Educational Programs of the Vladimir Potanin Charity Fund

The Foundation’s mission is to support social and cultural innovations as well as to facilitate realization of the potential of the most active, talented and educated youth as the most promising resource of Russian society. The Foundation primarily focuses on the implementation of long-term scholarship and grant programs. They are aimed at talanted young students of the country’s major state educational institutions, as well as at talented teachers and museum employees.

The Foundation annually awards over 400 grants and 2,300 scholarships. There are four scholarship and six grant programs currently under way.

The majority of the Foundation’s programs are conducted through contests. The scholarships are awarded on the basis of recommendations of an independent contest commission or a jury. Decisions on awarding special purpose grants are adopted in compliance with the Foundation’s mission.

Main Foundation Programs:

• Federal Scholarship Program. Foundation’s scholarships are annually awarded to 1,330 students of 67 state universities of the country in all federal districts. The monthly scholarship of 3,000 rubles is paid during the calendar year. It is awarded on the basis of contest selection. Only students of full time faculties, who completed two semesters with excellent marks, are eligible for this contest.
• Scholarships for the International Secondary School Olympiads’ Winners. The Program is addressed to the young people who achieve success in prestigious international intellectual competitions. The Foundation supports them till the school and then university graduation. Monthly scholarship amounts to 3,500 Roubles.
• Scholarships for Cadets of the Defense Ministry Higher Educational Institutional Institutions. This program takes care of all military institutions of the Russian Defense Ministry. Two hundred cadets and students become scholarship winners of the Foundation every year. Monthly scholarship during the entire academic year amount to roubles 3,000.
• «Northern» Scholarship Program Program’s mission is to support A-level students from the Northern regions of Russia, who study away from home.
  Program’s participants are graduates of the secondary schools of the cities and localities of the Kola Peninsula, Taimyr Autonomous District and Norilsk city, who became students of the Russian higher educational institutions (year of admission not later than 2005) and showed excellent marks in the past two semesters.
  A monthly scholarship of RUR1500 is paid over a year. Since the launch of the program in 1999, over 5,700 students became winners of the scholarship.
• Practice Program for the Students of Moscow State Institute of International Relations (MGIMO) and the Diplomatic Missions of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Within the framework of three-partite agreement the Foundation annually pays for the pre-diploma practice of the MGIMO best students.   Annually the Foundation supported practice of 130 students of the university.
• Overseas Traineeship for Norilsk Industrial Institute Students. Since 2001 thanks to support of the V.Potanin Foundation 53 excellent students of the Norilsk Industrial Institute were sent for practice at the enterprises of Outotec Minerals Oy in Finland, Spain, Portugal.  
• Grants for Young Teachers of the Leading  Russian State Universities.The goal is to support the best young tutors who successfully combine scientific and teaching activities. Annually 133 tutors  receive grants from the Foundation.
• Grants for Teachers of the Defense Ministry Higher Educational Institutions. The goal is to support promising tutors of the military institutions. The grants are awarded on the contest basis. The contest selection includes expertise of scientific and methodical papers of the tutor, as well as polls of their cadets and students. Every year 100 best tutors receive the Foundation grants for their achievements in teaching and scientific activities. The grant amounts to 40,000 roubles. 
• Grant Contest «A Changing Museum in a Changing World». The contest aims at supporting innovation approaches to museum business, promotion of professional improvement of the Russian museum community. Over 90 social and cultural projects were implemented in different regions of Russia for the past five years. The prize fund totals 15,400,000 Roubles.
• Grants for Employees of the State Hermitage. Annual grants of Roubles 40,000 are given to 100 Museums’ officers.  

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