Ukrainian scientists have received another funding channel for their projects. They will now be able to receive funding for research and infrastructure within the EU’s assistance to Ukraine in Horizon 2020. The procedure for the contest was approved by the Government on 20 November 2019.
The first MES competition is scheduled to start in early 2020.
“When Ukraine became an associate member of Horizon 2020, it not only gave us the opportunity to integrate more deeply into the European scientific space, but also allowed Ukraine to receive financial support from the EU for the development of science. It is currently € 7 million. A small portion goes to the participation of our representatives and experts on the Horizon committees and the promotion of the program. But the vast majority of these funds will go to scientific projects of Ukrainian scientists and the purchase of equipment. Now we have approved the procedure for competition for such projects”, explained Minister of Education and Science Ganna Novosad.
Features of the competition:
- competition directions are oriented to Horizon 2020 priorities;
- there will be obligatory representatives and experts from Ukraine on Horizon 2020 committees in the competition committee (Specialized Scientific and Technical Council);
- the competition application requirements are the same as the Horizon 2020 application requirements;
- project managers should have experience applying for Horizon 2020;
- project points will depend on the peer review of those submitted to Horizon 2020, including whether they have been accepted for funding.
Enterprises, institutions and organizations will be able to take part in the competition regardless of ownership. Duration – up to 2 years.
Among the criteria by which the works will be selected are: scientific novelty, practical usefulness and value of the result, ability of the author’s team to perform scientific work, availability of material and technical base taking into account the equipment to be purchased, etc.
The competition will be announced by the MES. It will be posted on the Ministry’s website. It must be approve the Specialized Scientific and Technical Council and prepare the announcement to start the competition. It will specify the specific terms and priorities of the competition, the amount of funding and more.
“It is important for us to start the competition as soon as possible so that our scientists receive additional funding for their projects and infrastructure development. And, of course, this is a great motivation to participate in Horizon 2020, and in the future, in the next EU Horizon Europe research and innovation program. We are already negotiating with the EU about the conditions of participation in it”, the MES head added.
Examination of the submitted projects will be carried out by special sections formed by leading scientists and experts. For the objectivity and transparency of the selection, a number of “fuses” have been established: information on the distribution of scientific work between experts is confidential and the examination itself is conducted anonymously. Experts will not allow projects from institutions where they work or where they have co-authors for the last 5 years.
The results of the competition will also be posted on the MES website. All participants will also receive anonymous expert opinions by mail.
Reference: During the participation of Ukraine in Horizon 2020 (2014-2019), 163 scientific and innovative projects with the participation of Ukrainian organizations were accepted for funding. This is the 7th result among associate partners. The total budget of these projects is € 26,98 million. 27 projects are directly initiated and coordinated by Ukrainian organizations.
Source: МESU