are institutions of higher education that conduct educational and scientific activities with equal efficacy, based on the principles of integrating science and education. The most important characteristic of an NRU is its ability to both generate knowledge and effectively transfer new technologies into the economy.
This status is granted on a competitive basis by the Government of the Russian Federation for a period of ten years.
The first NRUs were established by the President of Russia’s Executive Order of May 7, 2008. These were the National Research Nuclear University MEPhI (under the auspices of the Moscow Engineering Physics Institute - MEPhI) and the National University of Science and Technology MISIS (under the auspices of the Moscow Institute of Steel and Alloys - MISIS).