The main goal of the URAN network is to provide institutions, organizations and establishments of science, education and culture with information and networking services enabling network users to realize their professional needs and contributing to the development of the fields mentioned above. Network is used to perform increasingly diverse tasks such as providing access to information sources, rapid exchange, transmission, storage and processing of data. URAN has been designed and developed to create opportunities for conducting scientific researches, functioning of electronic libraries and virtual laboratories, distance learning, teleconferencing, distant methods of monitoring and telematics, etc.

The URAN Network is hierarchical: in every city of Ukraine which has a significant scientific and educational community a regional PoP is setting up on a base of one of the local universities or research institutions.

Duties of the base institution:

• to maintain permanent contacts with local public authorities and academic institutions,
• to assist in URAN regional operation,
• to participate in elaboration of URAN development projects,
• to form a capital for implementation of such projects at the expense of public funds, international grants, donations (including technical support and equipment), subventions or bounties from state and NGO funds etc.

The main networking operating center is located in Kiev at The Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine. It provides external connections for the whole network and operates it as well as the regional node for Kiev region in particular.

The basic institutions for regional centers are the following:

• National Technical University of Ukraine "Kiev Polytechnic Institute"
• International Scientific Center of Information Technology and System UNESCO of Cybernetics Center of NASU
• National Technical University "Kharkiv Polytechnic Institute"
• National Mining University of Ukraine (Dnipropetrovsk)
• Donetsk National Technical University
• Odessa National Polytechnic University
• Odessa Mechnikov National University
• National University "Lvivska Politekhnika"
• National Vernadsky University (Simpferopol)
• Zaporizhzhya National Technical University
• Kovalevsky Institute of South Seas under NASU (Sevastopol)
• Poltava University of Consumer's Co-operation of Ukraine
• Vinnitsa National Technical University
• Khmelnitsky National University

The first regional nodes in Kyiv, Kharkiv, Dnipropetrovsk, Donetsk, Odessa and Lviv were created during 1997-1998.

Metropolitan area fiber optic networks were built during 1997-2007 in frame of NATO infrastructure grants (NIG 971779 in 1997, NIG 975961 in 2000, NIG 978384 in 2001, NIG 981531 in 2004) and Ministry of education and science of Ukraine contractual work.

Today URAN physically unites more than 60 R&D and educational institutions (140 points of presence) and operates own optical networks in 12 Ukrainian cities 200 km long.