Annual summaries and strategic guidelines: UzhNU Presents Rector's Report

On Tuesday, January 20, during a meeting of the UzhNU staff conference, the university's rector, Volodymyr Smolanka, presented a report on the university's work in 2025. For the staff of Uzhhorod National University, last year was marked by the celebration of the 80th anniversary of the institution's founding. An anniversary is always a good opportunity to reflect on the path taken, summarize achievements, analyze key stages of development, and define strategic guidelines for further progress, outlining the best ways to overcome current challenges and implement ambitious plans in the context of the war for the preservation of statehood and independence.

The 2025 admission campaign was conducted in accordance with a one-time Procedure for admission to higher education with a number of features: specified deadlines for enrollment of applicants (until October 20 for bachelors, masters, and doctors of philosophy, until November 1 for foreigners); complete digitization of procedures (personal electronic office of the applicant, electronic signature, electronic registers of privileged categories, control of military registration documents); clear requirements for the results of entrance examinations depending on the level of education (NMT, Unified Entrance Examination, Unified Professional Entrance Examination, Unified Entrance Examination, professional exams); targeted distribution of places, restrictions on the number of applications and competitive scores for certain specialties, as well as the continuation of the student grant support program.

In 2025, the admission campaign of Uzhhorod National University showed stable demand for higher education at all educational levels and forms of study.

In the reporting year, the admission campaign covered 15,425 people. Full-time education was chosen by 12,635 applicants, distance learning by 166, and part-time education by 2,624. The largest category of applicants remained those with complete secondary education — 12,491 people, which is 141% of the 2024 figure. Based on a junior specialist diploma, 669 people enrolled at UzhNU, which is 16% higher than in 2024. Enrollment based on already obtained higher education also remained in demand: based on a bachelor's degree — 2,144, and based on a master's degree — 121.

Overall, the results of the 2025 admission campaign indicate a continued high level of confidence in UzhNU as a leading regional higher education institution and the steady development of the university amid the transformation of the educational landscape.

One of the important criteria for the success of modern universities is their inclusion and positioning in international rankings.

In the fall, the influential Times Higher Education World University Rankings 2025 were published. Uzhhorod National University ranks 1501st among the best universities in the world and is one of the best Ukrainian universitiesIn 2025, the University Impact Rankings of 2,526 universities from 130 countries were published. Its purpose is to analyze the impact of higher education on the development of society and the achievement of the UN's sustainable development goals. The ranking takes into account the achievements of universities in fulfilling each of the 17 goals and also forms a general list of University Impact Rankings.Uzhhorod National University ranks 1001–1500, in particular 4th among Ukrainian higher education institutions, sharing the step with 10 other universities.UzhNU was included for the second time in the Interdisciplinary Science Rankings (ISR) global university ranking, which assesses the contribution of higher education institutions to interdisciplinary scientific research. In total, 911 universities from 94 countries were included in the list this year, including 15 Ukrainian universities.

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