Ukraine in the Horizon Europe Framework Programme: Achievements, Systemic Challenges and Ways to Overcome Them – Horizon Europe Office in Ukraine, NRFU held a summary event

On August 25, Horizon Europe Office in Ukraine of the National Research Foundation of Ukraine held an information dissemination event “Ukraine in the Horizon Europe Framework Programme: Achievements, Systemic Challenges and Ways to Overcome Them”. A summary event of the Office’s three years of activity as a European Commission project took place in Kyiv.

Among the participants: representatives of the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine, the European Commission, and the National Research Foundation of Ukraine, higher education institutions, research organisations, business, civil society organisations, and all those interested in Ukraine’s participation in the EU Framework Programme for Research and Innovation Horizon Europe and its integration into the European Research Area.

The event was opened by Denys Kurbatov, Deputy Minister of Education and Science of Ukraine. In his speech, he commended the work of Horizon Europe Office in Ukraine and emphasised the great responsibility of both its members and the country and the Ministry of Education and Science in particular in achieving results.

“We can already say with certainty that the project has been a success – the numbers speak for themselves… We have seen 270 per cent increase in applications and 270 per cent increase in projects, 155 per cent increase in funding, 180 per cent increase in Ukrainian organisations participating in the Horizon Europe, comparing data from the end of 2023 when we established the Office together with the European Commission with the current numbers,” – noted Denys Kurbatov.

Oksana Kis, Head of the National Research Foundation of Ukraine, also welcomed the participants. In her speech, she highlighted the successful work of Horizon Europe Office in Ukraine and emphasised that the National Research Foundation of Ukraine, together with the Office, was working towards a common goal, sharing values and fostering an academic and grant-making culture, whilst developing Ukraine’s scientific, intellectual and creative potential, which must be realised within the European Union.

Among those who joined the event to review the activities of Horizon Europe Office in Ukraine was Frederik Søndergaard, Policy Officer of Unit 03 International Cooperation – Ukraine and Türkiye, Directorate-General for Research and Innovation, European Commission. He highlighted the significant achievements of the Office’s members and reported that, due to its successful work and the role it had played in significantly increasing Ukraine’s presence in Horizon Europe and on the European Research Area, the Office’s work was not discontinued, but would be continued and funded by the European Commission under the Horizon Europe to the sum of 1.5 million euro for the next three-year period.

The event consisted of three discussion panels, during which participants discussed issues of importance to Ukraine. At the Panel Discussion I: The Role of the Horizon Europe Programme in Ukraine’s Recovery and Integration into the European Research Area, were Oleksandra Antoniouk, Chairperson for the Scientific Committee of the National Council of Ukraine for Science and Technology Development; Liudmyla Hanushchak-Yefimenko, Vice-Rector for Academic Affairs on Humanitarian Development and Youth Policy, Igor Sikorsky Kyiv Polytechnic Institute; Hryhorii Mozolevych, Director General of Science Development Directorate, Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine; and Olga Polotska, Executive Director of the National Research Foundation of Ukraine. The panel was moderated by Igor Taranov, Head of Horizon Europe Office in Ukraine NRFU.

Participants discussed grant funding for science in Ukraine, the participation of domestic institutions in projects under the Horizon Europe, the importance of such participation for recovering Ukraine’s scientific and innovation potential and its integration into the European Research Area, the harmonisation of national scientific legislation with European Union norms and standards, and the identification of priority areas for scientific research in line with the EU’s key objectives. A separate item on the agenda was the activities of Horizon Europe Office in Ukraine as a European Commission project which has been operating at the National Foundation for Science of Ukraine since 2023 in the context of accelerating Ukraine’s integration into the European Research Area.

During the Panel Discussion II on Ukraine’s participation in Horizon Europe the speakers discussed the way of Ukrainian organisations from their initial results to competitive participation; shared their views on the role of different types of organisations within international consortia; drew on their own practical experience; highlighted specific case studies of the difficulties and obstacles they had encountered and how to overcome them; and offered advice to potential applicants. They also discussed Ukraine’s systematic and competitive participation in the Programme and the role played in this by Horizon Europe Office in Ukraine.

The panellists – representatives of different types of organisations that have been successful in implementing HE projects: Anastasiia Babintseva, Professor, Department of Pediatrics, Neonatology and Perinatal Medicine, Bukovinian State Medical University; Ivan Kulchytskyi, President of the NGO Agency of European Innovations, Ukraine’s representative to the Programme Committee “Digital, Industry and Space”; Svitlana Stepanenko, International Projects and Partnerships Development Manager, YouControl; and Igor Taranov, Head of Horizon Europe Office in Ukraine, NRFU. The session was moderated by Yuliia Koshyk, Communications Officer, Horizon Europe Office in Ukraine.

The panel discussion on Ukraine within the ERA and the representation of its interests at international level, moderated by Nataliia Didenko, Deputy Head of Horizon Europe Office in Ukraine, NRFU, was the most lively. Participants discussed the priority steps that Ukraine needed to take in the near future to strengthen its presence and influence within the ERA and to integrate more deeply into European innovation ecosystems, as well as opportunities to present and advocate for its scientific and innovation interests at an international level.

The Speakers: Vitalina Babenko, Vice-Rector for Research and International Cooperation, KNEU, the HE NCP for the EIT (KNAHU); Oksana Berezhna, Ukraine’s representative to the Programme Committee “EIC and EIE”, Director of the Directorate for Innovation and Science Liaison with the Real Sector of the Economy at the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine; Mykhailo Hrebeniuk, Contact person for the HEOinUA project, Head of “GUARD – Global promotion of UA R&D: Liaison office in Brussels for UA R&D community”: Liaison office in Brussels for the UA R&D community’, Yehor Pyvovarov, Policy Officer for Research and Innovation, the EU Delegation to Ukraine; Yevheniia Polishchuk, Co-founder of the “Ukrainian Scientific Diaspora” initiative, Professor at Kyiv National Economic University named after Vadym Hetman, Visiting Researcher at Krakow University of Economics, Visiting Fellow at the Portulans Institute and MIT; Nataliia Shalimova, Ukraine’s representative to the Programme Committee “WIDERA”, Dean of the Faculty of Economics, Central Ukrainian National Technical University; Olesia Sklyarenko, Associate Professor at the Department of Foreign Philology, Translation and Teaching Methodology at the Hryhorii Skovoroda University in Pereiaslav, the HE NCP “New European Bauhaus Initiative”.

Olga Polotska, Executive Director of the National Research Foundation of Ukraine, summarised the outcomes of the event and Horizon Europe Office in Ukraine, a project under the Horizon Europe Programme successfully implemented by the NRFU. We do not stop at what we have achieved so far and continue to work for the benefit of Ukraine and its research and innovation potential!