A meeting with leading British astrobiologist and planetary scientist Professor Charles Cockell took place at Igor Sikorsky Kyiv Polytechnic Institute. The visit was organized with the support of the President of Ukraine’s Foundation for Education, Science and Sports under the UK–UA Visiting Professors Programme.
Professor Charles Cockell is a faculty member at the School of Physics and Astronomy at the University of Edinburgh, where he leads his own research group and serves as Co-Director of the UK Centre for Astrobiology.
His interest in collaborating with Igor Sikorsky Kyiv Polytechnic Institute is well-founded: it is the only university in Ukraine with its own space program, experience in developing multifunctional spacecraft, and a successful track record of joint projects with the State Space Agency of Ukraine.
During the meeting, the participants identified shared research interests and promising areas for cooperation, including:
• research on fungal cultures for waste recycling and food production during space missions and aboard orbital stations;
• studies of the radioprotective properties of fungi under conditions of space radiation;
• investigation of the effects of microgravity on human cells using the university’s CubeSat platform;
• development of academic mobility and exchange between master's programs in astrobiology and biomedical engineering;
• preparation of joint international projects within the Horizon Europe programme.
Researchers from Igor Sikorsky Kyiv Polytechnic Institute presented several of their own developments to the British colleague, including a 12U nanosatellite platform, research findings on biocompatible materials and the radioprotective properties of fungal cultures, as well as projects focused on mycelium-based materials considered promising structural solutions for future space missions.
The meeting marked an important step toward expanding international scientific cooperation and opened new opportunities for joint research at the intersection of space technologies, astrobiology, and biomedical engineering.