The issues of establishing effective cooperation in the area of science, education and technology and its prospects were discussed between the heads of educational field of the Republic of Lithuania with representatives of the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine and the authorities of Igor Sikorsky Kyiv Polytechnic Institute during their visit to the university.
The meeting took place on October 9 and was attended by: on the Lithuanian side, Director of the Department of Higher Education, Science and Technology of the Ministry of Education, Science and Sports of the Republic of Lithuania Albertas Jalis, member of the Committee of Humanities and Social Sciences of the Scientific-Research Council of Lithuania, professor of the Mykolas Romeris University Darius Beinoravičius, representative of the Embassy of the Republic of Lithuania in Ukraine Saulius Labutis and others; on the side of the Ministry of Science and Education of Ukraine – Head of the Department of International Research Programs and Projects of the Main Department of Scientific and Technical Development of the Directorate of Science of the Ministry of Education and Science Andrii Ostapenko and representative of International Research Programs and Projects of the Main Department of Scientific and Technical Development of the Directorate of Science of the Ministry of Education and Science Tetiana Shevtsova; on behalf of the National Technical University of Ukraine “Igor Sikorsky Kyiv Polytechnic Institute” was Vice-Rector of International Relations, Corresponding Member of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine Yurii Sydorenko, Deputy Head of the Department of International Cooperation, Head of the Department of International Projects Serhii Shukaiev and others.
The participants discussed the projection of mechanisms for solving the problems of protecting the intellectual property of universities, the experience of both countries in adapting training programs for future engineers to today’s requirements. They also discussed new opportunities Lithuanian higher school got after the country’s accession to the European Union, as well as the potential for implementing joint Ukrainian-Lithuanian scientific and educational projects etc. Of course, the conversation also concerned the cooperation of Lithuanian colleagues with Igor Sikorsky Kyiv Polytechnic Institute. Serhii Shukaiev spoke about the scientific and educational ties of Kyiv polytechnicians with universities of the Republic of Lithuania. By the way, he recalled that before the meeting at our university, during the 8th session of the bilateral Ukrainian-Lithuanian cooperation in science and technology commission, a list of 12 joint research projects was approved, which Lithuanian and Ukrainian scientists will carry out in 2020-2021. One of these 12 projects, selected from 72 proposals of 53 universities, 18 scientific institute and one laboratory, is “Research and development of ultralight high-temperature (up to 1400°C) heat-shielding materials using industrial waste” by Igor Sikorsky Kyiv Polytechnic Institute and Vilnius Gediminas Technical University.
When a representative of the university’s press service asked about further directions for starting joint research with Igor Sikorsky Kyiv Polytechnic Institute which could be of interest to Lithuanian technical universities, the head of the Lithuanian delegation replied: “I can’t talk about the details, as the responsibility for evaluating and choosing projects rests with our scientific council. But speaking of my point of view as a representative of the Ministry of Education, Science and Sports, I’ll mention that we have two powerful technical universities: Vilnius and Kaunas, for which we would have to arrange a meeting with Ukrainian colleagues in face to face format so that scientists themselves can present their capabilities and strengths. Thanks to cooperation with European partners, our universities received new equipment, their options have expanded, and I think that our friends and partners could also use this for originating and development of joint researches”.
On the photo: guests from the Republic of Lithuania and representatives of the Ministry of Education and Science together with Serhii Sydorenko and Serhii Shukaiev near the monument to Igor Sikorsky.