Naukograd (, also technopole), meaning "science city", is a formal term for towns with high concentrations of research and development facilities in Russia and the Soviet Union, some specifically built by the Soviet Union for these purposes. Some of the towns were secret and were part of a larger system of closed cities in the USSR, many built by forced labour from the Soviet Gulag.
In modern-day Russian Federation, the term naukograd refers to 12 inhabited localities and 1 municipality which have been granted a special status and privileges for their "high scientific and technical potential" and "for having a formational scientific—industrial complex" (according to a 1995 State Duma bill).Федеральный закон «О статусе наукограда Российской Федерации» Of the 13 naukograds, eight are located in Moscow Oblast and the rest are scattered across 5 regions (Altai Krai, Kaluga Oblast, Novosibirsk Oblast, Tambov Oblast, and the federal city of Moscow). Some still have military connections, such as Fryazino, where advanced radio and electronics devices are developed, but most are now focusing on civilian work with the help of Western aid funds. Some naukograds are operated by the Russian Academy of Sciences, including Chernogolovka, a center for physics and chemistry, and, formerly, Pushchino, a center for microbiology and biochemistry.
The first town to be officially designated "naukograd" in 2000 was Obninsk, a town with many nuclear and other special materials, meteorological and medical research facilities. Two others followed in 2001: Dubna, an international nuclear research centre and Korolyov, where many space research facilities are located. In 2003 Koltsovo, near Akademgorodok, originally the home of the biowarfare centre Vector but now a centre for pharmaceutical and medical research, Reutov, Fryazino, Michurinsk were also granted the status of naukograd, with even more towns being receiving the status in the following years.
List of naukograds of Russia As of 2026, 11 towns, 1 work settlement and 1 have been officially designated the status of naukograd: NameRegionDate the status was granted/renewedSourceBiyskAltai Krai21.11.200529.03.201130.12.201501.01.2017ChernogolovkaMoscow Oblast18.08.200830.06.201430.06.2019Постановление Правительства РФ от 5 июля 2019 года № 862 «О сохранении статуса наукограда Российской Федерации за городским округом Черноголовка (Московская область)»DolgoprudnyMoscow Oblast06.02.2026DubnaMoscow Oblast20.12.2001FryazinoMoscow Oblast29.12.2003KoltsovoNovosibirsk Oblast17.01.2003KorolyovMoscow Oblast12.04.2001MichurinskTambov Oblast04.11.2003ObninskKaluga Oblast06.05.2000ReutovMoscow Oblast29.12.2003Serpukhov Urban OkrugMoscow Oblast24.07.2024TroitskMoscow, Troitsky administrative Okrug29.01.200707.09.201207.09.2017ZhukovskyMoscow Oblast29.01.200719.11.201219.11.2017
See also Closed city List of closed cities College town
References
External links Secret Cities