GOVERNMENT OF UKRAINE GIVES A BOOST TO US-UKRAINIAN SCIENTIFIC COLLABORATION

Cathleen A. Campbell, Senior Vice President, U.S. Civilian Research and Development Foundation (CRDF), and Andriy Gurzhiy, First Deputy Minister of Education and Science of Ukraine, signed a joint agreement May 19 in Kyiv committing both organizations to continued promotion of scientific development in Ukraine Since 1995, the CRDF has contributed over $8.4 million toward collaborative research, commercialization of scientific research, travel grants and equipment grants in Ukraine. The Ministry of Education and Science has contributed over $1.8 million to the collaborative research grants. In the new agreement, the Ministry of Education and Science pledged to double its annual cost share of the programs to as much as $450,000in 2005 and for the first time will extend its cofinancing to the CRDF’s First Steps to Market and Next Steps to Market programs. These programs encourage technology commercialization and entrepreneurship in Ukraine by pairing Ukrainian researchers and U.S. companies in pre-commercial research and development.

“The CRDF welcomes the Ukrainian Government’s decision to expand its joint financing and looks forward to continuing to support quality research between U.S. and Ukrainian scientists,” Campbell stated. She strongly encouraged scientists in Ukraine to take advantage of continued funding opportunities through CRDF, such as the current CRDF program to support research in HIV/AIDS and related co-infections.

The U.S. Civilian Research and Development Foundation is a nonprofit organization authorized by the U.S. Congress and established in 1995 by the National Science Foundation. The CRDF supports international scientific and technical collaboration, primarily between the United States and Eurasia. The foundation supports exceptional research projects that offer scientists and engineers alternatives to emigration; strengthens the scientific and technological infrastructure of their home countries; advances the transition of foreign weapons scientists to civilian work by funding collaborative non-weapons research and development projects; helps move applied research to the marketplace and bring economic benefits both to the United States and the countries with which the CRDF works; and strengthens research and education in universities abroad. The CRDF receives funds for its activities in Ukraine from the U.S. Department of State, the National Science Foundation and the National Institutes of Health. The CRDF is based in Arlington, Virginia with offices in Kyiv, Ukraine, and Moscow and St. Petersburg, Russia. For additional information on current CRDF programs and funding opportunities, please visit CRDF’s website at www.crdf.org.