A team consisting of future chemists Mikhail Yagofarov, Ruslan Lukin, Timur Magsumov and Dilyara Khaybrakhmanova won first place at the VIII International Olympiad in Chemistry. Ruslan Lukin and Mikhail Yagofarov also received individual gold medals, while Timur Magsumov got away with bronze.

Meanwhile Ilnur Mukhametgaliev and DIana Khammatova finished third at the XVIII International Olympiad in Mathematics.

Both competitions were held in Hamadan, Iran, from August 16th to August 19th by the National Educational Testing Organization of the Ministry of Science, Research and Technology of Iran.

Dilyara Khaybrakhmanova shared her experience, 'Many of us started competing in high school. There are significantly less student Olympiads than high school Olympiads so we were glad to accept an invitation. This is our third time in Iran, but the roster changes slightly every time. By the way, our two gold medals are better than Moscow State University's one'.

Three of the four students were in Iran last year, and Mikhail Yagofarov and Ruslan Lukin won that time as well (that was silver and bronze respectively). They both also have a history of triumphs in high school.

Unlike chemists, KFU's talented mathematicians had their first go with such a roster. Assistant Lecturer of the Department of Mathematical Analysis, team coach Andrey Novikov said, 'Our team was only fourth in the last year's contest. So we had other students take part this year and achieved better results'.

Mathematicians of the bronze-winning team also had prior high school experience of scientific talent competitions on a provincial level. Diana Khammatova thinks that third place is indeed a very nice outcome for the first-time participants.

Of course, the winners plan to continue storming new heights in research and studies.