19:12 03.07.2026
“Experience of a lifetime.” Icebreaker of Knowledge finalists discuss upcoming trip to the Arctic
© Russian Arctic and Far East Development
In August 2026, winners of Rosatom’s Icebreaker of Knowledge project will sail to the North Pole aboard the nuclear-powered icebreaker 50 Let Pobedy (50 Years of Victory). Correspondents from the Development of the Arctic and Far East website interviewed the winners and asked them about specific motives for taking part in the project. They also wanted to know why an expedition to the Arctic was not just about waving hello to polar bears, and how this trip would influence the participants’ career trajectories.
Yelizaveta Shvydchenko from the Ural Federal District has set an ambitious goal of becoming a specialist in nuclear medicine. According to the young woman, this trip to the Arctic will allow her to see how the unique nuclear technologies work in adverse conditions, and how physics and biology save human lives above the Arctic Circle.
“This is a chance to see a different, hi-tech and boundless, Russia where people live and work despite the severe climate. I believe that this trip broadens the mind and makes one tougher,” the project winner confided.
Sofia Kurkchi from the North-Western Federal District agrees with her; she has dreamed of seeing the vast icy expanses of the North with her eyes for a long time. Sofia notes that the upcoming trip is not just an opportunity for enjoying the beauty of nature and waving hello to polar bears but this makes it possible to learn about highly important scientific achievements.
“I believe that the Arctic and the North Pole are a territory where the future destinies of our planet are being decided. I would like to learn more about the work of scientists and to obtain experience that will remain with me for the rest of my life,” Sofia Kurkchi noted.
While sailing aboard the ship, boys and girls will attend numerous educational lectures by leading specialists of the nuclear industry, and each participant will learn something interesting and new from them, Polina Gurova from the Far Eastern Federal District said.
“Twenty-seven participants from Russia and young people from 22 countries will gather aboard the icebreaker, and I am confident that this will be a wonderful team,” she stressed.
The Icebreaker of Knowledge educational project for school and university students aged 14-16 from all over the world is organized with the support of the Rosatom State Corporation. It aims to popularize natural sciences, the nuclear industry’s technologies, to find and support gifted and talented children, to develop their abilities and to provide them with career guidance.
