Kyiv Academic University (KAU) is a new Ukrainian research-intensive university with a rich history. It has been created under the auspices of both the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine and the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine by reformation of the Kyiv branch of Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology (KB MIPT) to meet new challenges. The core mission of KAU is to address pressing societal challenges for revival of Ukrainian science and technology, and the main idea behind KAU is a combination of the research-intensive education system (known in former Soviet Union as "phys-tech system" represented by MIPT) with natural integration to European research area. The research-intensive education implies combination of a top level fundamental education with the earliest involvement of students into world-level research and innovation activities. This requires a system where the most talented Ukrainian students are gathered over the whole country, taught math and physics to the highest level, and further encouraged to build a personal education trajectory to early scientific career by connecting them to the most active and internationally recognized research group leaders working in the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine.