The history of the National Research Nuclear University MEPhI (Moscow Engineering Physics Institute) began with the foundation in 1942 of the Moscow Mechanical Institute of Ammunition. The leading Russian nuclear university MEPhI was later established there and top Soviet scientists, including the head of the Soviet atomic project Igor Kurchatov, played a part in its development and formation. Six Nobel Prize winners have worked at MEPhI over the course of its history – Nikolay Basov, Andrei Sakharov, Nikolay Semenov, Igor Tamm, Ilya Frank and Pavel Cherenkov.

Today, MEPhI is one of the leading research universities of Russia, training engineers and scientists in over 200 fields, including:

• Nanomaterials and nanotechnologies;
• Radiation and beam technologies;
• Medical physics and nuclear medicine;
• Superconductivity and controlled thermonuclear fusion;
• Ecology and biophysics;
• Information security.

In addition, future managers, experts and analysts in the fields of management, engineering economics, nuclear law and international scientific and technological cooperation study at MEPhI.

Programmes at MEPhI:

• Meet international education standards.

  Since 2014, the university has been implementing standards of the CDIO Initiative for modernising engineering training in higher education. The standards aim to improve the quality of the next generation of engineering graduates and are also used by leading world universities such as Stanford University, California State University and Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

• Are accredited by the Federation of National Engineering Associations and Agency for Accreditation of Engineering Education Programmes.

  Are accredited by the Federation of National Engineering Associations and Agency for Accreditation of Engineering Education Programmes.

  A graduate who studied under an accredited programme and has the necessary professional experience can obtain the rank (international certificate) of Euroengineer.

  Student Successes

  Graduates of NRNU MEPhI are in demand in Russia and abroad. They work at CERN, Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL), Julich Research Centre (Forschungszentrum Jülich GmbH), the Institute of High Energy Physics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, High Energy Accelerator Research Organisation and in over 100 leading scientific centres around the world.

  Students of the National Research Nuclear University often move into top managerial roles, consulting or expert analysis in the fields of management, engineering economics, nuclear law and international scientific and technological cooperation. 

  MEPhI prides itself on the high calibre of its alumni and current students. Famous graduates include: 

• Basov Nikolai – Outstanding Soviet physicist. Nobel Prize Winner (1964). One of the founders of quantum electronics and laser physics. Developer and creator of the first lasers in the world.
• Mikhailov Victor – Russian nuclear physicist. One of the developers of Soviet nuclear weapons. Founder of scientific school. RAS Academician. Served as long-time head of the Russian nuclear weapons complex. Led Ministry for Atomic Energy of Russia (1992-1998). Laureate of the International Sholokhov Literary Prize.
• Rumyantzev Alexander – Research physicist and RAS Academician. Outstanding scientist and statesman of the Russian Federation. Led the Ministry for Atomic Energy of Russia (2001-2004) and the Federal Agency on Atomic Energy (2004-2005).
• Anatoly Larkin – Academician of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR. Leading specialist in the field of solid state physics and nuclear physics.
• Lev Okun – RAS Academician. Leading specialist in the field of physics of elementary particles.
• Viktor Galitskiy – Corresponding member of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR, theoretical physicist, founder of Green’s functions applications in many-body problems. Headed the largest Soviet programme in the search for superdense nuclei.
• Lev Ryabev – Outstanding statesman. Minister of Medium Machine Engineering of the USSR (1986-1989), First Deputy Minister of Russia for Nuclear Energy (1993-2002).
• Yuri Kagan – Academician of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR and RAS. Graduate of MEPhI’s first ever cohort. Outstanding physicist and theorist. Founder of new fields in solid state physics – quantum diffusion, Mossbauer effect and the theory of phase transitions near absolute zero.
• Georgiy Rykovanov – Research supervisor of the Russian Federal Nuclear Centre in Snezhinsk, one of the current managers of Russia’s nuclear weapons complex.
• Sergey Avdeev – Astronaut, completed 3 space flights. For a long time, he held the world record for longest time spent in space, and completed many space walks.
• Nikolay Rukavishnikov – Astronaut, completed 3 space flights.
• Nikolay Ponomarev-Stepnoy – Academician of the Russian Academy of Sciences, leading specialist in the field of nuclear energy.
• And many others.