Ukraine launches National Researchers System (NRS)

aUkraine’s Ministry of Education and Science is launching what the research community has been waiting for: a support system for scientists based on actual results rather than seniority or rank. From June 2026, registration opens for the National Researchers System (NRS), a new digital mechanism that will rank scientists and pay state scholarships to the top performers.

Minister of Education and Science Oksen Lisovyi announced the initiative on 21 May 2026 at the National Forum “Research Project Manager: From Grant to Impact.” Starting from August, 2,650 researchers will receive UAH 10,000 per month for two years. The total programme budget is UAH 763 million, with over UAH 190 million already allocated in this year’s state budget.

This article explains what the NRS is, how it works, who can apply, and what researchers should do right now.

Why this isn’t just another payment scheme

In Ukraine’s academic system, researcher support has traditionally been tied to formal titles: associate professor, professor, candidate of science, doctor of science. Actual research outputs influenced salary and recognition only indirectly. The NRS offers a different logic: the 2,650 researchers who score highest in the ranking receive the scholarship. Position held and institution name play no role.

Lisovyi described this as “a fundamentally different culture of scientific support” – transparent, competitive, and results-oriented. The system is fully automated: data is verified through scientometric databases and open registries, not signed off by institutional managers. Human gatekeeping is removed from the evaluation stage.

There’s an important backdrop. Since 2022, Horizon Europe, MSCA4Ukraine, and dozens of other international programmes have actively drawn Ukrainian researchers to work abroad. That helped preserve scientific careers, but also accelerated brain drain. The NRS sends a message from the other side: staying and producing results in Ukraine pays off too.

What a researcher actually receives

Researchers who make it into the NRS ranking receive a state scholarship of UAH 10,000 per month for two years. In total, 2,650 people enter the programme. Over two years, one scholarship recipient collects UAH 240,000.

Half the places, specifically 1,325, are reserved for young researchers. They have their own ranking and don’t compete with senior scientists who have decades of publications. For a doctoral student or postdoc just building their research profile, that distinction matters.

The programme budget is UAH 763 million over two years, with over UAH 190 million already in this year’s state budget. The money exists and the payments are planned in the budget, not only on paper.

How the NRS works: a digital mechanism without manual gatekeeping

The system runs within Ukraine’s National Electronic Scientific Information System (NESIS) as a separate module. NESIS already exists; the NRS adds to it rather than building from scratch.

Each researcher enters information about their scientific results: publications, citation indices, project involvement, and similar outputs. The system then automatically verifies this data against scientometric databases (Scopus, Web of Science, and others), open registries, and other verified sources. No human review at this stage.

This matters for two reasons. First, corruption risk drops: rankings can’t be negotiated. Second, the system will automatically surface a problem that has long existed in Ukrainian academia: a significant portion of Ukrainian scientists’ publications are not correctly attributed in Scopus and Web of Science. If a publication isn’t linked to the author’s profile, it won’t count in the verification.

The verification produces three types of rankings: by scientific field (physicists don’t compete with historians), a general ranking of all researchers, and a separate ranking for young scientists.

The first cycle takes approximately two months: one for data submission, one for evaluation and ranking formation. After that, payments start in August 2026.

Three special categories worth knowing

The NRS accounts for the realities of 2022–2026. Three groups of researchers have separate rules.

Young researchers. Half of all 2,650 places, meaning 1,325 scholarships, are reserved for early-career scientists. They have their own ranking and don’t compete with established researchers. This gives genuine odds to those just beginning to build their scientific profile.

Veteran researchers. For researchers who served in the armed forces, the results assessment period extends to 7 years instead of the standard 3. If several years of active research were interrupted by military service, the system accounts for that. Scientists who have returned from service can compete fairly.

Security and defence researchers. For those whose work covers state-priority areas in security and defence, the number of available places in the category increases by 15%. The state is sending a direct signal: more scholarship places go to those working in this field.

When and how to apply: a practical plan

Registration opens in June 2026, which means researchers have only a few weeks between the announcement and the start of registration. Payments begin in August.

What to do right now. Check that all your publications are correctly attributed in Scopus and Web of Science. The system verifies automatically against these databases. A publication not linked to your profile won’t count. Updating your ORCID profile is also worth doing before June.

Monitor official announcements. The precise ranking criteria for each scientific field, the list of verified databases, and details of the submission procedure will be published by the Ministry at mon.gov.ua and in NESIS before registration opens.

If you’re a young researcher, look for the separate ranking when submitting data. You submit to the same system but are evaluated in a dedicated category.

NRS and international research careers: do they conflict

The NRS uses the same scientometric indicators that international programmes already require: Scopus, Web of Science, h-index, citation counts. A researcher applying in parallel for MSCA, COST, or Horizon Europe builds exactly the same profile the NRS needs.

This alignment is deliberate. The creators designed the NRS with European researcher support practices in mind. EU member states have long had ranking systems tied to bibliometrics. Ukraine is moving in the same direction, consistent with its integration into the European Research Area (ERA).

The practical takeaway: if you’re already planning an application for an international grant or fellowship, preparing your profile for the NRS and preparing for a foreign programme are the same work. The same ORCID, the same Scopus, the same publications. You do it once.