Three-day event dedicated to the grant opportunities of the NRFU and support instruments under the Horizon Europe Programme took place in Ternopil
On March 18-20, the National Research Foundation of Ukraine held an information dissemination event in Ternopil: Grant opportunities of the NRFU and support tools under the Horizon Europe Programme. On the second and third days of the event, scientists, researchers, innovators, representatives of higher education institutions, research institutions, small and medium-sized enterprises, state and local authorities, NGOs, etc. were invited to participate in the event.
On 19 March, the event was opened with welcoming speeches by Olga Polotska, Executive Director of the National Research Foundation of Ukraine, and Yehor Pyvovarov, Policy Officer at the Operations Division II of the EU Delegation to Ukraine. The participants were also greeted by representatives of local authorities: Pavlo Zhurba, Deputy Head of the Ternopil Regional State Administration, and Bohdan Butkovsky, Head of the Ternopil Regional Council.
The authorities emphasised the importance of raising awareness of support opportunities among the scientific community. Cooperation at the municipal level with international partners is key to the development of scientific and educational initiatives, as well as an opportunity to raise additional funding for important projects that will increase the region’s competitiveness and strengthen the position of the country on the international stage. For his part, EU representative Yehor Pivovarov assured that the European Commission strongly supports the activities of Horizon Europe Office in Ukraine.
The working part of the meeting was opened by Olga Polotska, Executive Director of the National Research Foundation of Ukraine, who spoke about the structure and activities of the NRFU. Andriy Kuznetsov, First Deputy Executive Director for Grant Support, reported about the institutional support of NRFU calls throughout the project duration – from writing an application to reporting, and Roman Paliy, Head of the Legal Support Division, NRFU, informed about the organisational and legal aspects of the call selection and grant support of the NRFU.
Besides, the Horizon Europe Framework Programme, which is the EU’s flagship research and innovation programme, was presented to the public by Igor Taranov, Head of the Horizon Europe Office in Ukraine, NRFU. The Office’s leading officers Yuliia Reminska, Maksym Kolisnyk, Tayisiya Symochko and Nadiia Naumova presented the legal aspects of participation in the Programme, grant opportunities for business, the Cluster Health and the concepts of ethics, inclusiveness and gender equality in the projects of the Horizon Europe Programme, accordingly.
Except for theoretical information on the aspects of participation in the Programme, the participants of the event got practical experience of using the EU Funding and Tenders Portal – tool for searching for calls, selecting partners, etc. The workshop was held by Nataliia Didenko, Deputy Head of Horizon Europe Office in Ukraine, NRFU.
The event was summed up by Andriy Kuznetsov, First Deputy Executive Director for Grant Support of the NRFU. Summing up, the representative of the Foundation encouraged more active participation in the calls of both the National Foundation and the EU’s Horizon Europe Programme. And if any questions arise in the process of preparing grant applications, Mr Kuznetsov reminded that the Foundation’s specialists, in particular Horizon Europe Office in Ukraine, are open to communication and ready to provide assistance and support to potential applicants.
On the last day of the event, 20 March, the participants learned about the NRFU’s strategy for open science, presented by Tetiana Machulina, Head of the Department of Communications and International Cooperation, and gained knowledge on the preparation of the financial and economic part of the grant application and the budget for the National Foundation’s project, presented by Serhii Petrukha, Head of the Financial Support Division, NRFU.
Apart from that, Nadiia Naumova, Leading Officer of Horizon Europe Office in Ukraine, spoke about the financial issues of participation in the Horizon Europe Programme. Also, Yuliia Reminska, Leading Officer, presented in detail information on the exchange of specialists within the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions Programme component.
On both the second and third days, active question and answer sessions followed after the event, as it aroused great interest among participants who attended the event in person and those who joined online – almost 300 people in total. Everyone who wanted to know about grant opportunities from the state and the EU asked their questions and received professional and thorough answers from the speakers. The attendees also had the opportunity to communicate with the specialists of the National Research Foundation of Ukraine directly during the networking event.
The three-day event was summed up by the Executive Director of the National Research Foundation of Ukraine. She thanked all the participants and the city of Ternopil for their hospitality and great interest in grant opportunities for Ukrainian participants. “We really hope to see increased numbers of Ukrainian applicants not only in the list of participants, but also among the grant winners!” – emphasised Ms Polotska.
