The National Research Foundation of Ukraine (hereinafter – the Foundation) is a state budgetary institution established by the Government of Ukraine in 2018 in accordance with the Law of Ukraine “On Scientific and Scientific-Technological Activities”.

According to the legislation, the Foundation is a special instrument for the implementation of state policy. The Foundation funds the activities aimed at the all-round development of Ukrainian research as a major factor in the economic growth of the state. The activity of the Foundation is aimed at creating favorable conditions, that help citizens to realize their intellectual potential in the field of research and developments. The basic principles of funding and supporting grant-holders are competitiveness and scientific leadership.

Mission 

The Foundation’s activities are aimed at supporting and developing an effective, sustainable, productive and dynamic research community in Ukraine, capable of generating new relevant knowledge in response to the needs of modern Ukrainian society and the state. The Foundation also sees its mission in creating a favorable environment and attractive conditions for Ukrainian and foreign researchers in Ukraine.

The Foundation aims to facilitate the comprehensive integration of the Ukrainian research community into the global research area by increasing its competitiveness and strengthening cooperation with foreign research networks and environments in the interests of Ukraine.

Values 

The value principles of the Foundation’s activities are as follows:

• independence – the Foundation ensures independence, qualification and objectivity of the review and assessment of projects submitted for calls, counteracts attempts of third-party interference or influence on the Foundation’s activities and decisions;
• responsibility – the Foundation acts exclusively within the limits established by the Constitution and in accordance with the laws of Ukraine, is a reliable partner of researchers and ensures effective administration of its relations with individual researchers and research institutions; fulfills its obligations correctly and ethically, properly justifies its decisions, and guarantees the observance of copyright and related rights;
• fairness – the Foundation creates equal conditions for all applicants, combats discrimination on any grounds, ensures fair competition, prevents conflict of interests and strictly adheres to the principles of academic integrity;
• transparency – the Foundation ensures responsible, appropriate, efficient and transparent use of funds, regularly informs the scientific community about its activities, encourages the movement of science towards open access to its socially important results;
• quality – in its work, the Foundation adheres to standards and procedures that would ensure control and evaluation of the quality of implementation of any aspects of its activities: develops quality policy and goals, conducts quality planning, quality management, quality assurance and quality improvement of its activities.

The main objectives of the Foundation are:

1. stimulation of basic and applied research, development of the national research area and its integration into the world research area;
2. development of research infrastructure in Ukraine and its integration into the world research infrastructure;
3. support of:
   • establishing scientific and technical cooperation between research institutions, institutions of higher education and representatives of the industry and service sectors;
   • international exchange of information and researchers, involvement of university and school students in R&D;
   • industry-oriented (branch) research institutions by organizing calls at the request of central executive bodies or other customers, in case such central bodies of executive power or the customers provide necessary funds;
   • popularization of research and developments.

By means of financing research through grants, the state facilitates concentration of the active and effective research community around the most important and relevant challenges of modern research.

The basic principles that guide the Foundation in its activities are:

• maximal openness and transparency;
• independence and objectivity of scientific and scientific-technical reviewing of projects;
• compliance with the principles of fair competition;
• respect for copyright and related rights, as well as the principles of research ethics;
• preventing conflicts of interest in the selection of members of the Foundation’s governing bodies and in the organization of competitive selection and financing of projects.

The main task of the Foundation is to organize and conduct open competitive selection of projects which will be financed through grant support, with mandatory carrying out of independent and objective scientific and scientific-technical reviewing, including involvement of foreign experts, and further organizational and financial support of the winning projects.

Implementation of this task allows to develop and bring into practice scientific and technological developments, and to form new powerful research and scientific potential in priority areas of development of science and technology.

The types of grant support provided by the Foundation are:

• individual grants;
• collective grants;
• institutional grants.

The main areas of grant support include:

• carrying out research and development;
• development of material and technical base for scientific research and developments of high level;
• development of research cooperation, including research mobility, organization, holding of and participation in conferences, symposiums, joint research of universities and research institutions, etc.;
• scientific internship of research and research-pedagogical staff, graduate students and doctoral students, including abroad;
• creating, operating and developing of research infrastructure;
• knowledge transfer and dissemination;
• supporting projects of early-career researchers;
• supporting activities that involve university and school students in science and technology;
• popularization of science.

The Foundation’s financial resources are formed at the expense of:

• the state budget;
• voluntary contributions from legal entities and individuals, including non-residents of Ukraine;
• other sources not prohibited by the legislation of Ukraine.

In order to ensure efficient and rational use of budgetary funds, the Foundation introduces transparent procedures for competitive project selection which minimize the impact of the human factor on the distribution of financial resources, giving a considerable part of the selection functions to automated algorithms of electronic information systems.

General Strategy of the National Research Foundation of Ukraine

The Scientific Committee of the National Council of Ukraine for Science and Technology Development approved the General Strategy of the National Research Foundation of Ukraine for 2024-2027 at the meeting on April, 15, 2024 (Protocol № 3).