Source: in-cyprus.philenews.com
Cyprus took part in the International Olympiad in Artificial Intelligence for the first time, winning four bronze medals and two honourable mentions. Eight students made up the Cyprus delegation at IOAI 2026 in Astana, Kazakhstan. They competed in a demanding international field against entries from around the world.
The delegation was run through a partnership between Neapolis University Paphos, JetBrains, the JetBrains Foundation, and the Cyprus Computer Society. JetBrains served as the national coordinator for IOAI in Cyprus. The Steering Committee included Professor Savvas Chatzichristofis of Neapolis University Paphos as chair, Panicos Masouras of the Cyprus Computer Society, and Alexander Avdiushenko of JetBrains.
The team was chosen through an open process. More than 100 students from public and private schools applied to take part. Participation was free and required no prior preparation. Selection was based on performance.
Preparation began in November 2025 with online lessons and exercises in machine learning. In early 2026, the 30 highest-performing students took part in the AI Winter Cyprus Camp in Paphos. Four months of intensive preparation followed, and in July the AI Summer Camp was held in Paphos, where the eight students who made up Cyprus’s two teams were selected.
The first team consisted of Amir Daiyrov, Christos Alexandrou, Artyom Konukhov and Mariia Shilo, led by Svyatoslav Suglobov. Daiyrov and Alexandrou won bronze medals, while Konukhov received an honourable mention.
The second team consisted of Petros Vourmas, Alexandros Ktoris, Sotiris Savva and Artem Iankin, led by Sergey Shashkov. Vourmas and Ktoris won bronze medals, while Savva received an honourable mention.
The competition ran over two days, with six hours of individual examination each day. The topics covered programming, data analysis and machine learning. The level of difficulty was high for students of school age.
Natalia Kitaeva of JetBrains contributed to organisational coordination. The programme’s educational support came from Alexander Avdiushenko, Svyatoslav Suglobov, Danila Biktimirov, Nikita Magomedeminov and Rodion Chvorostov. Suglobov and Shashkov accompanied the teams to Astana.
The effort was also supported by the Leptos Group and LEPTOS Estates, The Island Private School, and Technology Leaders of the Future. Neapolis University Paphos hosted the intensive stages of preparation.
This participation establishes an open process for selecting and training students in artificial intelligence. The goal for next year is to broaden participation and strengthen the involvement of Cyprus’s academic community.