Young scientists from KSTU won the All-Russian UMNIK-2026 competition
The Innovation Promotion Fund announced the results of the All-Russian UMNIK-2026 competition (participant in the Youth Science and Innovation Competition). Following the results of the contest, each of the 500 research projects carried out by young scientists from various regions of Russia will receive a grant of 500,000 roubles.
The UMNIK competition is implemented as part of the federal Technologies project and aims to support students, postgraduate students and young scientists aged between 18 and 35 whose projects have the potential for commercialisation and the creation of start-ups.
In 2026, the contest was held across six key areas: digital technologies, medicine and preventive healthcare, new materials and chemical technologies, new devices and smart manufacturing, biotechnology, and resource-efficient power industry.
The winners from KSTU are:
- Vlada Oleynik, a first-year Master’s student in the Food Biotechnology Department, with the project Development of a Biotechnology for the Production of Functional Tofu Enriched with Microbiological Vitamin B12, Based on the Processing of Soya Whey (research supervisor — N.Yu. Klyuchko, Candidate of Engineering Sciences, Associate Professor at the Food Biotechnology Department).
- Elizaveta Afanasyeva, a first-year student at the Biotechnology and Bioengineering Department, with the project Development of a Technology for the Production of Natural Benzaldehyde Using a Bacterial Culture (research supervisor — A.G. Bulychev, Candidate of Chemical Sciences, Associate Professor at the Chemistry Department).
The grants awarded will enable young scientists to carry out a full cycle of research over the course of a year, prepare applications for the registration of intellectual property rights, and draw up business plans to bring their innovations to the consumer market.
We congratulate the winners and their research supervisors and wish them every success in implementing all their plans!
