Translation. Region: Russian Federal
Source: Novosibirsk State University –
An important disclaimer is at the bottom of this article.
On September 30, the 12th Open Student BioTournament, Russia's first biology-focused team competition, concluded in the science city of Pushchino in the Moscow Region. This year, 15 teams from Moscow, St. Petersburg, Novosibirsk, Tyumen, Kazan, and other cities competed for the title of the country's best biology team. Novosibirsk State University was represented by two teams: "meowRNA" and "GeneShtab," which took first and third place, respectively. This was the first time NSU had won such a prestigious biology competition.
The BioTournament is a unique format where participants propose original solutions to real-world scientific problems. The competition revolves around "scientific battles," which include a presentation, a discussion, a debate, and a review. Four days of intensive work were filled with heated discussions and intellectual battles.
Both NSU teams confidently advanced through the qualifying rounds, finishing in the top three in the semifinals and earning the right to compete in the final. In the final, they faced not only each other but also strong opponents from other cities.
Based on the results of the final stage, the GeneShtab team, consisting of 4th-year students, Faculty of Natural Sciences Yaroslava Gaburova (captain), Valeria Romanova, Anastasia Monogova, Nikita Linkov, and Dmitry Kurbatsky took the honorable third place.
The winner of the tournament was the "meowRNK" team, which included third- and fourth-year students from the Faculty of Natural Sciences: Nikita Ivanov (captain), Ekaterina Akhramenko, Ulyana Borovikova, Anastasia Panina, and Nail Bikeev.
"The main challenge was, without a doubt, the intense pace of the tournament. We had to solve a large number of complex problems within a tight deadline and immediately prepare compelling presentations. Essentially, we had to be both in-depth researchers and public speakers, quickly analyzing a huge amount of information. I'm confident that our team cohesion was our greatest asset and the key to success," commented Nikita Ivanov, captain of the "meowRNK" team.
For participants, the BioTournament was a wonderful opportunity to hone both their hard and soft skills: honing their public speaking skills, learning to defend their point of view in scientific debates, broadening their horizons, and making a wealth of useful connections for future collaborative projects. Competitions like these, where theory meets practice in heated debates, allow students to truly express themselves and ignite the spark that motivates them to achieve further scientific achievements.
"The competition was challenging, and the competition was very strong. This year's play was even a little more exciting than last year. We're glad we were able to represent ourselves well and take a place on the podium. We've all worked together to reach this day, and each of us gave a piece of ourselves to the BioTournament 2025 in the best sense of the word."
This tournament was a treasure trove of invaluable experience for me and my teammates. And, of course, we now know both our strengths in the difficult task of defending the fruits of our intellectual labor, as well as what we need to work on next. GeneShtab leaves with renewed ambition and confidence that we can achieve even more next year," noted Yaroslav Gaburov, captain of the GeneShtab team.
The teams were sponsored by Vector-Best and Pharma. The teams express their gratitude to their sponsors for the opportunity to participate in such an exciting and significant tournament and gain invaluable experience in scientific competitions.
"And, of course, a special thank you to NSU and the entire faculty. Their deep fundamental knowledge, critical thinking, and ability to solve unconventional problems formed the solid foundation that allowed us to confidently win such serious intellectual competitions," emphasized Nikita Ivanov.
Previously, participants from both teams represented NSU at the SynBio Challenges 2025 international synthetic biology competition in China, where they also demonstrated strong results and received gold medals.
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