Aayush Goyal a student from India, is among the select 20 international students chosen to take part in Rosatom’s Arctic expedition aboard the 50 Let Pobedy nuclear icebreaker. His selection is a proud moment for the country highlighting India’s growing presence in international science and education initiatives.
On June 20 in Moscow, the Atom Museum at VDNKh hosted the finale of the sixth season of the Icebreaker of Knowledge international scientific and educational project, organised with the support of Rosatom. The names of students from 21 countries who will go on Rosatom’s Arctic expedition on the nuclear icebreaker have been announced.
According to a press release from Rosatom, the competitive selection of foreign participants was being held online on the goarctic.energy website, in which about four thousand students from 20 countries took part. India emerged as one of the top three contributors, with 492 participants, which was the second highest globally.
A record number of entries were received from Bangladesh (841 participants), India (492 participants) and Kyrgyzstan (471 participants). A total of 20 foreign students were selected. Among these students, Aayush Goyal from India will represent the country on Rosatom’s Arctic expedition aboard the 50 Let Pobedy nuclear icebreaker.
The international competition started on April 28, 2025 took place in three stages. In the first stage, the foreign participants were asked to take a science quiz. In the second stage, they were presented with a series of webinars on Rosatom’s breakthrough technologies, including technologies used for the safe development of Arctic shipping.
After watching the videos, participants had to test their knowledge and fill in the notes. In the final round of the competition, the applicants with the most points shared their ideas in video presentations on how nuclear technology can change life in their countries for the better.
Creative assignments were evaluated by an international jury, which included experts from the expedition Icebreaker of Knowledge 2024, ITER Project Centre, Russian Quantum Centre, FSUE Atomflot, etc. The key factors in selecting the winners were content completeness and topic coverage, as well as originality and creativity in presenting the material. For many students, including Goyal, this marks their first-ever journey to the North Pole.
Rosatom’s sixth expedition of the Icebreaker of Knowledge will be dedicated to the 80th anniversary of the Russian nuclear industry and the 500th anniversary of Russia’s beginning to explore the Northern Sea Route. 65 students aged 14–16 years will go to the North Pole: they are the winners of open Russian and international selections, as well as other federal, regional and industry-specific competitions and projects.
A record number of people — more than 63,000 students — took part in the Russian selection process. The finalists of the project were 48 students aged 14–16 from 35 cities of Russia. The finalists passed an intellectual quiz and defended their team cases on three topics: Quantum Technologies, Bionics and Rare Earth Metals.
The participants’ solutions were evaluated by a jury comprised of Rosatom representatives and external experts. As a result, 27 Russian students were selected.
The expedition will take place in August 2025.