Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) -- The Rosatom State Corporation, as part of the World Youth Festival (WYF) program, selected 15 participants who will join the scientific and educational expedition to the North Pole.

The selection started on 28 February, Arctic Day, and took place in several stages. In total, more than two thousand applications were received from young people from different parts of the world. Candidates proposed creative and innovative solutions for the expedition program, participated in intellectual games, and presented themselves and their ideas to promote the project in their cities and countries.

On 5 March, the final selection stage took place at the World Youth Festival. The young participants presented to the jury their unique competencies, which they will be able to apply as part of a unique scientific youth expedition to the Arctic.

The chairman of the jury, General Director of the Rosatom State Corporation Alexey Likhachev, said: “We are faced with a difficult task - to select only 14 experts who will become mentors as part of a youth scientific expedition to the North Pole on a Rosatom nuclear icebreaker. The selection of the best was carried out as objectively as possible. I am sure that, in addition to new knowledge and enrichment with ideas, the finalists will have a wonderful expedition to one of the most exotic corners of our planet.”

A participant from Uzbekistan, a 4th-year student of the Tashkent branch of the National Research Nuclear University MEPhI Shakhzoda Yokubova, after the announcement of the results, shared her impressions: “I dreamed of seeing the Arctic with my own eyes, and today my dream has come true! During the expedition, I want to explore cosmic rays as we approach the North Pole. And then - conduct a series of seminars and, together with members of the club of young scientists, continue research in this direction.”

The names of the winners of the selection were announced on the main stage of the WFM on 6 March, and the last, 15th participant was chosen directly at the morning show of the festival. The expedition participants included representatives from eight countries, including Uzbekistan, Cameroon, Bangladesh, Tunisia, Belarus and Russia. Certificates were presented to the finalists by the captains of the nuclear icebreakers “Ural” and “Arktika” Ivan Kurbatov and Alexander Skryabin.