The Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine (MESU) has approved the results of the expert evaluation of конкурс applications within two key competitions:

• the competition for young scientists;
  
• the main competition for fundamental and applied research.
  

These competitions cover projects submitted by higher education institutions and research organizations under the authority of the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine. The relevant decisions were made on the basis of independent scientific and scientific-technical expertise.

Key features of the 2025 competitions

In 2025, MESU’s largest competitions were conducted under a new unified regulation that introduced a number of systemic changes. In particular:

• Strengthened support for young scientists. At least 30% of the total annual funding is allocated to competitions for young researchers, and their representation in the MESU Scientific and Expert Council is at least 50%.
  
• Updated approaches to expert evaluation. Each project was reviewed by three independent experts, with mandatory consideration of score deviations at the ±25% level. The allocation of projects and reports to experts was carried out automatically through the National Electronic Scientific Information System, with conflict-of-interest checks. An Expert Code of Ethics was also introduced, defining requirements for integrity, objectivity, confidentiality, and prevention of conflicts of interest.
  
• Special attention to academic integrity. Plagiarism, data falsification, other dishonest practices, as well as cooperation with the Russian Federation, were defined as grounds for disqualification. At the same time, clear conditions were established for the acceptable use of artificial intelligence tools in research activities.
  
• Cancellation of the formal use of bibliometric indicators. In the 2025 competitions, the practice of formally “summing up” citations, h-indices, and submitting “letters of interest or implementation” used in previous years was discontinued. Evaluation focused on the quality of projects, their scientific logic, and expected results.
  

Submitted projects and expert evaluation

At the second stage of the competitive selection in 2025, 1,158 projects were submitted. After verification of compliance with formal requirements, 1,059 projects were admitted to scientific and scientific-technical expertise.

Expert evaluation was conducted by independent specialists in relevant scientific fields. In total, the Ministry ensured 3,177 expert reviews.

In some cases, projects could be excluded from the competition at the formal review stage due to non-compliance with competition requirements, including the status of the project leader, the number of projects in which participation is allowed, or the requirement to conduct research activities on the territory of Ukraine.

Support for frontline and border institutions

Support for higher education institutions and research organizations located in frontline and border regions has been identified as one of the priorities of state policy. In 2025, MESU introduced a special instrument for additional support of such projects within the framework of the main competition.

The State Budget of Ukraine for 2025 allocates UAH 100 million for funding research in these institutions in order to strengthen their scientific potential and ensure sustainable development under heightened security risks.

Project funding

The final determination of passing scores will take place in the first ten days of January at a meeting of the MESU Scientific and Expert Council, after processing and taking into account the results of the attestation of higher education institutions that submitted projects to the competitions.

Funding for projects selected as a result of the competition is planned to begin in January 2026, in accordance with budget legislation and the terms of the competition.

Information on the results of the competitive selection will be communicated to project leaders and to higher education institutions and research organizations through electronic accounts and MESU orders specifying the amounts of funding.

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