MOSCOW, April 13. /TASS/. More than 1,500 students from African countries applied to study at Innopolis University last year, Maria Obraztsova, director of the university's Institute of Additional Education, said on Thursday.

"Guys from the African continent are always among our students. We give students educational grants that partially or fully cover [the cost of] tuition. The application process is quite competitive. <...> Last year, out of 9,000 total applications, 1,500 came from the African continent," she said during the international IT forum titled "Russia-Africa: Digital Technologies as a Driver of State Development and International Cooperation."

According to her, last year, young people from 145 countries applied to the university. Of those, representatives from 45 countries were accepted and are currently studying.

Obraztsova noted that over 63,000 people had completed additional education programs at Innopolis over the last seven years. She added that the university was implementing a full cycle of digital transformation in the rural and urban economy. "Additional education serves as a supplement, as a key to those technologies that are developed and can be implemented locally," Obraztsova explained.

Innopolis University is located in the city of Innopolis and specializes in education, research and development in information technology and robotics. Tatarstan authorities are developing Innopolis to be a hub for IT companies.