White paper: “Way forward for science in Ukraine: a perspective of the Ukrainian research diaspora”

This White Paper has been prepared by an initiative group of diaspora researchers involved in the organization of the inaugural Forum of the Ukrainian Research Diaspora, which was held in Kyiv on 20-22 October 2018.

This Forum was organized as a part of celebration of the centennial anniversary of the foundation of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine. More than 160 participants, – researchers, representatives of the government and public activists from all over Ukraine and more than 30 participants from abroad (Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, France, Germany, Ireland, Israel, Switzerland, the Netherlands, the UK and the USA), – have registered their interest, participated and actively contributed to the Forum’s intensive three-day program. See more at the Forum’s web-site, including the program. The Forum offered an excellent platform to present and discuss research results, in particular those carried out by collaborative teams of Ukrainian and international scientists. It also allowed the participants to address the most urgent issues pertaining to the current state of the Ukrainian science. The Forum’s participants adopted a Resolution (see it in Ukrainian/ in English).

This White Paper (in English/ in Ukrainian) summarizes key points brought up in various discussions in preparation and during the Forum, as well as in the follow-up feedback provided by numerous participants (28 written replies to the survey). We are strongly committed to both galvanizing the required changes and contributing our hands-on knowledge and profound experience, gained at leading research organizations in different countries to the benefit of Ukraine. The document is structured along the topics discussed at the round-table/ panel discussions held at the Forum, with a particular focus on (i) Converting “brain drain” into “brain gain”, and (ii) Creation of expert commissions to support science reform in Ukraine.

• Science & Innovation (2019): Oksana Seumenicht, Olga Garaschuk, and Alexey Ladokhin. WHITE PAPER: IDEAS AND RECOMMENDATIONS “WAY FORWARD FOR SCIENCE IN UKRAINE: PERSPECTIVE OF THE UKRAINIAN RESEARCH DIASPORA” 15(5), 99—111, https://doi.org/10.15407/scinе15.05.099.
• Зойменіхт, О. ; Гаращук, О. ; Ладохін, О. Біла книга: Ідеї та рекомендації як рухатися вперед українській науці? Погляд української наукової діаспори.

The authors are very grateful to Prof. Vira Troyan (NGO “Women in Science”, Ukraine) for her help with the translation of the White Paper into Ukrainian.