The overarching goal of the NEUROTWIN project is to re-establish the O.O. Bogomoletz Institute of Physiology (BIPH) in Kyiv, Ukraine as an international centre for excellence in Cellular and Molecular Neuroscience.
O.O. Bogomoletz Institute of Physiology of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine (BIPH) became a world-famous center for cellular physiology under his long-standing director (1966-2010) Platon Kostyuk. Kostyuk and his students were first to measure calcium currents through neuron soma, distinguish between high- and low-voltage activated calcium channels, discover ATP-receptors and ASIC-mediated currents.
Within the new NEUROTWIN project (2019-2022) its team aims to capitalize on the existing potential of international networking for excellence in Cellular and Molecular Neuroscience research, through knowledge transfer and exchange of best practice between BIPH and leading institutions:
- UCL (UK)
- ZSI (Austria)
- IBMC (Portugal)
- Uppsala University (Sweden)
- TU Munich (Germany)
The specific objectives include implementing modern research approaches to scientific excellence and innovation capacity of BIPH via infrastructural changes, large scale knowledge transfer between partners, increasing competitiveness of the BIPH researchers in fundraising from international grant bodies. The quality of the scientific output of BIPH will be improved through continuous training of research staff in academic writing and boosting the quality of post-graduate education. Moreover, it is envisaged that NEUROTWIN will help to boost communication with the policy makers and relevant stakeholders in Ukraine to advocate the importance of neuroscience and neurology research for the improvement of public health and biomedical education.
The project runs from 1 August 2019 to 31 July 2022, and is funded by the EU within its “WIDESPREAD-03-2018 – Twinning” scheme with almost EUR 800 thousand.
More about Platon Kostyuk in Bregestovski P. (2012) “Platon G. Kostyuk (August 20, 1924-May 10, 2010): A unique survey of a life spanning turbulent times”. J Physiol Paris. 2012 Sep-Dec;106(5-6):316-20.