In the Soviet Union it was known as I. V. Kurchatov Institute of Atomic Energy (Russian: Институт Атомной Энергии им.

2 of the USSR Academy of Sciences", the Kurchatov Institute was founded in 1943 with the initial purpose of developing nuclear weapons.

After the transformation into the State Scientific Center in November 1991, the institute became subordinated directly to the Russian government.

In February 2007, the Kurchatov Institute won the tender to be the main organization coordinating efforts in nanotechnology in Russia.

The Kurchatov Institute is also in charge of coordinating Russia's participation in international large-scale projects such as the X-ray laser research facility European XFEL in Hamburg and the Facility for Antiproton and Ion Research (FAIR) in Darmstadt, both Germany, the international fusion reactor project ITER in Cadarache and the European Synchrotron Radiation Facility (ESRF) in Grenoble (both France) and the particle physics research center CERN in France and Switzerland.