Astana, Kazakhstan
Diana S. — KAIST
Artificial intelligence (AI) in medicine Started: Grade 9 2.5 years
In their own words
«From an olympiad in Almaty to Korea: a portfolio built around one topic — artificial intelligence (AI) in medicine — worked out to a full scholarship.»
Olympiad → Technovation Girls → KAIST (full scholarship)
The full path, step by step
Grade 9Maths as the foundationSpecialised preparation and taking part in the national olympiad — the groundwork for a technical field.
Grade 10First productTechnovation Girls: an early-diagnosis app built by a team of four, and a place in the regional final.
Grade 11Focus and the applicationA machine learning course, my own dataset, and a KAIST application with the project at the heart of the story.
Mistakes you can avoid
- · For a long time I didn't dare apply to technical universities in Asia, because I thought they “only take locals”.
- · I tried taking part in five competitions at once — the quality of the projects dropped.
Advice for students
- Build your portfolio around one topic: mine was artificial intelligence (AI) in medicine, and you could read it in every line of my application.
- Look for programmes that are open to our region: there are more of them than it seems.
- Write to programme alumni — they will tell you honestly what to expect.
Your success story starts with the first opportunity
Find programmes that match your grade and field of study — and save the deadlines.
