Combatting powerlessness

I’m responsible for the Foundation’s MSCA4Ukraine Programme that enables researchers who have fled Ukraine to continue their work in other European countries. The European Commission launched the fellowship programme in 2022 in response to Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine. For me, this is a very important initiative. I myself grew up in Ukraine and this brutal war affects me very deeply. I know I can’t stop it, but thanks to my work I have the feeling of not being so completely helpless and of using my professional expertise to support my home country. 

I left Ukraine shortly after completing my doctorate in radiation biology in 1998. Initially, I went to Germany, then to the UK. I have been working in science management for many years, most recently at the Max Delbrück Center in Berlin. I can now use this experience in MSCA4Ukraine to support researchers and help to strengthen academic relations between the EU and Ukraine. That has been one of my concerns for years. 

Whilst I always kept up with political events in Ukraine, the Euromaidan in 2013/14 was a major change for me. Until then, I hadn’t specifically sought contact with other Ukrainians. In 2014, I started creating structures and platforms for academic exchange and cooperation with Ukraine together with others. In 2015, for example, I helped to found the UKRAINE Network and, in 2016, the German-Ukrainian Academic Society. I’ve been volunteering there ever since. I’ve observed similar things amongst many Ukrainian expats in the West, including researchers and people in top jobs: for years, many tended to identify more with their profession and not to the same extent with Ukraine. Due to the political developments and especially since 2022, all that has changed. Many Ukrainians in the diaspora play their part in achieving a better understanding of Ukraine and work proactively to dismantle Russia’s disinformation campaigns: we are not Russians and not homines sovietici, and we stand up for the country.