2022 was one of the most tragic years in the history of our country. On February 24, the goals, plans, dreams, and lives of millions of Ukrainians were ruined. The war affected all spheres of our life… For the National Research Foundation of Ukraine, 2022 was also a turning point. In the fourth year since its foundation, the NRFU, as well as the whole research sector of Ukraine, faced a number of systemic challenges related to the insidious and shameful military attack of russia on our country, which required completely new and quick solutions. However, despite the wartime circumstances, the Foundation continued to work for our common Victory and Ukrainian science.
What has been done? What have we achieved?
We would like to present top 5 events and achievements of 2022 for the NRFU.
1. The NRFU became a member of Science Europe – a recognized European Association that brings together the main public agencies that fund or carry out high level research in Europe. Moreover, considering the situation in Ukraine and thanks to the understanding of our European colleagues, we have been exempted from paying membership fees for 2022-2023. We are rapidly moving towards the European research area with the strong support from European colleagues!
2. The NRFU has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF).
Cooperation between the SNSF and the NRFU opens up wider chances for scientific cooperation between research and higher education institutions of both countries, as well as promotes the involvement of our researchers in the best research practices of the European community. Next year, researchers from Ukraine and Switzerland will be able to take part in the new call of joint research projects!
In addition, within the framework of gender policy implementation, the NRFU has also become a partner organization of AcademiaNet which is managed by the SNSF. We will start the process of determining the first nominees soon, so please follow the latest news on our official website and social networks.
3. The NRFU has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the University of Cambridge (UK) which was the beginning of active cooperation in the field of research between Cambridge and the NRFU!
The purpose of the MoU is to develop relations between the two institutions for close cooperation. Cambridge has already expressed its desire to support researchers from Ukraine who have been directly affected by the war in Ukraine in 2022. In collaboration with British colleagues we have developed the design of the new call of projects for the implementation of research and developments of Ukrainian based researchers which to be held by the Foundation with the financial support of the University of Cambridge. We express sincere gratitude to our colleagues from the UK and look forward to sustainable cooperation in the future!
4. At the end of the year, 2 new calls were launched:
‘Science for the Recovery of Ukraine in the War and Post-War Periods’ and ‘Cambridge – NRFU 2022. Individual grants for research (development) for Ukrainian researchers (with the support of University of Cambridge, UK)’.
We are extremely grateful for the comprehensive support of the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine, the Ministry of Finance of Ukraine, Committee on Education, Science and Innovations of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine and the Scientific Committee of the National Council of Ukraine for Science and Technology Development for making the implementation of the calls possible. We are also grateful to the University of Cambridge for the decision to provide a donation for the call and support projects of Ukrainian researchers who remain to work in Ukraine.
We do not stop and hope that these two new calls for grant support for research and developments will be the first step in the resumption of the Foundation’s work in the direction of financial support for Ukrainian research!
5. The NRFU launched a fundraising campaign.
In this difficult time, while the war continues and all the forces and resources of our country are directed to the defense of our territories, the Foundation has launched a fundraising campaign. This move was necessary to continue financing the research projects which were selected to be winners of the calls as a result of receiving a positive assessment from independent Ukrainian and foreign experts and to enable provision of grant support for research and development projects based on the results of new calls of the Foundation.
We support Ukrainian research and contribute to the preservation of the scientific potential of Ukraine for the future!
The list of achievements is certainly not limited to the 5 points:
during the year, the Foundation’s staff took an active part in the development of the EU research policy, international communicative events, meetings with representatives of leading foreign research organizations and representative offices, the Foundation was actively working in the direction of regulatory support of its own activities and improvement of legal acts regulating activities in the field of research and technology of Ukraine, etc.
2022 was definitely a challenging, and complicated year, but we did not stop. Because we sincerely believe in our Victory. We have ambitious goals for 2023 and continue working to bring it closer!
Glory to Ukraine!
