On October 1-2, 2015, the International Scientific and Practical Conference GRANT-2015 (Granting of Research and New Technologies – 2015, Kyiv, Tarasa Shevchenko Boulevard, 16) was held, which was attended by scientists from Austria, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Armenia, Lithuania, Germany, Poland, Russia, France, Ukrainian politicians and scientists.
The organizers of the conference were: the State Fund for Fundamental Research of Ukraine, the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine, the Embassy of France in Ukraine, the Polish Academy of Sciences (Scientific Center of Kyiv), DFG (German Research Foundation), the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, TBI Kharkov Technologies.
A wide range of issues were put forward for discussion at the conference, including alternative ways to attract funds for financing basic research; conducting an examination of scientific projects and determining common priorities; the legal framework for international financial support for basic research.
At the opening of the plenary session on October 1, the following spoke: Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on Science and Education L.M. Grynevych, Vice-President of the NAS of Ukraine S.I. Pyrozhkov, Chairman of the State Fund for Basic Research of Ukraine V.P. Kukhar, Head of the Representative Office of the German Research Society (DFG) Dr. Christian Scheich.
In his report (“Foreign grant support for projects in the context of the structure and state of research in Ukraine”) at the plenary session on October 1, Doctor of Economics, Professor, Director of the State Institution “Dobrov Institute” B.A. Malitsky spoke about the twenty-year history of grant policy in Ukraine, the dynamics of financing Ukrainian science in comparison with European countries, and provided an analysis of the publication activity of Ukrainian scientists according to data from “Ukrainika Naukovaya”.
The experience of European countries shows that Ukraine needs to create dozens of science support funds that would have at their disposal funds to finance large projects capable of solving global scientific problems and attracting foreign partners for research.