The "In the Know" financial security contest has opened applications in its Team Project on Financial Security category. The category is open only to finalists of the VI International Olympiad on Financial Security 2026. Projects are submitted by teams; individual entries are not accepted.
A team consists of two to six people, including a mentor. Mentors may be lecturers at universities belonging to the International Network AML/CFT Institute, students or postgraduates at those universities who have won or been runners-up at previous Olympiads, or financial security experts from government bodies or the private sector. The mentor is a full member of the team: they help state the problem and the solution, take part in the defence and receive the cash prize on the same terms as everyone else. A mentor may support one team only.
Each team chooses one of three tracks. Skill covers learning and training products — courses, lessons, games, training tools and simulators. Tool covers applied products that support users at the moment of risk — websites, mobile services, chatbots and digital assistants. Voice covers outreach products for a wide audience — videos, campaigns, comics, podcasts and special projects.
Entries may take the form of a worked-out concept with a detailed rationale, a working prototype or a product ready for rollout. The document set comprises a presentation of up to ten slides, a written rationale of up to five pages, and an application form.
Projects are assessed in two stages: a desk review of the materials and a public defence before the jury. The maximum score is 100 points across ten criteria.
The number of winning teams is decided by the jury. Every member of a winning team receives a diploma and a cash prize of RUB 50,000, the mentor included, along with the opportunity for further support in developing the project, including on the Sodruzhestvo platform. The winners will present their projects at the awards ceremony on 2 October 2026.
Applications are accepted from 15 August to 1 September 2026 on the Sodruzhestvo platform. Finalists who need help finding a team can write to the organisers at centre@lebedev.ru no later than 19 August 2026; the organisers will put a team together and help them find a mentor.
