An international group to support Ukrainian researchers and the development of Ukrainian science has been formed by 9 scientific organisations. The activities of the group will be administered by the Polish Academy of Sciences (PAN) and the US National Academy of Sciences (NAS). The coordinating group includes representatives of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, the European Federation of Academies of Sciences and Humanities -ALLEA, the German National Academy of Sciences – Leopoldina, the Australian Academy of Sciences, the French Academy of Sciences, the Royal Danish Academy of Sciences and Letters and the Royal Society of London. The group has received $3 million from the Breakthrough Prize Foundation.

With a donation from the Breakthrough Prize Foundation, several scientific organisations have teamed up for the development of Ukrainian science to form an international group. Its task will be to undertake concrete actions in support of both Ukrainian scientists and the scientific community as a whole, as well as to rebuild the global science system in Ukraine.

The group’s initial efforts will focus on implementing the 10-point action plan initiated in June this year at a meeting organised by the Polish Academy of Sciences. The plan includes maintaining institutional affiliations in Ukraine for Ukrainian scientists temporarily employed abroad, or launching special funding programmes for young Ukrainian scientists and their teams.

The next steps will be providing a venue for scientific organisations to support Ukrainian scientists, share knowledge and best practices, identify areas that could benefit from additional cooperation, and identify areas of potential overlap.

Adrian Andrzejewski