Academic essay concourse as a means of popularization of academic writing in the education system

academic writing, which has become a separate discipline, is actively developing in the world, while in Russia the interest in it has emerged relatively recently. Academic writing is not included in the list of compulsory disciplines, but the ability to express thoughts competently in writing is extremely important for successful study and professional activity. The article is devoted to academic essay contests as one of the means to popularize academic writing in the Russian education system. The article discusses the organizational-pedagogical conditions, evaluation criteria and the actual methodology of organizing the All-Russian contest for the «Best Academic Essay in English» from the Petrozavodsk State University Academic Writing Center. The main goal of the contest is to popularize academic writing among university and school students. The contest has been held 5 times since 2017, in the last two years it received the status of All-Russian with international participation. 410 participants (schoolchildren and students) applied for the competition in 2023. Essay contests with wide access, open evaluation criteria, and accessible teaching materials can become one of the means of popularizing academic writing in secondary and higher education with a well-developed methodological base.