About the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine

The National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine was founded on November 27, 1918 in Kyiv. Its first President was the world-famous scientist V.I. Vernadsky.

According to the current legislation, the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine (NAS of Ukraine, Academy) is the supreme scientific self-governing organization of Ukraine based on state property. The self-government of the Academy means the independent determination of research topics and forms of research organization and conduct, the formation of academic structure, the solution of scientific, organizational, economic, personnel issues, the implementation of international scientific relations, the electivity and collegiality of management bodies. The Academy unites full members (academicians), corresponding members and foreign members, all scholars of academic institutions; it organizes and carries out fundamental and applied scientific research on the most important problems of natural, engineering, social and humanitarian sciences.

The General Meeting of full members (academicians) and corresponding members is the superior self-governing body of the NAS of Ukraine. The sessions of the General Meeting (except for issues related to the election of full members, corresponding members and foreign members of the NAS of Ukraine) are attended by scholars delegated by the labor groups of research institutions of the Academy who have the decision-making vote, foreign members, top managers of research institutions of the Academy and representatives of the scientific community with the advisory vote. The Presidium of the NAS of Ukraine, elected by the General Assembly for a term of 5 years, manages work of the Academy between sessions of the General Assembly. The Presidium of the NAS of Ukraine consists of 37 persons, including the President, five Vice-Presidents, 14 Academicians-Secretaries of departments, and 9 members of the Presidium of the Academy as well. 5 acting members of the Presidium and 14 advisers to the Presidium of the NAS of Ukraine also participate in the meetings of the Presidium with the advisory vote.  

The NAS of Ukraine has 3 sections (physical, engineering and mathematical sciences; chemical and biological sciences; social and humanitarian sciences) that unite 14 departments: mathematics; computer science; mechanics and mechanical engineering; physics and astronomy; Earth sciences; materials science; energy and power technologies; nuclear physics and energy; chemistry; biochemistry, physiology and molecular biology; general biology; economics; history, philosophy and law; literature, linguistic and art studies.  

The Academy has 5 regional scientific centers of dual subordination with the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine: Donetsk (city of Pokrovsk), Western (city of Lviv), Southern (city of Odesa), North-Eastern (city of Kharkiv), Prydniprovsky (city of Dnipro), as well as the Center for evaluation of the activities of research institutions and scientific support for the development of regions (city of Kyiv). The statutory activities of the Crimean Scientific Center and its funding from the budget of the NAS of Ukraine were suspended in 2014.

The main element of the structure of the NAS of Ukraine is research institutes and other scientific institutions (observatories, botanical gardens, arboretums, nature reserves, libraries, museums, etc.). The structure of the NAS of Ukraine includes national institutions – the V.I. Vernadsky National Library of Ukraine, National Scientific Center “Kharkiv Institute of Physics and Technology”, National Historic and Archaeological Reserve “Olvia”, M.M. Hryshko National Botanical Garden, Sofiivka National Dendrological Park, National Natural Science Museum, V. Stefanyk National Scientific Library of Ukraine in Lviv, National Center “Junior Academy of Sciences of Ukraine”.  The structure of the NAS of Ukraine also includes enterprises of the research and production base (research enterprises, design and technological organizations, scientific and engineering centers). 

Currently, there are 159 research institutions at the NAS of Ukraine. During 2024–2025, 150 research institutions of the NAS of Ukraine underwent the State attestation.

 The NAS of Ukraine also manages 103 business entities, including 52 that are part of the research and production base of institutes, specifically, 20 research and production facilities, eight design bureaus, and 24 research, scientific, technical, and engineering centers.

The Law of Ukraine “On the State Budget of Ukraine for 2026” allocates 6,677,142.2 thousand hryvnias from the general fund for financing the NAS of Ukraine in 2026.  

The total number of employees of the NAS of Ukraine as of January 1, 2026 was 23,982, including 13,003 researchers. 2,332 DSc and 6,435 PhDs are among them.  

30 employees of the Academy were killed or missed in the battles with the invaders and under aggressor’s bombing of civilian facilities.

1,066 (8,6%) scholars of the institutions of the NAS of Ukraine temporarily moved abroad, more than 303 scholars (5%) changed their place of residence and moved to other regions of Ukraine escaping from Russian military aggression.

As of February 19, 2026, 175 full members (academicians), 391 corresponding members, and 85 foreign members serve on the NAS of Ukraine.

Because of the full-scale Russian military aggression, some institutions of the NAS of Ukraine were caught up in a war on the territories temporarily occupied by Russian aggressors, and the military actions make full-fledged work of many institutions impossible. Buildings and scientific equipment of institutes located in Kyiv, Kharkiv, Dnipro, Sumy, Mykolaiv were partially or completely destroyed. So far, more than 300 objects of the Acadeny’s property complex have been destroyed or damaged. The estimated cost of restoring destroyed and damaged property is over 843 million hryvnias.  The top managers of the NAS of Ukraine adopted a number of decisions to ensure the functioning of institutes and infrastructure facilities, organize the work schedule of employees, record losses caused by Russian armed aggression, etc.

The Academy updated and significantly expanded topics of scientific research aimed at ensuring the defense and security of the state. The Academy coordinated the list of respective scientific research, priority scientific and engineering developments for 2025-2026 with the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine.  

At the meetings of the Presidium of the NAS of Ukraine, reports on research are regularly heard, whose results can be used for increasins the country’s defense capability and minimizing the consequences of military operations. Much attention is paid to debunking myths and misinformation generated by the aggressor’s propaganda. 

From the first days of the full-scale war, volunteer activities became an integral part of the Academy's daily work, uniting scientists, engineers, and institutional staffs for supporting the country's defense and the civilian population. The Academy's institutions not only developed solutions for the Armed Forces, but also massively transferred to the front mobile power sources, water purification systems, ceramic plates for bulletproof vests, 3D-printed parts for technology and medicine, immobilization tires, "smart" sensors, materials for masking and protecting equipment, including tens of thousands of square meters of camouflage nets. The military also received generators and power plants, means of communications, elements of unmanned systems, recharging systems for drones and thermal imaging cameras, and hospital equipment - from surgical instruments to implants.

Financial support was also significant: academic teams and individual researchers channeled funds, payments, salaries, grants, and money rewards to the needs of the army. The total amount of this assistance reached tens of millions of hryvnias. In addition, scientists helped displaced people, supported liberated communities, and participated in the restoration of schools, libraries, and parks in front-line regions.

The network of scientific councils, committees, commissions of the NAS of Ukraine and scientific public organizations operating under the NAS of Ukraine play an important role in the organization and coordination of specific up-to-date focus areas of fundamental and applied research. At this time, 79 scientific councils, 15 scientific committees, 21 commissions, and 24 scientific societies functionate within the structure of the NAS of Ukraine, in particular, 20 scientific councils, 9 committees, 18 commissions and one society are subotdinated to the Presidium of the NAS of Ukraine. Their activities are focused on promoting the coordination of promising scientific research, drafting proposals and analytical materials for state authorities, organizing and conducting professional scholarly meetings, conferences, workshops, and symposia.

The Board of Presidents of the Academies of Sciences of Ukraine, the Scientific and Technology Council of the NAS of Ukraine, the Expert Council on Evaluation of Fundamental Scientific Research Topics at the NAS of Ukraine, and the Scientific and Coordination Councils of the Sections of the NAS of Ukraine as well, make a significant contribution to the coordination of research activities. The Interdepartmental Council for the Coordination of Fundamental and Applied Research in Ukraine promotes the development of fundamental research and the effective use of its results in applied research, scientific and technical developments.

The National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, as the superior scientific organization of Ukraine, carries out an independent scientific assessment of draft strategic, forecasting and program documents, draft laws, policy decisions and programs as well. The Academy, basing on instructions from the President of Ukraine, the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine, and on its own initiative drafts proposals for the principles of the public scientific and technological policy, foresights, information analysis materials, recommendations regarding socio-political, socio-economic, scientific, technical, innovative and humanitarian development of the State. In the reporting year, at the request of public authorities, institutions of the NAS of Ukraine provided more than 1,840 expert opinions on regulatory legal acts and program documents, and information and analytical materials on various issues of social development as well.

Specialists of the Academy, members of the scientific and expert advisory councils and commissions established at state authorities, performed significant expert work related to the preliminary consideration and provision of scientific opinions on various issues of their activities. Legal experts of the NAS of Ukraine actively worked on improving and implementing the provisions of the Constitution of Ukraine, some Codes and Laws, and other regulatory legal acts, conducted expert examinations and provided scientific, advisory, methodological assistance to the Constitutional Court of Ukraine, specialized committees of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, The Main Directorate of the Security Service of Ukraine, the Prosecutor General's Office of Ukraine, the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine, the Ministry of Justice of Ukraine, the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine.

The results of research by scientists of the NAS of Ukraine were used while drafting generalizing foresight documents. Among them: Strategy of Economic Security of Ukraine until 2030, Strategy for the Development of the Sphere of Innovative Activity for 2025-2027, State Program for the Development of International Territorial Cooperation for 2025-2027, Concept of the National Targeted Scientific and Technical Space Program of Ukraine for 2026-2030, National Plan for Decarbonization of District Heating Systems of Ukraine by 2050, State Target Program for the Fair Transformation of Coal Regions of Ukraine by 2030, Strategy for the Preservation of Biological Diversity of Ukraine for the Period Until 2035.

An important segment of the Academy's scientific and expert activity is the scientific and methodological support for the law-making activity of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine. In 2025, more than two hundred proposals, opinions and comments on draft laws of Ukraine regulating activities in various spheres of public life were submitted to its committees.

Significant scientific and expert work was carried out at the request of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine. In particular, in 2025, analytical materials and proposals for the Action Plan for 2026 to ensure national resilience, the National Program for Adaptation of Ukrainian Legislation to the Law of the European Union, Action Plan for the Implementation of the National Strategy for Promoting the Development of Civil Society in Ukraine in 2025–2026, the Concept for Supporting and Developing the Human Resources Potential of the Research and Scientific-Technical Sector "National System of Researchers of Ukraine" were submitted to the Government.

The Academy continued active cooperation with a number of central executive authorities.  More than 650 expert opinions and analytical materials were provided at their requests last year.

The active interaction of the NAS of Ukraine with the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine continues in the hard circumstances of martial law and armed aggression of the Russian Federation; Anatoly Glibovych Zagorodny, Academician of the NAS of Ukraine, President of the NAS of Ukraine is a member of the Council.  Last year, at the NSDC request, experts of the NAS of Ukraine drafted scientific and analytical materials on the issues  of ensuring national security and defense in the economic, social, scientific and technological, and other spheres. 

The NAS of Ukraine regularly evaluates the topics of fundamental research of the research institutions of the country, whose activities are carried out using funds channeled from the state budget of Ukraine. During 2025, 843 scientific research topics submitted by five main administrators of budget funds were reviewed, for each of them an appropriate expert opinion was provided regarding the expediency of its financing from the state budget.  

International scientific cooperation is carried out within the framework of 130 ongoing agreements concluded by the NAS of Ukraine with academies, state institutions, scientific organizations and education institutions of 50 countries of Europe, America, Asia, and Africa. In total, over 130 institutions of the Academy participate in the implementation of various forms of international cooperation. 

The National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine and its institutions represent our country and the national scientific community in about 30 international scientific unions, councils, associations, scientific associations and centers.  International Science Council (ISC), All European Academies (ALLEA, European Federation of Academies of Sciences and Humanities), Committee of Space Research (COSPAR), International Union of Pure and Applied Physics (IUPAP), European Welding Federation (EWF), European Plant Science Organization (EPSO), Conference of European National Libraries (CENL), etc., are among them. Particular scientific teams work in each of the mentioned focus areas.

Scientists of the NAS of Ukraine are active participants in international programs supported by foreign and international foundations and organizations, in particular, the European Commission, NATO, UNESCO, Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG), Civilian Research & Development Foundation (CRDF), Simons Foundation (USA), etc.  Over 200 research, coordination projects and programs that support scientific exchange, are implemented annually based on the grants of these organizations and bilateral projects of intergovernmental programs gained on a competitive basis. 

In accordance with the Association Agreement with the EU, relations with the EU scientific centers and the organizations of the European Commission are expanding, in particular, the NAS institutions participate in the EU framework programs for research and innovation, EURATOM, the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN), the European Open Science Cloud (EOSC Association),  European Grid Infrastructure (EGI Foundation), the Astroparticle Physics European Consortium (APPEC) programs. Ongoing contacts with the Joint Research Center of the European Commission (JRC), Swedish EISCAT AB, the European Regional Center of the Global Earth Observation Network EuroGEO, etc., continue.

Within the framework of the bilateral Agreement on Scientific Cooperation between the NAS of Ukraine and the Polish Academy of Sciences, competitions for joint Ukrainian-Polish projects with the provision of exchange of scientists are regularly held. Young scientists – employees of the institutions of the NAS of Ukraine undergo a month-long internship at scientific institutions and universities in Poland. The National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine and the Polish Academy of Sciences together award prizes for important scientific results obtained during joint research by scientists of the two countries.  

The cooperation of Kyiv Academic University with the National Synchrotron Radiation Center SOLARIS is actively developing; the Center by decision of the League of European Accelerator-Based Photon Sources (LEAPS), has been designated as the coordinating institution for the LEAPS-Ukraine cooperation and the implementation of the Light for Ukraine initiative - a joint research infrastructure that will contribute to further strengthening cross-border cooperation.

Ukrainian-German cooperation in the field of science and research has become an important step of the NAS of Ukraine for integration into the European Research Area, in particular, cooperation with the German Electron Synchrotron (DESY) Research Center for Fundamental Sciences on the implementation of joint projects, holding schools of thought and webinars for DESY-Ukraine young researchers, creation of the Center for Advanced Research of Quantum Materials (GU-QuMat) on the basis of Kyiv Academic University, with the support of the German Federal Ministry for Research. 

A component of the international cooperation of the NAS of Ukraine is the foreign economic activity on producing materials, equipment, and developing software products on order of foreign companies and scientific organizations. Over 20 research institutions of the Academy carry out this activity under almost 90 contracts.