Abstract
The article presents the results of an analysis of the educational needs of IT students as a basis for developing a methodology for the formation of research competence using artificial intelligence (AI) in the digital environment of the university. The relevance of the study is determined by the need to adapt the structure of research competence to the conditions of digital transformation of education and the active implementation of AI technologies. The aim of the study is to identify the educational needs and motivational factors of students in order to develop the theoretical and methodological foundations for the formation of research competence. Modern approaches to the structure of research competence in the context of digital transformation of education are analyzed. The integration of basic and digitally oriented components of research competence is examined. The stages of conducting an online survey using the Google Forms platform and the methods of descriptive statistics aimed at identifying motivational factors, purposes of using AI tools, interest in entrepreneurial activity, and priority educational needs are described. The results indicate the predominance of instrumental motivation over cognitive motivation, the dominance of information-search activities when using AI, a high level of interest in idea generation within the innovative component, as well as significant potential for the development of the entrepreneurial component of research competence. The theoretical and practical significance of the study lies in expanding the structure of research competence and in the possibility of designing an adaptive educational environment. Conclusions are drawn regarding the need for the targeted formation of all components of research competence, taking into account the educational needs of students.