The Evgeniy Primakov Center for International Cooperation and the Gorchakov Public Diplomacy Fund invite Bachelor’s and Master’s students to participate in The V International Contest of Research and Analytical Papers on the Middle East in honor of Evgeniy Maksimovich Primakov.
One of the main goals of the competition is to identify the most promising experts in Middle Eastern studies and develop a platform for their communication.
Who can apply?
Applicants who meet the following requirements by the deadline for submission of applications are eligible to participate in the Contest:
- status of a student at a state or non-state educational institution as part of a Bachelor’s, Specialist’s or Master’s degree programme;
- no degree of Doctor of Philosophy, Candidate of Sciences or Doctor of Sciences;
- 18-35 years old;
- proficiency in Russian and/or English (B2 level or higher).
The topic of the article in the field of the Middle East to be presented as part of the Contest shall be determined by the contestants themselves in the framework of the following spheres:
- political sphere;
- military sphere;
- economic sphere;
- social sphere;
- religious sphere.
Articles previously published or whose content does not correspond to the field of the Middle East shall not be accepted for consideration.

The Objectives of the Contest are:
- identifying promising young professionals engaged in Middle East region research;
- creating a field for expert communication of young professionals;
- encouraging students to research problems of the Middle East region;
- drawing the attention of Russian and foreign academic and educational institutions to the problems of the region.

Formal requirements for the paper::
- article’s language: Russian or English;
- length: 0.5-0.8 author’s sheet (1 author's sheet contains 40 000 characters);
- font: Times New Roman;
- font size: 14;
- spacing: single, without intervals between paragraphs;
- use of justification;
- author’s name and surname in the upper left part of the document;
- the title of the research and analytical article in the centre in bold type;
- use of subsections in the text with their names; the volume of each paragraph should not exceed 200 words;
- use of page references and appendix of bibliography in accordance with the Harvard Citing & Referencing System.
Awards
Articles submitted for the Contest will be evaluated by the expert commission, which will select 5 laureates and 10 prizewinners out of 15 finalists based on results of the voting by secret ballot. Each of them will receive the following awards:
- 1st Degree Laureate (1st place) shall be awarded a commemorative gift and a certificate worth 30,000 roubles;
- 2nd Degree Laureate (2nd place) shall be awarded a certificate worth 20,000 roubles;
- 3rd Degree Laureate (3rd place) shall be awarded a certificate worth 10,000 roubles;
- 2 Laureate-Prizewinners (4th and 5th places) shall be awarded certificates worth 5,000 roubles each;
- Prizewinners shall be awarded commemorative diplomas.

Terms of participation
Travel expenses to/from Moscow and accommodation costs for the finalists attending the closing conference will be covered.
All participants of the Contest will have an opportunity to present the results of their research at the conference and discuss them with the experts. Attending the conference without participation in the Contest is also possible.
Based on the results of the Contest, an edition of research and analytical articles shall be published (Russian Science Citation Index).
Period of the Contest implementation
Deadline for paper submission is before March 20, 2022.
The results will be announced in April of 2022.
The closing conference with the participation of the winners will take place in May-June 2022.

How to participate?
In order to participate in the Contest, it is necessary to fill in and submit the form with files enclosed.
Titles of the enclosed documents should be written as “Surname Article” and “Surname Photo.”

! In case the submitted documents do not comply with the official guidelines, the Organizing Committee has a right to reject the application.

Please contact with questions organizers of the competition at middleeast@primakovcenter.ru.