A team of school students from Turkmenistan will represent the country at the ‘FIRST Global Challenge 2026’ international robotics tournament, which will take place on 7–10 October in Incheon (Republic of Korea). Young engineers from more than 190 countries are expected to take part in the competition, according to the IIC of Turkmenistan.

Turkmenistan will be represented at the tournament by the ‘OguzRobot’ team, made up of students from Specialised Secondary School No. 97 in Ashgabat, which offers an in-depth programme in foreign languages. The team comprises Suhan Novbatov, Orazniyaz Rejepov, Aznavur Cholukov, Arslan Babajiyev and Dayhan Gurbanov.

The team members were the winners of the ‘Young Engineer 2026’ competition. Since April, they have been training at the ‘Erjeller’ computer department of the ‘Kämil bilim’ training centre. Their mentors were Myrat Sahetgulyev, a computer science teacher at the 1st Specialised Educational Complex in Arkadag, and Davut Gurbanov, a student at the Oguz Han Engineering and Technology University of Turkmenistan.

The ‘FIRST Global Challenge’ is organised along the lines of the Olympic Games and brings together school students from different countries every year. The theme of this year’s tournament is the development of technologies to prevent wildfires, mitigate their consequences and protect the environment. The competition is held under the motto ‘Igniting Innovation’.

Turkmen school students already have a track record of success at this competition. In 2025, at the competition in Panama, the team from Turkmenistan took first place in the ‘Skill Challenge’ category.