🚀 Third Archaeology Competition from Phystech.Genesis: 30 Million Rubles Prize Pool
Phystech.Genesis has opened applications for the third archaeology competition as part of the Up Great "Expedition. Data Science" technology competition (NTF fund) — KOZ No. 3 "Integration". Teams of 2–5 people with ML and computer vision skills can apply until September 30, 2026, 23:59 MSK; work on solutions will take place in October–November 2026 on the Phystech.Genesis online platform. Individuals and legal entities can participate. Unlike previous stages, models must find objects both in the terrain and on the surface, and underground — in the cultural layer and bedrock, and participants will be given both processed and raw data. The dataset is being prepared by the team of archaeologist Vasily Novikov at the Gnezdovo archaeological complex, where finds about 1000 years old are documented by scanning, geophysics, thermography, and robot dogs.
🌍 This is one of the largest public ML competitions in Russia: 30 million rubles are up for grabs for one stage, and the task is the integration of heterogeneous sensor data (aerial photography, satellite imagery, lidar, magnetometry, ground-penetrating radar) for detecting objects at depths up to 5 meters. The Gnezdovo dataset provides a rare labeled sample for subsurface probing, and such pipelines are potentially applicable in archaeological survey, geotechnics, and remote sensing.
👤 Teams of 2–5 people with CV/ML skills can register until September 30, 2026 (23:59 MSK) on the expds-platform.upgreat.one platform, work with real field data, and compete for a share of the 30 million ruble prize pool. Participation in the previous "Detection" and "Scanning" stages is not required — you can enter KOZ No. 3 directly.
Source 1: https://upgreat.one/media-center/news/priglashaem-na-koz-3-v-ramkakh-ekspeditsii-data-science Source 2: https://upgreat.one/media-center/news/otkryt-priyem-zayavok-na-uchastie-v-koz-3-kompleksirovanie