Workshop examines prospects for academic cooperation in Ukraine

The state and prospects for academic and research networks in the Ukraine was the focus of a NATO-cosponsored workshop held on 3-4 April at the Polytechnic Institute in Kyiv.

The recent creation of Ukraine’s National Research and Educational Network has given Ukraine a good starting point for increasing co-operation among Ukraine’s scientific community, including academic centers in the smaller and more remote regions, and for integrating the country into global research networks.

The primary goal of the workshop, entitled “Academic and Research Networking in Ukraine: Present State and Future Development”, was to address the problems currently facing Ukraine with respect to academic networking and consolidate current efforts with the ultimate aim of bringing Ukraine closer to membership in the European Union and NATO, starting with a permanent connection to the pan-European research network GEANT.

The workshop was divided into several sessions, which discussed various issues concerning Ukrainian research and academic networks. On the first day, the sessions focused on the current situation in Ukraine, legal issues as well as an overview of the future developments with respect to this academic networking. On the second day, the participants discussed financial sustainability, network content (including distance education, archives, libraries) and international collaboration.

The workshop was made possible by a grant from the NATO Science Programme and contributions from the National Technical University of Ukraine, Ukrtelecom, United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and CEENet.