The aim of the competition is to support young researchers who study the events of the Revolution of Dignity, reflect on their significance for Ukrainian society and explore the stories of people who fought for Ukraine’s freedom.
As Ihor Poshyvailo, Acting Director General of the National Museum of the Revolution of Dignity, noted during a briefing at the Ukraine Crisis Media Center, the competition was established so that the memory of the Heroes of the Heavenly Hundred would be preserved not only in words but also in deeds. From 2018 to 2026, 335 students from 190 educational institutions of Ukraine took part in the competition.
The competition is dedicated to Serhii Kemskyi, a Hero of the Heavenly Hundred, civic activist, political scientist and publicist. He was born in Kerch (Autonomous Republic of Crimea) on November 15 and was an active participant in the Revolution of Dignity. On February 20, 2014, Serhii Kemskyi was killed during the shootings on Instytutska Street.
“It is very important for us that society understands the depth of the self-sacrifice, the self-awareness, the civic feat accomplished by the Heroes of the Heavenly Hundred, which our soldiers are now repeating as they resist Russian aggression,” Ihor Poshyvailo emphasized.
Svitlana Kvitnytska, Member of the Board of the Pylyp Orlyk Foundation, stressed the importance of engaging young people in independent research of history and critical reflection on the past. According to her, the works of participants in previous competitions have shown that students are eager to explore a variety of topics and to take part in socially important processes.
“It is a great honor for the Pylyp Orlyk Foundation to join the organization of the Serhii Kemskyi Student Research Competition. Students are the driving force behind the most important processes in the state. Today we see how much active, thinking young people strive to be free. The Foundation is very glad to support such competitions, because they give young people an opportunity to make their voices heard louder,” said Svitlana Kvitnytska.
Lecturers and academic supervisors also play an important role in preparing high-quality research papers, helping students develop research skills and work with difficult pages of Ukrainian history.
During the briefing, winners of previous years, Kristina But and Anastasiia Kryvenko, shared their experience of taking part in the competition.
Kristina But, winner of the II competition, said that the research she prepared for the Serhii Kemskyi Award influenced the choice of her dissertation topic. Her paper dealt with the construction of media reality around protest movements, in particular the Maidan and the Revolution of Dignity. According to Kristina, taking part in the competition helped her delve deeper into her chosen topic, gave her more confidence and influenced her further professional path.
The winner of the sixth competition, Anastasiia Kryvenko, presented her research “Digital Volunteering: Crowdsourcing in Disaster Medicine.” In her work, she combined historical, social and medical aspects, studying archives, chronicles, memoirs and the mechanisms for coordinating assistance during the Revolution of Dignity. Anastasiia emphasized that working on the topic helped her see science not only as the study of facts and theories, but as the exploration of the experience of living people and of the tools that helped save lives.
Students and postgraduate students of higher education institutions of Ukraine are eligible to take part in the VII All-Ukrainian Competition.
The organizers stress that competition entries must be full-fledged independent research, not formal or artificially generated texts. Plagiarism and misuse of artificial intelligence are not allowed. At the same time, the involvement of lecturers and academic supervisors in preparing participants is welcome.
The competition consists of two stages:
- The first stage is the submission of applications and abstracts. It starts on November 15, 2026, and runs until March 1, 2027.
- The second stage is the preparation and submission of full research papers by participants whose abstracts have passed the selection. It will run from March 20 to July 31, 2027.
From August 1 to 31, 2027, the competition entries will be evaluated by an expert jury. The results of the competition will be announced by October 1, 2027.
This year, the organizers have introduced a mandatory academic webinar for participants who pass the first stage. It will help them get advice on the correct formatting of their research. This is important, because in previous years even high-quality papers lost points due to technical formatting errors.
The registration form and detailed terms of participation will be published on November 15 on the page of the Serhii Kemskyi Award.
The competition is organized by the National Museum of the Revolution of Dignity, the NGO “Family of the Heroes of the Heavenly Hundred” and the Pylyp Orlyk Foundation.
