President of National University Kyiv Aviation Institute (KAI) Kseniia Semenova states that KAI aims to be similar to Finland’s Aalto University, Technical University of Munich, or Delft University of Technology, but over the next 2-4 years will compete for students with universities in the Czech Republic, Slovakia, and Poland.
"We have benchmarks of what we would like to be. For example, Aalto University in Finland, the Technical University of Munich, or Delft University of Technology. These are large technical universities that have educational expertise, are built around scientific research, and are very innovative and entrepreneurial. Aalto has a great system for monetizing scientific research, startups, and science parks. Their student environment is very entrepreneurial," Semenova said in an exclusive interview with the Interfax-Ukraine agency, answering a question about which Western universities KAI looks up to.
She also noted that Massachusetts Institute of Technology is better at this, but American culture is completely different, and KAI draws inspiration from their student community building and the idea that sports teams should be a standalone brand.
"Over the next 2-4 years, we will obviously compete not with Delft, but with universities in the Czech Republic, Slovakia, and Poland—specifically to keep our students from going there to study," the president added.
She stated that when the new team took over the university’s management, it was in an unsatisfactory condition, whereas today KAI has funds in its budget, new projects, and a management system with a supervisory board that makes systemic corruption impossible.
"We started bringing major research projects here. We have two Erasmus+ projects where we are leaders, two new Horizon research projects, and six project-based PhD program projects," the president reported.
According to her, following the implementation of the experiment to strengthen university autonomy, it became possible to fundamentally change the approach to academic integrity.
"This was coordinated by the supervisory board. Because at the faculty level, interpersonal ties are so close that you feel like you cannot accuse a colleague of plagiarism, deny them the opportunity to supervise a diploma thesis, or remove them from heading a department for being a plagiarist, because you have worked together all your lives. When this policy is dictated by the supervisory board, you have no other choice. Therefore, regarding everything related to integrity—from eliminating all grey corruption schemes that were here to academic integrity—we checked everyone working at the university for plagiarism. Those holding leadership positions were removed from those roles and transferred to professor positions," Semenova said.
She also noted that over two years, eight large laboratories were opened at KAI in partnership with businesses, with another 10 already under contract.
"Meaning by the end of this academic year, we will have 20 new laboratories opened without a single penny of state funding, on the basis of which the educational programs at our faculties have been completely restarted," she added.
Furthermore, she highlighted a significant breakthrough in research projects, noting growth in the Hirsch index and citations in Scopus.
"We won many international and state scientific projects. Our grant activity increased significantly. We focused our activities very well and found who we are: an aviation, Defense Tech, engineering university. This positioning worked. Throughout the experiment, the number of applicants to our core specialties has been growing—aviation transport, aircraft, rocket and space technology, and electronics. Everything technical related to Defense is growing very strongly in popularity," the president reported.
She emphasized that she was very pleased with the 2026 admissions campaign, especially in core specialties.
Among other things, she highlighted achievements in higher education management reform, particularly the benefits of changing the organizational and legal form to a state non-profit enterprise.
"We worked with the government and ministries on various opportunities offered by this organizational form. For example, our property lease revenues are now split not 50% to the budget and 50% to the university, but 90% for university development and 10% to the state budget. In addition, other universities have an exhaustive list of services they can provide, whereas we do not. We are currently working on a graded remuneration system that we will further propose to the government as a model for higher education institutions. This is precisely the achievement that will have a long-term impact on the higher education system," Semenova said.
She stressed that all the listed successes of the university would not have been possible under the old management system.
"Even if the ministry had appointed me rector, it would not have depended solely on my personality. The supervisory board provided a lot of understanding on how to set up business processes. For example, in HR, we conducted ‘360 evaluations’ several times—something that is never done in universities but is standard for business. We never had open public competitions for top managers, and they would have been impossible in the old management system. Business trust would also have been impossible because all businesses have had negative experiences interacting with typical budget institutions and universities in the past. Any of their creative ideas turned into ‘accounting said it is illegal.’ So under the management system we had before, such results would have been impossible," the president emphasized.
As reported, in September 2024, the Cabinet of Ministers launched an experimental project in three universities to strengthen the role of supervisory boards. Specifically, participants in the experiment included National Aviation University (NAU), which was reorganized into the state non-profit enterprise National University Kyiv Aviation Institute (KAI), as well as Zaporizhia National University and Vasyl Stefanyk Precarpathian National University.
In April 2024, Kyiv City Council member Kseniia Semenova was appointed acting rector of the then National Aviation University. In August 2025, following elections by the supervisory board, Semenova was elected president of the reformed State Enterprise Kyiv Aviation Institute.
