The European Council of Doctoral Candidates and Junior Researchers (Eurodoc), representing over a million young researchers across Europe, calls on the EU to provide targeted funding for the recovery of science and higher education sector in Ukraine.
On July 20, the President and Vice President of Eurodoc met representatives of the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine, the Council of Young Scientists at the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine and the National Research Foundation of Ukraine to discuss the current situation in the Ukrainian research sector and to work together on solutions to support Ukrainian early career researchers and institutions of higher education that have been severely affected by the war.
Eurodoc believes it is its responsibility to focus on the role that research and higher education should play in recovery of Ukraine and building a democratic Europe, and to ensure high quality education for future generations of students and the needs of academic staff. In particular, Eurodoc focuses on early career researchers as they will shape Ukrainian and European higher education in the coming decades. It is the very generation of researchers who will address the economic, environmental and social challenges that Ukraine will face after the war. Like in the period that followed World War II, society will need researchers from all fields of knowledge, from medical and natural sciences to social sciences, humanities and arts, to cope with social challenges and to cooperate with society in shaping the future.
Eurodoc representatives expressed concern that out of the 53 billion euros that the EU, its member states and European financial institutions are providing to Ukraine, no funds have been allocated to higher education in Ukraine, while a strong research and higher education sector is essential for building a modern knowledge-based economy and will be essential for sustainable recovery after the war. In order for Ukraine to recover and move towards a knowledge-based economy, its research community needs to receive the necessary support and preserve the current generation of Ukrainian researchers. Therefore, Eurodoc calls on the EU to provide targeted funding for the recovery of science and higher education sector in Ukraine.
Over a few following days, Eurodoc representatives met early career researchers, scientific communication specialists and stakeholders from across the country. We express our gratitude to our European colleagues for their unconditional support of Ukraine’s research sector and look forward to fruitful cooperation!
