The President of Uzbekistan signed a Decree "On awarding the winners of the international robotics competition and their coaches". On the same day, a ceremony honouring the winners of FIRST Global Challenge 2026 was held at the "Inno" innovative educational and production technopark.

Who presented the awards

The ceremony was attended by First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Education and Science Erkinjon Turdimov, Minister of Digital Technologies Sherzod Shermatov and Director of the Youth Affairs Agency Alisher Sadullayev, who presented the awards to the young engineers and their coaches.

Erkinjon Turdimov stressed that young people's achievements in science and technology matter for the country's future:

"This recognition is also a great expression of trust in every young person in our country who strives for knowledge and is capable of creating something new. I believe the technologies you create will help develop production, save water and energy, and make people's lives easier."

The results

At the competition, which united young people from nearly 190 countries, Uzbekistan's national team won gold in two key categories:

• Winning Alliance — the first alliance, made up of teams from Uzbekistan, Venezuela, El Salvador and Moldova, won the final;
• FIRST Global Grand Challenge Award — as the highest-scoring team, Uzbekistan received the gold medal of the main award.

About the competition

First Global is an international initiative promoting science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) among young people. It is linked to the First movement founded by American inventor Dean Kamen, president of the DEKA research company and creator of the Segway.

The 2026 contest was held under the theme "Igniting Innovation". Participants completed robotics tasks inspired by global challenges of preventing wildfires, reducing their impact and recovery. In doing so, they gained experience applying technical knowledge in practice, finding innovative solutions and working in international teams.

For students interested in robotics and STEM, this victory is a strong example: international competitions bring not only medals but also teamwork skills and experience in solving real-world problems.

Source: Oliy ta'lim, fan va innovatsiyalar vazirligi