The Ethiopian Nuclear Energy Commission, in collaboration with the Ministry of Education, announced in a statement that registration has begun for qualified Ethiopian applicants for the 2026/27 academic year. Selected students will study at science and engineering institutions in Russia for both undergraduate and graduate degrees.
This promising educational opportunity follows a historic agreement between the governments of Ethiopia and Russia regarding a nuclear development project, as well as the country’s recent series of policy measures in the sector.
According to the information released by the Commission, the main fields of study include Nuclear Power Engineering Technology and the design and management of technological systems for nuclear power plants.
For undergraduate applicants, it is required that they are no older than 20 years old and have a secondary school leaving exam score above 500. For graduate applicants, they must be no older than 30 years old and must have graduated with high marks in science and engineering fields.
Additionally, the announcement states that applicants can send their documents via the Commission’s email within 5 consecutive days. It also calls for female applicants to be encouraged to apply.
This plan to build human resources was put into action after the Council of Ministers unanimously approved the regulation to establish the Ethiopian Nuclear Energy Commission at its 49th regular meeting.
The Commission was established with the responsibility of leading and coordinating the country's use of nuclear technology for peaceful purposes—such as electric power, industry, food security, health, and research—in accordance with international frameworks.
Following the establishment of the Commission, during the World Atomic Week conference held in September, an action plan agreement for the nuclear development project was signed in the presence of Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed and Russian President Vladimir Putin.
At that time, the CEO of Rosatom, Alexey Likhachev, and the Ethiopian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Gedion Timothewos, exchanged the signed documents. The agreement aimed to combine Russian nuclear experts with trained Ethiopian manpower to build a model of nuclear technology for Africa.
It is recalled that in a previous speech, Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed announced that one of the six massive mega-projects that Ethiopia will begin in the next few years, at a cost of 30 billion dollars, is a "nuclear power plant for peaceful purposes only."
The student training that has now begun is known to be the first practical step of this massive national plan.
