Horizon Europe Office in Ukraine, NRFU summarised its activities and discussed the work of the established NCP network of the Horizon Europe Programme

Horizon Europe Office in Ukraine, NRFU held a round table to summarise the results of the annual activities of Horizon Europe Office in Ukraine as the Coordination Center of the Horizon Europe Programme, which was established and successfully operates on the basis of the National Research Foundation of Ukraine. They also discussed the results of the activities of the created network of the Framework Program NCPs. The two-day event took place on December 9-10 and brought together representatives of the European Union, the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine, the National Research Foundation of Ukraine and National Contact Points.

On the first day, December 9, the event was opened with a welcoming speech by Hryhoriy Mozolevych, Director General of the Directorate for Science Development of the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine. The participants were also greeted by Igor Taranov, Head of Horizon Europe Office in Ukraine, NRFU, who presented the results of the Coordination Center. Tayisiya Symochko, Leading Officer of the Department, who was nominated as the NCP in the previous FP Horizon 2020, presented the best practices of the HE NCPs.

The first working part ended with a question-and-answer session, during which a lively discussion was held between the parties on the effective work of the HE National Contact Points network in Ukraine and options for improving it.

At the same time, the COST Information Day for Ukraine was held as part of the round table. This is a joint event of the COST Association (European Cooperation in Science and Technology), funded by the Horizon Europe Programme, and the National Research Foundation of Ukraine with the support of the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine. Denys Kurbatov, Deputy Minister of Education and Science of Ukraine, and Olga Polotska, Executive Director of the National Research Foundation of Ukraine, delivered welcoming remarks.

The COST activities, which promote and disseminate best scientific practices in Europe and beyond, were presented by Ronald de Bruin, Director of the COST Association. Salome Moezzi-Gacon, Governance Officer at COST Association, spoke about how to participate in COST and how to submit an application, including how to apply, and Olesia Kulyk, representative of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, Science Communication Coordinator in COST Action CA22147, and Oleksii Turuta, Management Committee member in COST Action CA23147, informed about the added value and impact of participation in COST Activities for the Horizon Europe Programme. For her part, Oksana Berezhna, COST National Coordinator, presented the nomination process to the participants.

Video of the joint event with the COST Association can be viewed on the Office’s official YouTube channel.

The second day of the event, December 10, was devoted to the practical aspects of participation in the Horizon Europe Programme. First of all, Andriy Kuznetsov, First Deputy Executive Director for Grant Support of the National Research Foundation of Ukraine, addressed the audience and emphasised the important contribution that the Horizon Europe Office in Ukraine makes on a daily basis to the development and support of the national science and research areas, as well as to Ukraine’s integration into the European research area.

The working part consisted of very informative reports by the leading officers of Horizon Europe Office in Ukraine. Liudmyla Lisova presented the practice of open science in Horizon Europe. Nadiia Naumova spoke about the process of evaluating project proposals and the criteria for their selection, and Olga Kurykina presented an overview of Lump sum funding in the context of the Programme with an emphasis on budgeting and Horizon Dashboard in assessing staff costs. Yuliia Reminska also spoke about the conditions for reliable partnerships, including the rules for developing and concluding consortium agreements.

In addition, the participants took part in the practical part of the event: Tayisiya Symochko, a specialist of Horizon Europe Office in Ukraine, conducted a master class on preparing a project application. Among other things, the participants of the event had the opportunity to practice analysing the call topics and preparing the concept of a project application, which aroused great interest among the audience.

Igor Taranov, Head of Horizon Europe Office in Ukraine, NRFU made the closing remarks and summarised the results of the two-day round table. The Head of the Office thanked everyone who took part in the events, either in person or online. Mr. Taranov urged everyone to continue to work tirelessly, emphasised the importance of raising their own awareness of the Programme in order to support and help domestic researchers and innovators accordingly. In addition, the Head of the Department reminded that, for its part, Horizon Europe Office in Ukraine is also open to cooperation with anyone interested in the opportunities provided by the European Union to Ukrainian participants.