.The ceremony was held in the Emperor's Hall on December 18th.

Over 300 KFU students competed in 19 nominations. The level of participants was very high – only recently the winner for 2016, Nafis Sirazetdinov, was named Student of the Year in Russia.

This year's innovation was that one of the nominations, Intellect of the Year, was divided into three levels – for undergraduates, graduate students, and PhD candidates. According to a good tradition, distinguished educators were also celebrated.

The best of the best eagerly awaited the final announcement. Surprisingly, this time two winners were chosen – Maria Kryukova (graduate student, Institute of Management, Economics and Finance) and Rufat Kiyamov (undergraduate, Institute of International Relations, History and Oriental Studies).

The triumphant pair thanked Rector Ilshat Gafurov and gave him a gift – the Tree of Happiness and Luck symbolizing the Year of Ecology in Russia.

Apart from the grand prix, the following nominations were included:

Debut of the Year;

Best Student Project;

Best Media Project;

Best Student Media;

Best International Student;

Best Volunteer;

Best Participant of Student Employment Projects;

Best Student Dorm Council;

Best Athlete;

Best Sports Organizer;

Best Arts Team;

Best Culture Organizer;

Creative Personality;

Intellect of the Year (six awards);

Best Organizer of General Student Activities;

Best Student Organization;

Best Community Activist;

Best Educator (seven awards).