28.11.2022

The Final Stage of the International Student Olympiad on Philosophy Concluded at IKBFU

75 finalists of the Olympiad arrived at IKBFU last week to take part in the second stage of the contest. The event was jointly organized by Immanuel Kant Baltic Federal University and Lomonosov Moscow State University.

There were 420 Bachelor and Master Degree students from 12 countries and 30 Russian regions. The second stage was attended by 75 students from Belarus, Vietnam, India, Spain, Iran, Kazahstan, Kyrgyzstan, China, Slovakia, Uzbekistan and Russia. All of them arrived to Kaliningrad to take part in the final contest.

The participants were greeted by the Minister of science and higher education of Russia Valeriy Falkov:
It only took us a year to turn the idea of such an event into reality. Students in the Humanities as well as biologists and engineers show a great interest in the project. This shows that philosophy is still popular among young people, as critical thinking will never seize to be important in a person’s life. And it is of a great importance that the final stage will be carried out in Kaliningrad, the city where Immanuel Kant lived and worked. In 2024 we also plan to celebrate a 300^th anniversary of the great philosopher in this city and all around the country.

The participants were greeted by the Minister of science and higher education of Russia Valeriy Falkov:

It only took us a year to turn the idea of such an event into reality. Students in the Humanities as well as biologists and engineers show a great interest in the project. This shows that philosophy is still popular among young people, as critical thinking will never seize to be important in a person’s life. And it is of a great importance that the final stage will be carried out in Kaliningrad, the city where Immanuel Kant lived and worked. In 2024 we also plan to celebrate a 300^th anniversary of the great philosopher in this city and all around the country.

	IKBFU rector Alexander Fedorov:
This is a unique opportunity for our students to devote a few days solely to philosophy, the science that makes the future. The young people, the student are the ones pushing the frontier of knowledge forward. And the Olympiad wouldn’t have been possible without the convention of generations, without the students actively participating in all the stages of its organization.

Acting Dean of MSU Philosophy Department, Alexei Kozyrev:
We are working closely with Immanuel Kant Baltic Federal University to develop new programs in Philosophy, History and the Humanities. We also have a joint program on neurocognitive sciences. And our cooperation will only strengthen, as new projects unfold, such as the IKBFU campus and an MSU science valley. I hope that students who are here today will take an active part in this work too.

On November 23 the participants of the Olympiad had a competitive selection session in two nominations: analytical report and oral report. The six winners and twelve prize-winners received diplomas and valuable prizes at the awards ceremony on November 25 in the main cultural and historical site of Kaliningrad — the Cathedral on Kant Island.

These four days are full of activities for the finalists: quizzes, excursions to the Baltic Sea coast, Kaliningrad and also trips to the region of Chernyakhovsk to the places associated with Immanuel Kant. Students will visit the Wallenrod Library of IKBFU, where rare and unique books of the 15th century are preserved.

The following lecturers delivered their speeches to the participants:

Alexander Fedorov, Ph.D. in Philosophy, Professor, Rector of IKBFU;

Alexander Dugin, PhD in Philosophy;

Alexander Sekatsky, PhD in Philosophy;

Alexey Kozyrev, PhD in Philosophy, Associate Professor, Acting Dean of the Faculty of Philosophy, Moscow State University;

Tatiana Chernigovskaya, PhD in Philosophy, PhD in Biology, Professor, Director of the Institute for Cognitive Studies, SPbSU.

Students from Germany, Spain and Russia were among the winners of the contest

The solemn closing ceremony was carried out in the Kaliningrad Cathedral on the 25^th of November.

Six winners and twelve prize holders were formally awarded during the ceremony. The jury included specialists from MSU, IKBFU, Saint-Petersburg State University, Aristotle University of Greece, Belgrade University and Beijing Pedagogical University.

The best results were shown by the following students:

Abbas Jong, Humboldt University Berlin, Germany

Vyacheslav Pyatakov, Higher School of Economics, Russia

Denis Stelmakhov, Southern Federal University, Russia

Juan Villalba Soriano, Universidad de Madrid, Spain

Julia Fedotova, Lomonosov Moscow State University, Alexander Sobka, St. Petersburg State University, Russia

The governor of the Kaliningrad region, Anton Alikhanov congratulated the winners:
It is good to see so many international students in the finals of the Olympiad. Today all of us are united by science and philosophy. You have demonstrated all your knowledge, got acquainted with Kaliningrad region. We will be glad to see you all at the 300th anniversary of our great philosopher Immanuel Kant in 2024.

As gifts, the winners and runners-up of the Olympiad were given the opportunity to publish their competition papers in the journal "Kant's Collection" (indexed in Scopus), benefits when enrolling in graduate and postgraduate programs at IKBFU and MSU, modern laptops, tablets, and smart speakers.

The celebration ended with an organ concert and a light show on the facade of the Cathedral.