On 20-22 July 2023, at the invitation of the Council of Young Scientists at the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine, a Eurodoc delegation consisting of Eurodoc President Sebastian Dahle, Vice President Pil Maria Saugmann, former Eurodoc President and Consultant to the Council of Young Scientists at the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine, Candidate of Technical Sciences, Associate Professor of the Department of Social Communications and Information Activity of Lviv Polytechnic National University Oleksandr Berezko, and Eurodoc’s External Communications Coordinator, Candidate of Philological Sciences, Associate Professor of the Department of Germanic Philology and Translation of National University “Yuri Kondratyuk Poltava Polytechnic” Anna Pavelieva arrived in Kyiv.
On 20 July 2023, a meeting was held at the premises of the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine with Deputy Minister of Education and Science of Ukraine, Candidate of Physical and Mathematical Sciences Denys Kurbatov, Executive Director of the National Research Foundation of Ukraine, Candidate of Philology Olha Polotska and Director General of the Directorate of Science and Innovation, Candidate of Economics Ihor Taranov, Head of the Expert Group on Integration into the European Research Area of the Directorate of Science and Innovation of the Ministry of Education and Science Hryhorii Mozolevych, Chairman of the Council of Young Scientists at the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine, Doctor of Juridical Sciences Olesia Vashchuk, and First Deputy Chairman of the Council of Young Scientists at the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine, Doctor of Economics Anastasiia Simakhova. During the meeting, the participants agreed to cooperate and to continue supporting science as well as young scientists in Ukraine.
“This visit is a continuation of Eurodocs’ many efforts to support our Ukrainian colleagues and friends since the first days of the invasion. This is particularly important as the higher education sector is not receiving adequate attention in the current international support and recovery schemes for Ukraine,” – said President Sebastian Dahle.
After the meeting, the organisation in its report “Eurodoc visits Ukrainian academia: Recovery must start now” called on the EU to allocate targeted funding to rebuild Ukraine’s research and higher education sectors.
Two working meetings were held at the “Vcentri Hub” communication centre in the context of the Eurodoc delegation’s visit to Ukraine “Science and Higher Education for Ukraine’s Recovery”. First, there was a meeting with Advisor to the Presidential Commissioner for the Presidential Foundation for Support of Education, Science and Sports Olha Budnyk, and Head of the Secretariat of the Presidential Foundation for Support of Education, Science and Sports, expert on the development of educational and technological companies Uliana Avtonomova. The meeting focused on the Foundation’s programmes to support young scientists and the specifics of the Ukrainian academic diaspora.
Afterwards, the Eurodoc delegation met with two Ukrainian people’s deputies – Yulia Ovchynnykova, member of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on Environmental Policy and Nature Management, Chair of the Subcommittee on Forest Resources, Biodiversity, Natural Landscapes, and on the Adaptation of Ukrainian Legislation to EU Law, Roman Hryshchuk, Member of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on Education, Science and Innovation, and Oleh Levchuk, representative of the Secretariat of the Committee on Education, Science and Innovation. During the meeting, the participants discussed support for young scientists in Ukraine, cooperation with Eurodoc, the role of science and scientists in the post-war reconstruction of Ukraine, current challenges for young scientists and ways to develop new mechanisms to support them through joint work of European and Ukrainian institutions. The meeting focused on the most pressing issues that will contribute to the speedy reconstruction of Ukraine. The Eurodoc leaders were briefed on the situation in the field of science and education in Ukraine and outlined ways for cooperation and research development. The President and Vice-President of Eurodoc thanked the people’s deputies for the personal meeting and expressed their hope for further fruitful cooperation to support and develop Ukraine.
The eventful day ended with a walk across the pedestrian bridge between the Arch of Freedom of the Ukrainian people and Volodymyr’s Hill, which offers a spectacular view of the Ukrainian capital.
On 21 July 2023, at the premises of the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine, the Council of Young Scientists of the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine held a roundtable discussion on the role of science and higher education in the restoration of Ukraine, attended by representatives of 17 regional Councils of Young Scientists from 24 regions. The scientists presented the key areas of work of the regional Councils, described the activities carried out by young scientists in Ukraine, challenges and prospects, as well as shared stories about how the war affected the lives and work of Ukrainian educators.
It is symbolic that during the presentation “Eurodoc for Ukrainian scientists” by Pil Maria Saugmann, Vice President of Eurodoc, in which she was talking about the activities carried out by Eurodoc in support of Ukraine, an air raid warning sounded. The meeting with representatives of the regional councils of young scientists continued in the shelter of the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine.
On 22 July 2023, a meeting was held with Hanna Tolstanova, Doctor of Biological Sciences, Professor, Vice-Rector for Research at Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv, who kindly hosted the delegation at her research campus. Over morning coffee, the Eurodocs and Ukrainian scientists shared their thoughts on the differences and similarities between postgraduate and doctoral studies in Ukraine and Europe.
Doctor of Historical Sciences, Professor, Head of the Department of History of Ukraine, Coordinator of International Activities at Berdiansk State Pedagogical University Ihor Lyman gave a tour of the historic city centre.
Then the delegation visited the Museum of Science, where Vasyl Dunets, Head of the Department of Educational Programmes of the National Centre “Junior Academy of Sciences of Ukraine”, affiliated director of Destination Imagination in Ukraine, Candidate of Political Sciences, gave a tour.
During the meeting, the Eurodoc leaders got acquainted with the Museum of Science exhibition and discussed the prospects for further cooperation with the Ukrainian Academy of Sciences and the Museum of Science in joint European projects.
During a subsequent meeting at the business incubator, Stanislav Dovhyi, President of the Junior Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, presented the work of the Junior Academy of Sciences online, showing how wide the scope of its activities is. The translation of Stanislav Dovhyi’s presentation and Sebastian Dahle’s closing speech was provided by Anna Pavelieva, Candidate of Philological Sciences, Associate Professor of the Department of Germanic Philology and Translation of Poltava Polytechnic.
Denys Svyrydenko, Head of the UNESCO Chair in Science Education at the National Pedagogical Dragomanov University, concluded by saying that last year a master’s programme in science education was launched to provide a modern interdisciplinary approach to science in the Ukrainian school system. The discussion was also joined by Tetiana Peshcherina, Acting Director of the National Centre “Junior Academy of Sciences of Ukraine”, Candidate of Philosophical Sciences.
At the end of the meetings, the delegates agreed on further fruitful scientific and educational cooperation in the development of higher education and science in Ukraine.
It should be recalled that university scientist Anna Pavelieva was elected as External Communications Coordinator at the European Council of Doctoral Candidates and Junior Researchers for the second time.
Earlier, scientists of Poltava Polytechnic successfully completed an internship under the Erasmus+ programme at a Romanian partner university.
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