The article examines socio-economic transformations that had an ambiguous impact on the formation and development of the system of higher education institutions in Ukraine. It has been confirmed that there are positive trends in the development of higher educational institutions and the expansion of their academic freedom, the reform of state administration, the introduction of new forms of education, the modernization of specialties and the increase in the number of persons with higher education. It was determined that in accordance with the needs of the development of the economy and society, higher education, as well as research activities, should ensure the training of a specialist for the relevant field of the national economy, capable of adaptation, creative and critical thinking, generating new ideas and actions in a new situation. That is, higher education is assigned the role of a key factor in creating prerequisites for ensuring the competitiveness of the national economy. For this, higher education itself must become attractive and competitive not only on the national, but also on the world market of educational services. The issue of the organization of research work of students of higher education as the main component of the professional characteristics of a future specialist has been studied, the essence and meaning of the concept “research work of students of higher education” has been revealed. The level of organization of scientific and research work of higher education applicants in the country is analyzed. It should be noted that the main thing in the organization of scientific research work is arming students of higher education with scientific research methods. The most common methods are theoretical analysis of methodical and special literature, observation, experiment. It has been proven that scientific research is of exceptional importance for the development of all strategic areas of higher education institutions: ensuring quality training of specialists, deepening international educational and scientific activities, improving the system of training and certification of scientific and scientific-pedagogical personnel, development of innovative activities. Thus, the clear organization of research work of students of higher education in the educational process of institutions of higher education contributes to the deepening of assimilation of professional educational disciplines by students of higher education, allows to fully express their individuality, to form their own opinion about the problems of today. Keywords higher education, management of scientific and research work, students of higher education, development strategy, scientific activity, economic development.