Youth day

Since 2015, St. Petersburg International Gas Forum (SPIGF) has been hosting an international student event “Youth Day” held in cooperation with the leading energy companies. In 2024, the results of the ten-year development of the project were summarized. Over these years, it brought together more than 2,000 participants from 70 countries and representatives of the industry elite to transfer knowledge about the energy business and search for new ideas and solutions. In 2025, the project took place in the format of the International Acceleration Program “Natural Gas & Accelerator”.

In 2026, Youth Day will continue to serve as a unique informational, intellectual, and project-based platform, bringing together energy industry representatives, international energy project managers, and young people from leading universities. The event’s key focus will be on human resources and technological support for the construction and operation of energy megaprojects.

Organiser

The program is organized by St. Petersburg State University of Economics (UNECON) with the support of Gazprom PJSC, EF-International LLC, and other partner companies. It is included in the convention program of SPIGF.

Participants

The program participants are talented Master’s and PhD students from different universities all over the world, young researchers, leading industry experts, senior and top managers of international energy companies, academic representatives.

Format and registration

Youth Day 2026 will be held in several stages:

1. Until 30 June 2026 – registration for participation in the project. The number of applications is not limited.

2. July 2026 – participation in the virtual business laboratory and subsequent selection of 30-35 best participants (interviews, assignments).

3. From 6 to 9 October, 2026 – participation of 30-50 best students in the Youth Day events at the SPIGF venue in Expoforum: workshops, business game, project session, off-tie meeting with top industry experts, career lounge, – as well as visit to SPIGF Plenary Session and large-scale SPIGF exposition.

Results of the Youth Day 2025

On 7-10 October 2025, 39 participants from 12 countries presented their projects for the gas industry to judges within the final of the International Acceleration Program “NaturalGas& Accelerator”.

The event united students and young specialists from Russia, Belarus, Bolivia, Vietnam, Zambia, India, Iran, China, Costa Rica, Nigeria, Serbia and Tanzania, all of whom were selected out of 200 candidates, graduated from the Virtual Academy “Energy Projects: Technologies for Sustainable Future of the Natural Gas”, and presented their projects at SPIGF.

Projects and Winners

Projects presentation appeared to be the cornerstone of the Youth Day. By the decision of the judges, he winners were:

• 1st place: Project “The Case for an Industrial Shift towards DME”.The team suggested a solution on decarbonization and transition to more environmentally friendly fuels.
• 2nd place: Project “High-Quality Graphene from Natural Gas”.The project suggests new ways to diversify the products of the gas industry.
• 3rd place: Project “GASIGHT: AI-Powered Predictive Maintenance and Optimization for Gas Infrastructure”. The solution is aimed to increase reliability and efficiency of gas transmission systems.

Convention and networking program

Besides competition, the participants were offered a rich program that included SPIGF Plenary Session and large exhibition; corporate exposition “Gazprom – territory of technological leadership”; stand of Comita Group of Companies; lecture hall “Gazprom Open Science”; press-session from Gazprom ID; and interactive tour around Expoforum. Team leaders were invited to a business breakfast with representatives of Gazprom management.

Traditional off-tie meeting between top-managers of leading companies from the gas industry and participants was dedicated to the topic “GAS.NEXT: Brain Games. How Young Innovators Can Reshape the Gas Market by 2035”. It included discussion of such issues as future of gas industry, international collaboration, staff training, digital transformation, new jobs and career opportunities for youngsters.

Youth Day website: energyouthday.com

Organising Committee: youthday@unecon.ru