KYIV ACADEMIC UNIVERSITY

About KAU

The State Research Institution «Kyiv Academic University» (KAU) is a new Ukrainian research-intensive university of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine (NAS of Ukraine) and the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine.  It has been created through the reorganization of the Physical and Technical Educational and Scientific Center of the NAS of Ukraine in 2016 (before 1997 it was the Kyiv branch of Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology). The main idea behind KAU is a combination of the research-intensive education system on the base of the research institutions of NAS of Ukraine, strong integration into the European Research Area and international cooperation with US research universities.

Mission of KAU

The core mission of KAU is to address pressing societal challenges for the revival of Ukrainian science and technology and to build an equal and inclusive community.

Research-intensive education

The research-intensive education implies a combination of a top-level fundamental education with the earliest involvement of students in world-class research and innovation activities. We aim to build a personal education trajectory to establish early scientific careers by connecting students to the most active and internationally recognized research group leaders in research institutions of the NAS of Ukraine (academic institutions) who have strong collaboration links worldwide. Thus, students will get an early opportunity to visit scientific labs overseas and share their knowledge while acquiring new skills.

The main principle of KAU is studying through research, which is implemented by:

• careful selection of talented and creative students;
• individual approach to each student;
• early involvement of students in world-class research;
• involvement in the studying process of leading scientists of the NAS of Ukraine and the potential of the best academic laboratories;
• support for innovation and dual education;
• maximum integration into the international research area.

The main activities of KAU

• Scientific activity - students and scientists conduct joint research in the most relevant areas of modern science;
• Educational  activity - leading scientists of the NAS of Ukraine with extensive experience of international cooperation teach students and conduct joint research;
• Innovation activity - KAU Innovation Centre coordinates, promotes, and implements technology transfer tools and practices, working on increasing the technology and market readiness level of innovations witin KAU and academic institutes and creating a Deep Tech Science Park “Academ.City”;
• Dissemination activity - KAU Creative Media Lab takes actions and launches projects to make scientific education, research and science popular in Ukraine.

Role of international cooperation

Transformation of the 'brain drain' into 'brain circulation' is one of the critical challenges for KAU. It requires a personal approach such as giving every student a clear understanding of scientific career opportunities based on individual skills and preferences combined with well-established long-term scientific collaborations with the US and European research centers. An example of such international cooperation is the project "Topological order of electrons in solids: New materials, Phenomena & Application Concepts (UKRATOP)", carried out in collaboration with the Leibniz Institute for Solid State and Materials Research Dresden  (IFW) and projects: “The Role of the Complement System in Spinal Mechanisms of Chronic Pain”,  The National Institutes of Health of USA (n.1R01NS113189-01, 06/15/2019 – 05/31/2024) and  “Pan-European twinning to re-establish world-level Neuroscience Centre in Kiev (NEUROTWIN)” Horizon 2020 Framework Programme (n.857562 — NEUROTWIN, 01/08/2019 – 31/07/2022).

Structure of KAU

The strength of KAU lies in close conjunction of the educational process at the departments and research centers of KAU at the basic academic institutions , where interdisciplinary studies of the most relevant areas of modern science take place. Currently, the Data Science Research Center, the Center for Quantum Technologies, the Innovation Center and KAU Creative Media Lab are under active development. KAU has multiple departments at the research institutions of NAS of Ukraine:

1. Department of Applied Physics and Material Science (based at the Paton Institute of Electric Welding)
2. Department of Applied Physics and Nanoscale Systems (based at the Kurdyumov Institute of Metal Physics)
3. Department of Fundamental Problems of General and Applied Physics (based at the Institute of Physics)
4. Department of Biomedicine and Neuroscience  (based at the Kyiv Academic University);
5. Department of Theoretical and Mathematical Physics (based at the Bogolyubov Institute for Theoretical Physics)
6. Department of Mathematics (based at the Institute of Mathematics)
7. Department of Theoretical Cybernetics and Optimal Control Methods (based at the Glushkov Institute of Cybernetics)
8. Department Molecular Biology and Biotechnology (based at the Institute of Molecular Biology and Genetics)

Innovation activity of KAU

Currently, KAU Innovation Center aims to launch a Deep Tech Science Park “Academ.City” (https://kau.org.ua/en/science/innovation/academ-city) partnering with 12 research institutes of NAS of Ukraine  located in the Academgorodok district in the north-west of Kyiv as a place-based innovation ecosystem to increase Technology and Market Readiness Levels (TRL and MRL) of regional innovations. We collaborate with Kyiv regional authorities, businesses, and NGOs to achieve this aim. First of all, we plan to focus on  Kyiv region smart-specialization areas such as biotech, green technologies, IT, creative industries, production of innovative food products with improved consumer qualities (functional food), development of energy-efficient solutions based on alternative energy sources, innovative products for construction, design and everyday life, bioactive substances and pharmaceuticals for human health. Moreover, research areas of excellence will include AI and machine learning, bioinformatics and systems biology, advanced materials, nanotechnologies, quantum technologies, and the energy sector.