EURIZON Closing Ceremony

The event was organised in a two-fold way: First, on Thursday 27th March 2025, roughly 50 project-related European and Ukrainian participants came together in the Residence Palace in Brussels in a non-public and project-internal meeting. The opening welcome word was given by EURIZON project officer from REA (Research Executive Agency), Pierre Quertenmont.

Ukrainian scientists of the EURIZON Fellowship program have reported about their research projects at the Sumy State University (“Monodisperse systems in the production of foodstuff and compound (combined) fertilizers”), at the National Aviation University in Kyiv (“Research and development of Ukrainian ground network of navigational aids for increasing the safety of civil aviation”), and at the V. N. Karazin National University, Kharkiv (“Development of miniaturized test technology for nuclear fusion and aerospace materials”).  Olga Polotska, Executive Director and Liudmyla Maistrenko, Chief Specialist of the National Research Foundation of Ukraine, gave insight into the results of the EURIZON study “Insights from the Ukraine Research Infrastructure Landscape Analysis”.

The first day of the event ended with a panel discussion dedicated to the topics “How to revert brain drain?” and “Final recommendations deriving from EURIZON project”.

On 28th March, the public session of the event took place, bringing together more than 70 participants on site and about 50 participants online. Signe Ratso, Deputy Director-General “Research and Innovation”, and Hryhorii Mozolevych (Director-General at the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine, online), have welcomed the audience, while Anatoly Zagorodny (President of the National Academy of Sciences in Ukraine, remote) and Marc Tachelet (REA Director) gave introductory statements. The session once again placed a strong focus on the achievements of Ukrainian EURIZON fellows.

Both parts of the event have clearly highlighted two key points:

First, the various coordination and support measures for Ukraine, funded by the European Union through EURIZON, have tremendously contributed to sustaining science, and scientific life in Ukraine over the past two years. This was powerfully demonstrated through the testimonies of Ukrainian EURIZON fellows participating in different program strands.

Second, there is a clear need to carry on with specific and targeted support measures and collaborative research activities for Ukraine in the future: Measures dedicated to revert brain drain, measures to foster joint EU-Ukraine science and technology cooperation, measures to strengthen the integration of EU and Ukraine RIs ecosystems, and grants for individual researchers.