The NCBR supports researchers from Ukraine also in Brussels
17.06.2022
The National Centre for Research and Development (NCBR) organized a networking and fundraising event in Brussels, where representatives of EU institutions and representatives of the scientific community of EU Member States had an opportunity to learn about the achievements of researchers from Ukraine.
The aim of the meeting was to familiarise EU stakeholders and international scientific community with the current challenges and needs, as well as the achievements and potential of the R&I community of Ukraine.
“The National Centre for Research and Development is actively looking for opportunities to support our Ukrainian partners. Our cooperation with the National Research Foundation of Ukraine continues despite Russian aggression. From the beginning of the invasion, the Centre has been activating special resources, such as an additional PLN 200 million in our largest program supporting higher education (POWER). We expanded the target group to include citizens of Ukraine, thanks to which universities can adapt ongoing projects to take into account the needs of the scientific community in Ukraine” - Agnieszka Ratajczak, Director of the International Cooperation Office of the NCBR, told the gathered guests.
As she added, other Polish agencies, such as the National Science Centre or the National Agency for Academic Exchange, also launched special programmes dedicated to Ukrainian scientists.
“The NCBR is also working on Ukrainian researchers to be able to join running Polish-Norwegian projects funded under Norway and EEA Grants. We also have ambitions to support changes in the higher education and research sector in Ukraine in the future, after the end of the war, through consultancy and exchange of experience, in order to give them a European dimension” - added Director Ratajczak.
The director of the NCBR Office in Brussels, Ewa Kocińska-Lange, emphasized that the event in Brussels is another way to express solidarity with Ukraine, and at the same time it promotes Polish-Ukrainian cooperation in the field of research, innovation and culture.
“Ukraine is also a country that has a lot to offer to the European community in terms of science and culture. This event gives our partners from Ukraine a platform to appear in front of EU decision-makers as a country with multidimensional potential, worth supporting on many levels. The NCBR is trying to do this in Poland but also here in Brussels in the relevant area of research and innovation" - noted Director Kocińska-Lange.
The event was honoured by the participation of the Permanent Representative of the Republic of Poland to the EU, Andrzej Sadoś, and the Head of Mission of Ukraine to the EU, Vsevolod Chentsov.
The European Commission was represented on stage by Ruta Zarnauskaite.
The initiative was organised in cooperation with the Polish Science Contact Agency "PolSCA" of the Polish Academy of Sciences in Brussels and the Polish Institute in Brussels.
The cultural part included an exhibition of Ukrainian collages and a concert of artists from Poland, Belgium and Ukraine who performed Mykola Lysenka's compositions.
During the event, the Help Centre Belgium raised funds for the purchase of medical equipment that would support the people in Ukraine. The Foundation's programmes for Polish Science and the Cultural Assistance Centre in Ukraine were also promoted, supporting, respectively, scientists from Ukraine and the protection of Ukraine's cultural heritage.
