your account you upload a motivation letter (mandatory) plus whatever you have: certificates, published research, professional qualifications, participation in competitions, conferences and olympiads, and sporting and artistic achievements. Those the committee selects then have a video interview (Zoom / Teams) lasting a maximum of 30 minutes (5.3 · 5.4) — and your personal link arrives at least a day before.
Those who pass the interview take a test in one of two profiles: «Engineering sciences» or «Economics and management», depending on your chosen direction (5.1 · 5.7), marked out of 100. ⚠️ Note: the mathematics test in this competition is for the Bachelor's track only (3.3 · 4.2) — not for the Master's track.
Your result arrives by email and appears in your account, and the ranked lists are published on the site (6.2 · 6.3). An appeal is sent to [email protected] no later than the day after your result is announced and is reviewed within two working days — and note that your mark can go up or down, and appeals against the assessment criteria themselves are not accepted.
📌 The core documents for most Master's olympiads: proof of a Bachelor's degree (or equivalent) in Russian or English, or with a certified translation — the exact list comes from the official website.
Fields
MADI's fields:
Who can take part?
International students and graduates, stateless persons and those living abroad — applying to Master's programs within the government quota, per the official source.
Tap any question to open the answer ▾
💬Is there really housing and a monthly stipend?
Per the official source, the winners' right to free study may include a place in the university dormitory and a monthly stipend — no figures are published, and the final details are confirmed with the university at admission time. Don't build your budget on them: covering tuition ≠ covering living costs.
💬I don't know Russian — what do I do?
The language of the olympiad and of study is Russian (study is on-campus per the official site), but the offer includes the «Preparatory Faculty»: a preparatory language year before the Master's for those who need it.
💬What is the test about?
For the Master's track: two stages — a portfolio plus a video interview (30 minutes maximum), then a test in «Engineering sciences» or «Economics and management» depending on your direction, marked out of 100. ⚠️ Note: the mathematics test in this competition is for the Bachelor's track only — not the Master's (Regulation §3.3, §4.2, §5.1).
💬What is the interview like?
Online by video (Zoom or Microsoft Teams per the regulation), lasting a maximum of 30 minutes, and your personal link with the date and time of your interview arrives by email at least a day in advance. Be ready to talk about your motivation letter and your project — the interview is what decides who moves on to the test.
💬What if I have no certificates or research?
The motivation letter is the only mandatory item in the achievements portfolio — everything else (certificates, research, participations, sporting and artistic achievements) is “where available” in the regulation's own words. So having no research doesn't shut you out, but a strong motivation letter makes a difference.
💬Can I choose more than one field?
No — one direction only at registration. But you can change it at any time from your personal account before registration closes, so take your time comparing.
💬What if I contact them in Arabic?
MADI has a hotline on WhatsApp/Telegram/Viber at +7-917-512-85-45, an email [email protected], and a Telegram channel t.me/grantmadi — and the official Arabic file gives you all of it. The official correspondence languages are Russian/English, but having the Arabic file and the channel makes it much easier.
💬How is it different from applying through the regular quota?
The general quota is a file-based selection through the federal portal — here you earn your place through the university's own competition (and the offer is clearer: free study that may include housing and a stipend, per the source). They don't cancel each other out — you can pursue both in parallel.
The opportunity is competitive and not guaranteed. The clause numbers on this page come from the «РЕГЛАМЕНТ» approved by MADI order no. 784 of 15 September 2023 — the most recent published version we could find (read 27 July 2026). So the procedures are most likely unchanged, but the dates shift every season — the final reference is grant.madi.ru.
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