Regulations on the Annual Award of the Rector
of National Aerospace University
«Kharkiv Aviation Institute» for Young Scientists
Approved:
By the Academic Council
of National Aerospace University
«Kharkiv Aviation Institute»
Protocol No. 1 dated August 19, 2026
Enacted by: Order No. 316 dated August 19, 2026
QMS KhAI-YS-R/001:2026
Effective Date: August 19, 2026
Revision No. 1
1. General Provisions
1.1. These Regulations determine the procedure for organizing and conducting the competition, identifying laureates, and granting awards in the form of a monetary prize (hereinafter referred to as the Award) to young scientists of National Aerospace University «Kharkiv Aviation Institute».
1.2. The competition was established on the initiative of the Rector and with the support of the Council of Young Scientists of National Aerospace University «Kharkiv Aviation Institute» (hereinafter referred to as the University) in order to stimulate the scientific activity of young scientists, identify gifted youth, and popularize science. Funding for rewarding the competition laureates shall be provided through targeted charitable contributions provided by individuals and/or legal entities to the University for the purpose of implementing these Regulations in accordance with the legislation of Ukraine.
1.3. The organizer of the competition for young scientists is the Council of Young Scientists of the University.
1.4. Young scientists of the University are eligible to participate in the competition.
1.5. The Award is established to support and stimulate the scientific, scientific-technical, innovative, and educational activities of young scientists of the University, increase the prestige of scientific work, develop scientific schools, promote the professional growth of young researchers, and encourage achievements of significant scientific, educational, innovative, and practical importance.
1.6. The Award is a one-time monetary reward granted based on the results of an open competition. The Award is a form of public recognition for young scientists. The establishment and granting of the Award are carried out to fulfill the statutory goals and scope of activities of the University, particularly regarding the creation of conditions for cooperation between faculty members and scientists with young researchers of the University, supporting talented youth, stimulating their scientific activities, as well as enhancing the role and international image of the University.
1.7. Funding for the Award is provided through:
- targeted voluntary charitable contributions from individuals / legal entities;
- grants;
- other sources not prohibited by the legislation of Ukraine.
1.8. Targeted charitable contributions shall be used exclusively for financing and paying the Award in accordance with the target purpose specified by the donor and these Regulations.
1.9. Calculation and payment of the Award are performed by the University as a tax agent in accordance with the requirements of the Tax Code and other legislative acts of Ukraine. The University ensures the calculation of the Award, as well as withholding and transferring taxes and levies to the budget in the manner established by the legislation of Ukraine.
1.10. The Award is granted annually to the laureates of the competition based on the results of their scientific activity and achievements during the calendar year.
1.11. The reporting period under these Regulations is defined as the calendar year, based on the results of which the competition is held.
2. Competition Participants
2.1. Young scientists of National Aerospace University «Kharkiv Aviation Institute» who meet the definition of "young scientist" as defined by the Law of Ukraine «On Scientific and Scientific-Technical Activity» may be nominated for the Award.
2.2. The following individuals are eligible to participate in the competition:
- persons up to 35 years of age inclusive who hold a higher education degree not lower than the second (Master's) level and conduct scientific and/or scientific-technical activity;
- persons holding a Doctor of Sciences degree, up to 40 years of age inclusive.
2.3. The Award is granted exclusively for the personal scientific achievements of the candidate. In the case of co-authorship, the applicant's personal contribution shall be taken into account.
2.4. A person may be a laureate of the Award an unlimited number of times, provided that new scientific results are achieved in subsequent competition years on general grounds.
2.5. To avoid duplicate rewards for the same scientific achievements and to ensure equal conditions of participation, a person nominated for the professional excellence competition «Icaruses of KhAI» in the current year cannot be simultaneously nominated for the Award for Young Scientists based on the results of the same calendar year.
3. Amount and Number of Awards
3.1. Annually, subject to available targeted charitable contributions, the competition is held and monetary Awards are granted at the University in the following amounts:
1st Degree - 15,860 UAH;
2nd Degree - 11,102 UAH;
3rd Degree - 7,930 UAH.
3.2. If the Competition Committee does not identify candidates who meet the requirements of these Regulations, the Award may not be granted.
3.3. In the event of equal scores, the Competition Committee may recommend splitting the respective Award between two or more candidates within the available funding fund.
3.4. The payment of the Award is subject to mandatory taxation in accordance with the tax legislation of Ukraine.
4. Procedure for Nomination
4.1. The right to nominate candidates belongs to:
- University departments;
- faculties;
- research units;
- Council of Young Scientists of the University.
4.2. Each nominating entity has the right to submit no more than two candidacies in a single competition year.
4.3. Self-nomination of candidates is not allowed.
4.4. Nomination is formalized by a decision of the relevant collegial body or a written submission by the head of the structural unit.
4.5. The submission must contain a justification of the candidate's scientific achievements and compliance with the criteria of these Regulations.
4.6. Organizational support for receiving documents is provided by the Council of Young Scientists of the University. Submitted documents, after registration, are considered by the Competition Committee.
5. Competition Committee
5.1. Organizational support for the formation of the Competition Committee is assigned to the Council of Young Scientists of the University, which proposes its personal composition and ensures compliance with the requirements of these Regulations regarding the independence, competence, and absence of conflict of interest among the members of the Competition Committee.
5.2. The Competition Committee is a collegial advisory body that ensures objective and impartial consideration of submitted materials, evaluates candidates, and submits proposals for determining the Award laureates.
5.3. The Competition Committee may include persons who have provided written consent to participate in its work, in particular:
- representatives of the University, including representatives of the Council of Young Scientists of the University;
- leading scientists;
- representatives of employers;
- representatives of aerospace industry enterprises;
- University alumni;
- independent experts (by consent).
5.4. The numerical composition of the Competition Committee cannot be less than seven persons.
5.5. The Chair and the Secretary of the Competition Committee are elected by its members by open vote at the first meeting.
5.6. The Competition Committee:
- accepts competition materials for consideration;
- checks candidates' compliance with the requirements of these Regulations;
- adopts a decision on admitting candidates to participate in the Competition;
- evaluates competitive indicators;
- determines the ranking list of candidates;
- adopts a decision regarding the recommendation of laureates;
- prepares the minutes of the meeting;
- considers applications regarding conflict of interest resolution;
- considers appeals in accordance with these Regulations.
5.7. A meeting of the Competition Committee is quorate if at least two-thirds of its composition is present.
5.8. Decisions are adopted by open vote by a simple majority of votes of the present members of the Competition Committee. By decision of the Competition Committee, candidate evaluation may be conducted by secret ballot or by individual scoring.
5.9. In the event of a tie vote, the vote of the Chair of the Competition Committee shall be decisive.
5.10. A member of the Competition Committee has the right to express a separate written opinion, which is attached to the minutes.
5.11. The minutes of the Competition Committee meeting are signed by all members who participated in the meeting.
6. Prevention of Conflict of Interest
6.1. During the competition, members of the Competition Committee are obliged to adhere to the principles of:
- legality;
- integrity;
- equality of participants;
- impartiality;
- objectivity;
- confidentiality.
6.2. In the presence of an actual or potential conflict of interest, a member of the Competition Committee must inform the Chair of the committee in writing prior to the consideration of competitive materials.
6.3. Circumstances that may indicate the existence of a conflict of interest include, in particular:
- family relations;
- close personal relationships;
- direct official subordination;
- joint execution of scientific projects;
- co-authorship in scientific works during the last three years;
- other circumstances that may affect the impartiality of the evaluation.
6.4. In the event of a conflict of interest, the member of the Competition Committee does not participate in:
- consideration of the candidate's documents;
- candidate evaluation;
- voting regarding the respective candidate.
6.5. Information regarding conflict of interest resolution is entered into the minutes of the meeting.
7. Documents for Participation in the Competition
7.1. To participate in the Competition, the following materials shall be submitted to the Competition Committee:
- submission from the structural unit;
- candidate reference;
- information on scientific achievements;
- list of scientific publications;
- copies of documents confirming scientific results;
- information on participation in international projects;
- information on grants;
- information on patents;
- information on implementation of research results;
- consent to personal data processing.
7.2. The Competition Committee has the right to contact the structural units of the University to confirm the information specified in the submitted documents, as well as to request additional documents or explanations from the candidate or the nominating unit.
7.3. Documents are submitted to the Council of Young Scientists of the University.
The Council of Young Scientists:
- registers them;
- checks completeness;
- creates a register of submitted materials;
- transfers materials to the Competition Committee.
7.3. The Competition Committee verifies:
- compliance of the candidate with the requirements of the Regulations;
- authenticity of the submitted information;
- validity of supporting documents.
7.4. The Competition Committee shall decide on the disqualification of a candidate from participating in the Competition upon detecting:
- inaccurate information;
- forged documents;
- academic plagiarism;
- established facts of academic integrity violations.
7.5. The decision on disqualification of a candidate shall be formalized in minutes specifying the reasons. The candidate shall be notified of such decision within five working days.
7.6. Documents submitted after the deadline shall not be considered.
7.7. Processing of personal data is carried out in accordance with the Law of Ukraine «On Personal Data Protection».
7.8. Submission of documents for the competition constitutes confirmation of the candidate's consent to:
- processing of personal data;
- verification of the authenticity of submitted information;
- publication of information regarding the awarding of the Prize in case of victory.
8. Candidate Evaluation Criteria
8.1. Evaluation of candidates is carried out based on the results of their scientific, scientific-technical, innovative, and scientific-organizational activities for the reporting calendar year according to the ranking evaluation system defined in Annex 2 to these Regulations.
8.2. The main areas of evaluation are:
8.2.1. Scientific Performance
The following are evaluated:
- scientific articles;
- articles in publications indexed in Scopus / Web of Science scientometric databases;
- citation indices;
- other scientific publications.
8.2.2. International Activity
The following are evaluated:
- international scientific projects;
- international grants;
- academic mobility;
- international internships;
- participation in international conferences;
- international scientific cooperation.
8.2.3. Innovation Activity
The following are evaluated:
- patents;
- copyright registration certificates;
- research and development achievements;
- implementation of research results;
- startups;
- commercial contracts;
- technology transfer.
8.2.4. Development of University Science
The following are evaluated:
- participation in organizing scientific events;
- activities in scientific societies;
- popularization of science;
- participation in developing the scientific reputation of the University.
8.3. During the evaluation, the following are taken into account:
- level of the scientific result;
- its novelty;
- practical significance;
- international recognition;
- candidate's personal contribution.
8.4. In the case of co-authorship, the Competition Committee shall take into account the candidate's confirmed personal contribution.
8.5. The Competition Committee has no right to consider circumstances not provided for by these Regulations or the rating evaluation system.
9. Determination of Laureates
9.1. Based on the evaluation results, the Competition Committee forms a ranking list of candidates.
9.2. Candidates who score the highest number of points in accordance with the rating evaluation system are recognized as Laureates of the Award.
9.3. The decision of the Competition Committee is formalized in minutes.
The minutes shall specify:
- date of the meeting;
- list of attendees;
- voting results;
- number of points of each candidate;
- recommendations regarding the granting of the Award.
10. Payment and Presentation of the Award
10.1. The presentation of the Award is conducted during solemn events of the University.
10.2. Laureates are presented with:
- laureate diploma;
- monetary Award.
10.3. The amounts of the Awards specified in paragraph 3.1 of these Regulations are guaranteed sums paid to the laureates.
10.4. The payment of the Award is carried out by the University by transferring funds to the bank accounts of the laureates in accordance with the requirements of the legislation of Ukraine.
10.5. In case of a shortage of targeted financing funds, the University has the right to postpone the payment deadline of the Award until the required funds are received.
10.6. Information about the laureates is posted:
- on the University website;
- on social networks;
- on other information resources.
11. Appeal
11.1. A candidate has the right to submit a reasoned appeal regarding a violation of the competition procedure.
11.2. An appeal cannot concern:
- scientific evaluation of results;
- professional opinion of the Competition Committee members.
11.3. An appeal shall be submitted within ten calendar days following the announcement of the results.
11.4. An appeal is considered by the Council of Young Scientists within twenty calendar days.
11.5. Based on the results of the review, the Council of Young Scientists may:
- leave the decision unchanged;
- refer the materials to the Competition Committee for re-consideration.
12. Competition Deadlines
12.1. The competition is held annually based on the results of the candidates' scientific activity during the reporting calendar year.
12.2. The reporting period is the calendar year from January 1 to December 31, based on the results of which the candidates' scientific achievements are evaluated.
12.3. The competition is held during Q1-Q2 of the year following the reporting year.
12.4. Annually, by September 15, the Council of Young Scientists adopts a decision to announce the competition, which determines:
- deadlines for accepting documents;
- date of the Competition Committee meeting;
- date for summarizing the competition results;
- date of Award presentation.
12.5. Acceptance of documents lasts no less than 20 calendar days.
12.6. The Competition Committee completes the evaluation of candidates and executes the minutes no later than 30 calendar days after the end of document acceptance.
12.7. Competition results are published on the official University website no later than three working days after the decision is adopted.
12.8. Submitting an appeal does not suspend the Award presentation procedure, unless otherwise specified by the decision of the Council of Young Scientists.
12.9. If an appeal is satisfied, the Council of Young Scientists adopts a decision to re-consider the materials by the Competition Committee or to amend the decision regarding the determination of laureates in accordance with the conclusions of the appeal review.
13. Final Provisions
13.1. These Regulations are approved by the Academic Council of the University and enacted by order of the Rector.
13.2. Amendments and additions to these Regulations are made in the manner established for their adoption.
13.3. In matters not regulated by these Regulations, the Council of Young Scientists is guided by:
- the Constitution of Ukraine;
- the Civil Code of Ukraine;
- the Tax Code of Ukraine;
- the Law of Ukraine «On Charitable Activity and Charitable Organizations»;
- the Law of Ukraine «On Scientific and Scientific-Technical Activity»;
- the Law of Ukraine «On Education»;
- the Law of Ukraine «On Higher Education»;
- the Law of Ukraine «On Personal Data Protection»;
- other regulatory acts of Ukraine.
Annex 1
ANNEX 2
ANNEX 3
ANNEX 4
