From June 6 to September 2, 2022, the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine and the Latvian Science Council announce a competition for joint Ukrainian-Latvian research projects for implementation in 2023-2024. The competition is open to any research groups of higher education institutions, scientific institutions of both countries.
Priority areas: energy and energy efficiency; ecology and rational nature management, including marine research, in particular, research on the pollution of sea water areas by chemicals and microplastics; new technologies for the prevention and treatment of the most common diseases, research in the field of biotechnology, bioengineering and genetics; new materials; social sciences and humanities.
To participate in the competition, one needs to submit the following documents.
- Cover Letter. Requirements: on the letterhead of the applicant institution, addressed to the Deputy Minister for European Integration Oleksii Shkuratov, a text in arbitrary form indicating the name of the joint project, priority direction, names and surnames of the Ukrainian and Latvian scientific supervisors, a list of attachments. It is necessary to note that research on the topic of the project is not financed from the state budget within the framework of other competitions.
- Application form for participation in the competition. Requirements: bilingual (completed consecutively in Ukrainian and English in one file). Requirements for all points of the application are given in the application file.
- Letter of confirmation from the Latvian project supervisor partner. Requirements: on the letterhead of the partner institution, addressed to the head of the applicant institution, a text in an arbitrary form indicating the name of the joint project, which must match the name of the project in the application form, the names and surnames of the Latvian and Ukrainian scientific supervisors.
- Expert report on the open publication of materials on the topic of the project. Requirements: the institution’s expert commission approves the conclusion, which states that the materials of the project proposal do not contain information prohibited for open publication; the text is in an arbitrary form.
- CV of the Ukrainian and Latvian scientific supervisors of the project. Requirements: the CV of a supervisor from Ukraine is drawn up in two languages – Ukrainian and English, the CV of a supervisor from Latvia is sufficient only in English.
- Fill out the Google questionnaire, to which you must add the completed application in *.doc and *.pdf formats. It is better to fill out the Google questionnaire after preparing all the specified documents.
Due to the state of war, the specified documents are submitted by the contestant in electronic form (scanned copies of the originals in *.pdf format) to the e-mail address: shevtsova@mon.gov.ua. All the documents listed in the requirements are sent in one letter once with the appropriate name of the letter. The deadline for submission is September 2, 2022 (until 5:00 p.m.). The organizers will consider only those applications that are completed in accordance with the specified requirements and were sent on time.
The participant of the competition, recognized as the winner according to the results of the competition, is obliged to submit the original documents in paper form.
One and the same person can be the scientific supervisor of only one project proposal submitted to the competition. Candidates for participation in the competition from the Ukrainian side should make sure that their Latvian partners have submitted an appropriate application to the Latvian Science Council.
Stages of selection:
- verification of documents for compliance with the requirements of the competition;
- transfer of applications for scientific examination;
- conducting scientific examinations in parallel in both countries;
- ranking of the list of projects according to the results of scientific examinations of both parties;
- selection and approval of research projects for financing at a meeting of the Joint Ukrainian-Latvian Commission;
- placing information about the winners of the competition on the website of the Ministry of Education and Science.
Selection criteria:
- scientific relevance;
- scientific quality and innovative nature of the project;
- the ability and competence of temporary scientific teams to implement the project;
- the possibility of conducting joint research and the adequacy of the scientific method;
- experience of participation in international projects and future development of international cooperation;
- infrastructure quality of institutions participating in the project;
- participation in the project of young scientists (under the age of 35);
- possibilities of practical use of project results.
Scientists from the Ukrainian side, in particular project supervisors, must take all necessary measures to protect the scientific, technical and industrial values that belong to them, as well as intellectual property rights. The main attention will be paid to ensure that within the framework of cooperation there is no unplanned transfer of Ukrainian technologies to other countries.
The project proposal should be calculated for 2 years. Funding is allocated for each year separately. Appropriate contracts for the implementation of projects are concluded with the executors every year. The decision to extend funding for the next year is made after reviewing the report for the previous year of work.
The Ministry finances the expenses of Ukrainian scientists during their visit to the Republic of Latvia, namely: travel expenses, accommodation, per diems, the cost of a visa (if necessary), and the cost of a medical insurance policy (the amount of daily expenses and the maximum amount of expenses for renting a living space per day are calculated in accordance with the Decree of CMU dated 02.02.2011 No. 98).
Financial support also includes the wages of Ukrainian participants of the research project. In addition, the contract for the performance (transfer) of scientific research papers between the Ministry of Education and Science and the institution implementing the project provides for items of expenses for the purchase of materials and overhead costs to support the organization where the scientific research project is performed.
Visits of Latvian colleagues are provided at the expense of the Latvian side.
Information about the winners of the competition will be published on the website of the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine in the section “Science” → “European and Euro-Atlantic integration” → “Bilateral scientific competitions” → “Competition results”. Only the winners of the contest will be informed by e-mail at the e-mail indicated in their applications about further steps.
Contacts of the Ukrainian side:
Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine;
Sector of the implementation of international scientific and innovative projects of the main administration for the implementation of policies in the field of science and innovation of the directorate of science and innovation:
Tetiana Volodymyrivna Shevtsova
Phone: (+38044) 287 82 39;
Email: shevtsova@mon.gov.ua.
Andrii Dmytrovych Ostapenko
Phone: (+38044) 287 82 15
Contacts of the Latvian side:
Latvian Council of Science
International Cooperation Programme Projects Department
International Research Programe Unit
Ineta Plikša
Ph.: (+371) 26443380;
Projektu konkursi.
