National Research Nuclear University MEPhI (Moscow Engineering Physics Institute)
Национальный исследовательский ядерный университет «МИФИ»
Moscow's nuclear physics and engineering university, with its own research reactor and entry scores near the top of the EGE scale.
- Tuition
- RUB 506K
- From · 2026-27
- Founded
- 1942
- QS World Ranking
- #626
- 2027 edition
- Campus
- Urban
About MEPhI
MEPhI was founded in Moscow in 1942 as the Moscow Mechanical Institute of Munitions to train specialists for the new nuclear industry. It became the Moscow Engineering Physics Institute in 1953 and, in 2009, one of Russia's first national research universities under its current name. The main campus is at Kashirskoye Shosse 31 in the south of the city.
The university describes itself as the leading Russian university for training engineers and researchers for the nuclear industry, and it works closely with the state corporation Rosatom. Teaching is organised into institutes and faculties covering nuclear physics and engineering, laser and plasma technologies, biomedical physics, nanoelectronics, cyber-intelligence systems, cyber-physical systems, financial technologies and economic security, business informatics and international relations. The Moscow campus has about 7,200 students, and a network of branch institutes extends to other Russian cities.
Admission to Russian-language places is highly competitive: in 2025 the lowest passing totals for state-funded places in Moscow ranged from 259 to 305 points, with average EGE scores of roughly 88 to 98 per subject. Most bachelor's and specialist degrees are taught in Russian, so MEPhI suits students with strong mathematics and physics who are prepared to study in Russian, or to spend a preparatory year learning it first.
Why students choose MEPhI
MEPhI runs its own IRT-2000 pool-type research reactor (2.5 MW, launched in 1967), which students tour and use for thesis projects.
The curriculum is built around nuclear physics and engineering, with degrees such as Nuclear Physics and Technologies, Nuclear Reactors and Materials, and Nuclear Power Plants: Design, Operation and Engineering.
The university counts six Nobel laureates who studied or worked there, including MEPhI graduate Nikolay Basov and Pavel Cherenkov.
Its institutes contribute to large international physics projects, including the ITER fusion reactor and the ALICE and ATLAS experiments at CERN.
Admissions
2027 entry (bachelor's and specialist programmes)
Selectivity
MEPhI does not publish an overall acceptance rate. It publishes passing scores instead: for 2025 state-funded places in Moscow, the lowest admitted totals ranged from 259 (Materials Science and Technology) to 305 (Applied Mathematics and Informatics), with average EGE scores of about 88 to 98, and some programmes were filled entirely by olympiad winners admitted without entrance exams.
Typical entry requirements
| Russian EGE (state-funded places, Moscow, 2026 minimums) | At least 75 in each subject exam (e.g. physics and mathematics) and 70 in Russian; 2025 passing totals were 259 to 305 points |
|---|---|
| Russian EGE (fee-paying places, Moscow, 2026 minimums) | At least 70 in each subject exam and 65 in Russian |
| International applicants (fee-paying) | Completed secondary education, with documents legalised or apostilled as required and translated into Russian, plus at least two MEPhI entrance tests; foreign citizens are admitted to the first year only |
| English language | Almost all bachelor's and specialist programmes are taught in Russian, so no English test is required. Applicants without Russian can take a one-year fee-paying Preparatory Training Program (Russian language plus mathematics, physics and other subjects) in Moscow or Obninsk. A few bachelor's tracks at the Obninsk campus, such as Nuclear Technologies and Radiation Technologies in Life Sciences, are listed as taught in English. |
Deadlines
- State-funded places: applicants taking MEPhI's own entrance tests (2026 cycle, past) Non-binding Passed10 July 2026
Applications opened on 20 June 2026. The 2027 schedule has not been published yet.
- State-funded places: applicants using EGE results only (2026 cycle, past) Non-binding Passed25 July 2026
Until 5 pm Moscow time. Consents to enrol were due on 1 August (priority stage) and 5 August (main stage).
- Fee-paying places: main stage, applicants taking entrance tests (2026 cycle, past) Non-binding Passed9 August 2026
Applicants not taking entrance tests had until 12 August; tuition contracts were due on 14 August.
- Fee-paying places: additional stage, if places remain (2026 cycle, past) Non-binding Passed17 August 2026
21 August for applicants not taking entrance tests; enrolment orders were published on 29 August.
All dates shown are from the 2026 admission campaign and have passed; MEPhI has not yet published its 2027 schedule. In 2026, applications opened on 20 June. Government-quota applicants follow the separate Rossotrudnichestvo selection timetable.
How to apply
Russian applicants apply to the MEPhI Admission Commission with their EGE results and rank their chosen programmes by priority. International applicants can apply directly to MEPhI for a fee-paying place (passport, medical and HIV certificates, school certificates with notarised Russian translations, and apostille or legalisation where required), or for a free state-funded place through the Russian government quota by applying on education-in-russia.com and through the Rossotrudnichestvo office or Russian embassy in their country. Citizens of Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan, and eligible compatriots, compete on equal terms with Russian citizens.
What admissions looks for
- High EGE results in the programme's subjects: for 2026 state-funded places, at least 75 in each subject exam and 70 in Russian.
- Strong mathematics and physics, which are the core entrance subjects for nearly every engineering and physics programme.
- Olympiad success: winners and prize-winners of recognised olympiads can be admitted without entrance exams, and several 2025 programmes were filled this way.
- Individual achievements, which MEPhI adds to the ranking total under its admission rules.
- For international applicants, results in MEPhI's own entrance tests and enough Russian to study, or completion of the preparatory year.
Tips for applying to MEPhI
- 1 Check the previous years' passing scores page: in 2025 Applied Mathematics and Informatics needed 305 points, while Materials Science and Technology needed 259.
- 2 If you apply through the Russian government quota, list MEPhI first among your up to six universities; MEPhI's admissions page recommends this.
- 3 Look at the Rosatom olympiad and MEPhI's other olympiads, which can lead to admission without entrance exams.
- 4 If you do not speak Russian, plan for the one-year Preparatory Training Program before your degree starts.
- 5 Start document legalisation early: every foreign certificate needs a notarised Russian translation and, depending on the country, an apostille or consular legalisation.
Costs & financial aid
2026-27 · figures in RUB
Students admitted to state-funded places pay no tuition, and international students can compete for free places through the Russian government quota run by Rossotrudnichestvo. Fee-paying Russian students can take government-supported education loans (Sberbank and other banks), with an optional add-on for living costs, and maternity capital can be used to pay fees.
- 110% of the standard fee
- Fee for citizens of visa-regime countries
- Up to 12 subsistence minimums a year for living costs
- Government-supported education loan add-on
Academics
Academic calendar: Two semesters (autumn and spring)
Nuclear Physics and Technologies (BSc)
MEPhI's founding field, with tracks from particle physics and cosmology to particle accelerators and cosmic-ray physics; 300,000 RUB per semester for fee-paying Russian students.
Nuclear Power Plants: Design, Operation and Engineering (Specialist)
A 5.5-year specialist degree whose 2025 state-funded passing score was 285 points.
Applied Mathematics and Informatics (BSc)
MEPhI's most competitive programme in 2025, with a passing score of 305 and an average EGE score of 97.4.
High-tech Plasma and Power Installations (BSc)
Tracks in laser thermonuclear fusion and in controlled fusion and plasma technologies.
General Medicine (Specialist)
A six-year medical degree at a physics-focused university, run by the Institute for Physics and Engineering in Biomedicine.
Nuclear Technologies (BSc, Obninsk)
One of the few MEPhI bachelor's tracks listed as taught in English, at the Obninsk campus.
Research
- The IRT-2000 pool-type research reactor (2.5 MW, launched in 1967) is used for neutron and radiation physics, materials research and research into neutron capture cancer therapy.
- MEPhI institutes work with CERN, the IAEA, the Kurchatov Institute and Rosatom, and contribute to ITER and to the ALICE and ATLAS experiments.
- Nikolay Basov received the 1964 Nobel Prize in Physics for quantum electronics while working at MEPhI, where he later founded the Department of Quantum Electronics.
Schools & faculties
- Institute of Nuclear Physics and Engineering
- Institute for Laser and Plasma Technologies
- Institute for Physics and Engineering in Biomedicine
- Institute of Nanoengineering in Electronics, Spintronics and Photonics
- Institute of Cyber Intelligence Systems
- Institute of Cyber-Physical Systems
- Institute for Financial Technologies and Economic Security
- Institute of International Relations
- Faculty for Business Informatics and Integrated Systems Management
- Higher Engineering School
Student life
Student life centres on the main campus at Kashirskoye Shosse, with university dormitories nearby on Moskvorechye Street and Koshkina Street. The university has a student sports club called Reaktor, a men's academic choir, the ESTA-MEPhI dance studio, a vocal studio, a poets' club and student work brigades. The first two years concentrate on core mathematics and physics, so the workload is demanding. International students are supported by a Faculty of Foreign Students, which runs the preparatory year and helps with visas, migration registration and settling in.
- Student sports club Reaktor
- Academic men's choir and the ESTA-MEPhI dance studio
- A Faculty of Foreign Students with a one-year preparatory programme and visa support
- School olympiads, including the Rosatom olympiad, that can lead to admission without entrance exams
Housing. MEPhI has apartment-style and corridor-style dormitories in Moscow, mostly on Moskvorechye Street; state-funded students who live outside a defined zone around the university are offered a dormitory place on application.
Location
MEPhI's main campus is on Kashirskoye Shosse in the south of Moscow, in the Moskvorechye-Saburovo district. Moscow is Russia's capital and largest city and has an extensive metro system. International students must complete migration registration and hold medical insurance after arrival, and should check current visa and travel arrangements before planning their move.
Nearest airport: Moscow Domodedovo Airport (DME)
Notable alumni
- NB Nikolay BasovNobel Prize in Physics 1964 for quantum electronics (masers and lasers); entered MEPhI in 1945 and graduated in 1950
- YO Yuri OganessianNuclear physicist after whom element 118, oganesson, is named; graduated from MEPhI in 1956
- SA Sergei AvdeyevCosmonaut who spent about 748 days in space; graduated as an engineer-physicist in 1979
- AL Anatoly LarkinTheoretical physicist known for work on superconductivity; educated at MEPhI
- II Igor IrodovPhysicist and author of widely used general-physics problem books; graduated with honours in 1950
- LO Lev OkunTheoretical physicist who coined the term hadron; graduated in 1953 from the Moscow Mechanical Institute, MEPhI's earlier name
Frequently asked questions
How hard is it to get into MEPhI?
State-funded places are very competitive: in 2025 the Moscow passing totals ranged from 259 to 305 points across three EGE exams, with average scores of about 88 to 98 per subject. MEPhI does not publish an overall acceptance rate.
Are MEPhI degrees taught in English?
Mostly not: nearly all bachelor's and specialist programmes are taught in Russian. A few tracks at the Obninsk campus, such as Nuclear Technologies, are listed as English-taught, and students without Russian can take a one-year preparatory programme.
How much does MEPhI cost for international students?
Fees for 2026/27 are set per semester, and citizens of visa-regime countries pay 110% of the standard fee, which works out to about 506,000 to 880,000 RUB a year at the Moscow campus. Students admitted through the government quota pay no tuition.
What is the MEPhI application deadline for 2027?
The 2027 dates have not been published yet. In 2026, applications opened on 20 June and closed on 10 July for applicants taking MEPhI's own tests, on 25 July for EGE-only applicants, and on 9 to 12 August for fee-paying places.
Can international students study at MEPhI for free?
Yes, through the Russian government quota: you apply on education-in-russia.com and are selected by Rossotrudnichestvo or the Russian embassy in your country. MEPhI advises listing it first among the up to six universities you can choose.
Sources & methodology
Figures on this page were checked against official university publications, national application services and ranking publishers in September 2026. Each number is shown with the year or admissions cycle it describes. Always confirm deadlines and fees on the university's own website before applying.
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