The national stage of the Global HackAtom International Student Championship was held in Almaty from April 25 to 26. The event was organized and operated by the Almaty Branch of the National Research Nuclear University MEPhI with the support of the Rosatom State Corporation and in partnership with the Al–Farabi Kazakh National University.

Global HackAtom is an international student championship in which participants try to find solutions to real cases from the nuclear industry in 24 hours. This is the second time the project has been held in this format and includes two stages: the national selection stages and the grand final in Russia. National stages will be held in 15 countries: Bolivia, Brazil, Hungary, Vietnam, Egypt and others. According to their results, 15 national winning teams will compete for the title of Global HackAtom champions in the finals, which will be held in Russia.

The championship is aimed at popularizing engineering and nuclear specialties, as well as developing students' skills in solving practice-oriented tasks in the nuclear industry. Within the framework of the competition, student teams develop solutions to real-world cases related to modern industry challenges in 24 hours.

The opening ceremony was attended by representatives of government agencies, industry, and the academic community.:

• Vasily Lavrenov, Deputy Chairman of the Atomic Energy Agency of the Republic of Kazakhstan;
• Ruslan Nuralin, Deputy Director General of the Rosatom Central Asia Regional Center;
• Sayabek Sakhiev, Director General of the Institute of Nuclear Physics
• Margulan Ibraimov, Vice–Rector for Research and Innovation at Al–Farabi Kazakh National University; • Alla Udalova, Professor of the Department of Nuclear Physics and Technology at the Obninsk Institute of Atomic Energy at the National Research Nuclear University MEPhI, Doctor of Biological Sciences;
• Anna Terekhova, Deputy Head of the Department of Nuclear Physics and Technology at the Obninsk Institute of Atomic Energy at the National Research Nuclear University MEPhI.

80 students from leading universities of Kazakhstan, united in 16 teams, took part in the championship.

On the first day, orientation lectures from representatives of relevant organizations were held for the participants. Among them:

• Digital Lifecycle Management of Nuclear Power Plants – Anna Terekhova, Deputy Head of the Department of Nuclear Physics and Technology at the Obninsk Institute of Atomic Energy at the National Research Nuclear University MEPhI;
• Nuclear Projects and Factors That Influence Them – Alla Udalova, PhD, Professor, Department of Nuclear Physics and Technology, Obninsk Institute of Atomic Energy, National Research Nuclear University MEPhI;
• Research activities and flagship initiative of the Institute of Nuclear Physics under the Agency of the Republic of Kazakhstan for Atomic Energy – Kylyshbek Turlybekuly, PhD, Researcher "Physics of Ultracold Neutrons" RSE "Institute of Nuclear Physics".

Thus, the platform brought together key representatives of the industry, science and education, which made it possible to ensure a high expert level of the event under the coordination of the National Research Nuclear University MEPhI.

As Alla Udalova noted, "These lectures are designed to introduce you to our problems, to the trends and challenges that the nuclear industry faces today."

It is about familiarizing participants with the current challenges of the nuclear industry, key technological areas, the specifics of nuclear project implementation and approaches to their digital support, which allows students to form a systematic understanding of the task before starting work on a case. The content of the case and the format of the work were developed taking into account the best practices of the educational and project initiatives of the National Research Nuclear University MEPhI.

On the second day, the projects were defended before an expert jury, which included representatives of key industry and academic organizations:

• Rosatom Central Asia Regional Center: Ruslan Nuralin;
• Atomic Energy Agency of the Republic of Kazakhstan and the Institute of Nuclear Physics: Rasim Nurulin, Head of the LNF Service at the Institute of Nuclear Physics;
• Alla Udalova, Professor of the Department of Nuclear Physics and Technology at the Obninsk Institute of Atomic Energy at the National Research Nuclear University MEPhI, Doctor of Biological Sciences;
• Anna Terekhova, Deputy Head of the Department of Nuclear Physics and Technology at the Obninsk Institute of Atomic Energy at the National Research Nuclear University MEPhI.from Al-Farabi Kazakh National University: Fyodor Penkov.

Ruslan Nuralin, Deputy Director General of the Rosatom Central Asia Regional Center, noted: "Rosatom pays special attention to unlocking the potential of young people and increasing the prestige of engineering specialties. Educational outreach projects such as Global Hack Atom are helping to shape a new generation of nuclear industry professionals, including in partner countries."

Sayabek Sakhiev, Director General of the Institute of Nuclear Physics, stressed: "Today it is impossible to imagine modern education without connection with science, since science is the basis for development, progress and the formation of professional thinking. You are just starting your journey in this important direction, and I sincerely wish you success, determination, and new achievements."

Margulan Ibraimov, Vice-rector of Al-Farabi Kazakh National University, noted: "Like-minded people have gathered here ... as architects of the future, promising ideas and practical experiences will be born here."

According to the results of the competition, the BioTeam team from al-Farabi Kazakh National University became the winner. The team presented a project on the topic "5D, 6D & ID Management System for Kazakhstan NPP", aimed at creating an integrated nuclear power plant construction management platform covering supply chains, personnel management and project information support.

The jury noted the high level of elaboration of the solution, an integrated approach to the task and the practical applicability of the proposed system in the context of the implementation of large infrastructure projects.

The team will represent Kazakhstan in the grand final of Global HackAtom, which will be held in September 2026 in Yekaterinburg.