Scientific achievements, staff decisions, and university development at the Academic Council of USUST

On 24 June 2026, a regular meeting of the Academic Council of the Ukrainian State University of Science and Technologies was held in a hybrid format in the university’s Academic Council Hall. The agenda included personnel matters, development of research activities, training of third-cycle (educational and scientific) higher education students, as well as approval of new educational programmes, curricula, regulatory documents, and a number of other strategically important decisions.

Traditionally, the meeting began with a ceremonial session.

First and foremost, the university community congratulated the PhD students on the successful defence of their dissertations and the awarding of the degree of Doctor of Philosophy (PhD):

• Bohdan Zymohliad –successful defence of the dissertation in Economics;

• Оleksandr Tsukanov – successful defence of the dissertation in Physical Culture and Sports;

• Vadym Shcherbachov – successful defence of the dissertation in Metallurgy.

During the meeting, special recognition was also given to Pavlo Viktorovych Zadorozhnii, dean of the Faculty of Pharmacy and Biotechnology of the SEI ‘Ukrainian State University of Chemical Technology’, Candidate of Chemical Sciences, who was awarded a Certificate of Appreciation by the Presidium of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine for his significant contribution to the advancement of Ukrainian science, dedicated work, and support of scientific and educational activities in Ukraine on the occasion of Science Day.

Special congratulations were also extended to the USUST team, which won the first regional Dnipropetrovsk Oblast CTF Championship 2026 ‘Capture the Flag’ in technological sports, organized by the Dnipropetrovsk Regional State Administration and the Dnipropetrovsk Oblast Federation of Technological Sports. The competition involved practical tasks in cryptography, reverse engineering, web security, and digital forensics. The team members were recognized for their excellence in cybersecurity, teamwork, and commitment to achieving success. The rector of the university emphasized that this was USUST’s first participation in the competition, and the team immediately secured the championship title.

The Academic Council also congratulated Taras Dutko, coach of the USUST team, Associate Professor of the Department of Physical Education, and Honoured Master of Sports of Ukraine in football, on the university team’s victory in the nationwide sports competition ‘Shoulder to shoulder’. The rector highlighted the team’s successful performance throughout all stages of the tournament, including the Dnipro League, the interregional stage held in Mykolaiv, and the final competition in Kyiv, where the USUST team ultimately secured the championship title. On behalf of the organizers, Taras Dutko presented the University Museum with commemorative branded souvenirs, including a T-shirt, a cap, and certificates of recognition.

The Academic Council followed to consider the items on the agenda. The first issue addressed was the election of academic and teaching staff to vacant positions through the competitive selection procedure.

Directors of the educational and scientific institutes and deans of the faculties presented the results of the selection committees’ work and recommended candidates for the positions of heads of departments to the Academic Council. The candidates under consideration represented the SEI ‘Prydniprovska State Academy of Physical Culture and Sports’, the SEI ‘Prydniprovska State Academy of Civil Engineering and Architecture’, the SEI ‘Dnipro Institute of Infrastructure and Transport’, and the SEI ‘DMI”.

All candidates had successfully completed the preliminary review process at departmental meetings, staff meeting, and sessions of the selection committees of the respective educational and scienttific institutes.

Tetiana Kolesnykova, director of the USUST scientific library, delivered her report ‘On the publication activity of the university’s researchers’.

She reported that the university’s repository currently contains 16,384 scientific publications, while the repository of the SEI “PSACEA’ includes 15,716 publications.

A total of 5,830 documents authored by USUST researchers have been indexed in the Scopus database, while 4,985 publications have been indexed in the Web of Science. As of 20 June 2026, Scopus includes profiles of 1,661 authors affiliated with the university. In 2025, USUST researchers published 352 scholarly works, exceeding the previous year’s figure of 329 publications. More than half of these publications are available through open access. The largest number of publications was in the fields of engineering, materials science, environmental science, computer science, energy, physics, and astronomy.

Particular attention was paid to the development of the USUST digital publishing, which operates under a Creative Commons licence. According to the speaker, 56 electronic books, textbooks, and educational manuals were produced last year. These publications have been made available through the institutional repository, the digital publishing website, and integrated into European open science platforms, ensuring their accessibility and international visibility.

Considerable attention was also paid to the results of the repeated state certification of Ukrainian scholarly journals classified under Category B. Following the introduction of updated requirements by the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine aimed at ensuring academic integrity, transparency of editorial procedures, open access, and compliance with international standards, only 1,298 out of 1,834 journals submitted nationwide retained their status as recognized scholarly publications.

USUST successfully passed this stage of the certification process:

• SEI ‘DIIT’ – 4 scholarly journals;
• SEI ‘DMI’ – 3 scholarly journals;
• SEI ‘PSACEA’ – 2 scholarly journals (one additional journal is currently under review);
• SEI ‘USUCT’ – 1 scholarly journal;
• SEI ‘PSAPCS’ – 1 scholarly journal.

In addition, the university publishes three scholarly journals indexed in international databases: two indexed in Scopus and one indexed in the Web of Science Core Collection, all of which belong to Category A.

It was also noted that, according to the Scopus-based ranking of Ukrainian higher education institutions, USUST ranks among the TOP 15 universities in Ukraine, holding 14th place among 218 higher education institutions nationwide.

Vice-Rector for Research, Professor Yurii Proidak, presented information on the training of third-cycle (educational and scientific) higher education students. He emphasized that the university has significantly intensified the process of dissertation defence for both the Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) and Doctor of Sciences degrees. In particular, during the previous week, two Chief Executive Officers of metallurgical enterprises successfully defended their dissertations.

The Academic Council approved the progress reports of 11 doctoral candidates whose dissertations have reached a completion level of between 70% and 95%. The Council also endorsed the establishment of 35 ad hoc specialized academic councils for the defence of dissertations.

By decision of the Academic Council, the following publications were recommended for publication:

• the next issue of the scholarly journal ‘Anthropological Measurements of Philosophical Research’, indexed in the Web of Science database;
• the next issue of the journal ‘Science and Transport Progress’, classified as a Category B scholarly publication;
• the collective monograph ‘Corporate Social Responsibility’, edited by Associate Professor Viacheslav Zadoia.

First Vice-Rector, Professor Anatolii Radkevych, reported on the approval of the scholarship fund allocation. Owing to the university’s stable development, the maximum permissible threshold has been established for the upcoming semester, allowing 40% of students to receive academic scholarships.

Serhii Hryshechkin, Associate Professor and head of the Educational and Research Centre for Quality Assurance in Education, presented draft curricula for the 2026 admission campaign for approval. All bachelor’s degree programmes have been updated in accordance with current legislative requirements and now include the newly introduced educational component, ‘Fundamentals of national resistance’.

The Academic Council also approved five new educational programmes:

• educational and scientific programme ‘Geodesy and Land Management’ (third cycle of higher education);

• educational and scientific programme ‘Management in Science and Technology’ (second cycle of higher education);

• educational and scientific programme ‘Engineering and Marketing of Electronic Systems’ (first-cycle/bachelor’s level) in the fields of study D5 Marketing and G5

Electronic Communications, Instrumentation Engineering, and Radio Engineering;

• educational and scientific programme ‘Trade Business and Product Quality in the Food Industry’ (first-cycle/bachelor’s level) in the fields of study D7 Trade and G13 Food Technologies;

• educational and scientific programme ‘English-Language Communication and Artificial Intelligence’ (first-cycle/bachelor’s level) in the fields of study B11 Philology and Translation and F3 Computer Science.

All educational programmes underwent a public consultation process, were revised in accordance with the feedback received, and subsequently approved by the Council for Quality Assurance of Educational Activities.

The final part of the meeting was devoted to the approval of updated regulatory documents of the university.

Amendments were introduced to the ‘Regulations on vacant academic and teaching positions’ in accordance with the updated version of the Law of Ukraine ‘On Higher Education’. In particular, the list of positions covered by the regulations was clarified, and a provision was introduced stipulating that research activities performed by academic and teaching staff must account for no less than 30% of their total workload.

In addition, the Academic Council approved a new ‘Regulation on the performance-based evaluation of academic and teaching staff’, which takes into account professional achievements not only during the previous academic year but also over the preceding five-year period. The Council also approved the ‘Procedure for awarding professional qualifications to higher education students’, which establishes the mechanism for obtaining professional qualifications in accordance with current professional standards.

The meeting of the Academic Council reaffirmed the systematic development of the Ukrainian State University of Science and Technologies in the fields of research, education, and human resources policy. The decisions adopted are aimed at enhancing the quality of the educational process, advancing scientific research, supporting early-career researchers, and further strengthening USUST’s position as one of Ukraine’s leading scientific and educational centres.

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