A branch of the Moscow Center of Fundamental and Applied Mathematics at Lomonosov Moscow State University (hereinafter referred to as the Center) announces a contest for the implementation of initiative projects on the following topics:
- «Theoretical Mathematics»
- «Computational Mathematics»
- «High Performance Computing»
- «Math modeling»
- «Fundamental and Applied Mechanics»
The research planned for implementation by the research teams should comply with the Decree of the President of the Russian Federation dated June 18, 2024, No. 529 “On Approval of Priority Areas of Scientific and Technological Development and the List of the Most Important Science-Intensive Technologies” and the Decree of the President dated February 28, 2024, No. 145 “On the Strategy of Scientific and Technological Development of the Russian Federation”. It is necessary to specify one or more priority areas and the most important knowledge-intensive technology(s) to which the expected result corresponds.
Applications are accepted at positioncontest@mathcenter.ru and info@mathcenter.ru in e-mail form. The competition is open to groups already working at the Center, as well as groups new to the Center.
In accordance with the above-mentioned decrees, the application should describe the socio-economic effect and contribution to the priority areas of scientific and technological development of the Russian Federation and the most important high-tech technologies.
For research teams previously affiliated with the Center in 2025:
Applications are submitted via a simplified form. It must include the project title; a list of team members specifying their exact dates of birth, age as of the end of 2026, primary place of employment and position, and academic degrees and titles; the title of the project completed by the team at the Center in 2025; and the expected results for 2026, including the planned number of articles in the first and second level publications of the “White List”.
When determining the number of articles in the first and second level publications of the “White List”, the following are considered: articles that include at least one author affiliated with the organization on whose basis the Center was established and who is an employee of the Center, contain a reference to financial support, and were published no later than December 31, 2026. If a joint article is written by members of different Center teams, it will be counted for only one team; other teams will report the actual number of articles excluding the joint publication. The team composition must include at least 50% of researchers who are team members aged 39 or younger (inclusive) as of the end of 2026. A student may only be considered a young researcher if they have publications in the first and second level publications of the “White List” journals within the last 3 years. The inclusion of promising young researchers – team members holding an academic degree, aged 39 or younger (inclusive) as of the end of 2026, and who have published at least 3 articles in "White List" journals over the last 3 years – is encouraged.
The application deadline is April 1, 2026 inclusive, and the results of the competition will be announced by April 25, 2026.
For new applicants to the competition: the application is submitted in free form; it must contain the specific title of the research the team plans to conduct, a team list indicating exact dates of birth, age as of the end of 2026, and the place and position of primary employment, as well as a description of the professional level of the head and team members, including information on academic degrees and titles, key results and publications over the past 5 years, information on previously completed projects and grants, citation indices, and any other additional information that the applicants consider important to report. Additionally, the application must briefly characterize the expected results, their relevance and significance, their compliance with international standards, and the planned number of articles in the first and second level publications of the “White List”. The availability of necessary resources should be noted, and other necessary information about the project may also be included. The volume of the application should not exceed 5 pages.
When determining the number of articles in the first and second level publications of the “White List”, articles are taken into account that include at least one author affiliated with the organization on whose basis the Center was established and who is an employee of the Center, contain a reference to financial support, and are published no later than December 31, 2026. In the case of a joint article written by employees of different teams within the Center, it is counted for only one team; other Center teams shall indicate the actual number of articles excluding the joint publication. The team must consist of at least 50% researchers (team members) aged 39 or younger inclusive as of the end of 2026. A student may only be considered a young researcher if they have publications in the first and second level publications of the “White List” journals within the last 3 years. If the team leader is a young scientist himself and moves to the Center on a full-time basis, his salary will be paid on top of the amount won by the team. The presence of a foreign scientist in the team is welcome (the scientist will have to enter the Russian Federation at least for a short period of time on a work visa), his/her salary will be discussed separately and will be paid in excess of the amount won by the team. The presence in the team of promising young researchers—participants holding an academic degree, aged 39 or younger inclusive as of the end of 2026, and who have published at least 3 articles in "White List" journals over the last 3 years—is encouraged.
The application deadline is April 1, 2026 inclusive, and the results of the competition will be announced by April 25, 2026.
When compiling the list of planned publications for 2026, please pay close attention to the formatting requirements. In accordance with the regulations, each article must include an acknowledgment of the source of financial support—a grant from the Ministry of Science and Higher Education of the Russian Federation—specifying the Agreement number. Mentioning other Russian federal budgetary sources (e.g., RSF, ARF, etc.) in the same publication is not permitted.
Example of acknowledgment:
In Russian:
«Статья подготовлена при финансовой поддержке Министерства науки и высшего образования в рамках программы Московского центра фундаментальной и прикладной математики по Соглашению № 075-15-2025-345»
In English:
«The work was supported by the Ministry of Education and Science of the Russian Federation as part of the program of the Moscow Center for Fundamental and Applied Mathematics under the Agreement No. 075-15-2025-345»
The maximum possible amount of requested funding is up to 3 million rubles, this money can be spent only on staff salaries. Travel and other items of expenditure will be financed from the Center's funds in excess of the won amount upon separate motivated requests.