The aim is to link Ukraine more tightly to European Union programs and support the country’s postwar reconstruction, Andrzej Szeptycki said.
“It is time for the next stage, a broader scientific partnership for Ukrainian science,” Szeptycki told reporters after a meeting at the Polish Academy of Sciences (PAN) last Friday.
He told Polish state news agency PAP that the work will focus on four priorities: reform of Ukraine’s science sector; stronger participation in European mechanisms and programs such as Erasmus+, the EU’s student-exchange scheme, and Horizon Europe, the EU’s main research fund; greater mobility for Ukrainian students and academics; and using science to aid Ukraine’s rebuilding.
The trilateral discussion at the Polish Academy of Sciences brought together Szeptycki, German government official Marcus Pleyer and Ukrainian Deputy Science Minister Denys Kurbatov.
According to Szeptycki, Poland initially offered emergency support to Ukrainian scholars and students after Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022, then moved to co-finance joint projects between Polish and Ukrainian institutions.
The new phase aims to widen that cooperation to include German partners, he said.
Szeptycki pointed to what he described as tried-and-tested Polish-German models that could be adapted for Ukraine.
These include the Dioscuri Centres of Excellence, a joint program that helps build top-tier research groups in Central Europe, and the Polish-German Foundation for Science, which funds collaborative projects, according to Szeptycki.
He also noted existing expertise on Ukraine within Polish and German institutions, mentioning the Centre for Polish and Ukrainian Studies at European University Viadrina in Frankfurt-an-der-Oder in eastern Germany.
Both Poland and Germany, he said, favour inter-institutional projects that involve scholars who remain in Ukraine and the universities where they work.
“Ukraine appreciates that, instead of brain drain, the outflow of skilled people, we aim for brain circulation, the exchange of people and ideas that strengthens Ukrainian institutions,” Szeptycki said.
He added that Ukraine’s research community has valuable strengths to share, especially in technical fields and, after several years of war, in defence-related disciplines.
“Even if our advantages and problems differ, this is a mutually beneficial partnership,” he said.
Experts at the meeting noted that efforts to integrate Ukrainian science into international structures are already under way.
In July in Rome, representatives from Poland, Germany, Ukraine, Italy, the European Commission and UNESCO signed a declaration on science, research and innovation in Ukraine, bringing together public and private actors to help rebuild and strengthen the country’s research and innovation system, the PAP news agency reported.
(rt/gs)
Source: PAP, naukawpolsce.pl