On September 19-20 Professor Volodymyr Lushchak took part in The Days of Ukraine in Baden-Württemberg “Advancing Science and Education through International Cooperation”, including the Annual Meeting 2019 of the German-Ukrainian Academic Society (Tübingen, 19-20 September, 2019). This event was hosted by long tern partner of Professor Lushchak on scientific cooperation Professor Olga Garaschuk, president of the Society, chair of the Department for Neurophysiology, University of Tübingen, and organized under the auspices of the Ministry for Science, Research & Art of Baden-Württemberg. It was supported by the Baden-Württemberg International, DAAD, the Embassy of Ukraine in the Federal Republic of Germany, Nomad Bioscience GmbH and the Ukrainischer Verein Tübingen e.V. This is the third such event. The first took place in October 2017 in Augsburg and the second took place in October 2018 in Dresden. The German-Ukrainian Academic Society was founded on July 11, 2016 in Berlin.
The programme included Session “Best praxis in German-Ukrainian research collaborations in Baden-Württemberg”, Networking Exhibition of the R&D sector, Interactive Panel Discussion “Research & development in the private sector”, The 2019 Final of the PhD Thesis Presentation Contest, A session “Academic cooperation between higher education institutions in Baden-Württemberg and Ukraine: from student exchanges to joint study programs” and General assembly of members of the German-Ukrainian Academic Society (for more details see http://ukrainet.eu/2019/06/23/days-of-ukraine-in-bw/). The meeting took place in Großer Senatssaal der Universität Tübingen.
The meeting was welcomed by Professor Olga Garaschuk, representative from Ministry for Science, Research & Art of Baden-Württemberg, and Mr. Dmytro Shevchenko, Acting Head of the Consulate General of Ukraine in Munich.
Professors O. Garaschuk and V. Lushchak gave a talk “Healthy ageing by means of caloric restriction” where delivered information on results of their three-year collaborative project. The key information received in both, German and Ukrainian laboratories, is: 1 – many differences between young and old brains are established in middle age, and 2 – certain limitation in food consumption may partially prevent age-related decline in brain operation. Interesting questions were asked by Professors. A. Luzhetskyy, I. Komarov and A.S. Ulrich and long discussions took place after lecture.
The ways for cooperation between science and business ware discussed at Interactive Panel: “Research & development in the private sector” moderated by Dr. O. Seumenicht. Interesting opinions on the topic were shared by Dr. A. Gyrych , Nomad Bioscience GmbH, Halle (Saale), Prof. A. Luzhetskyy, University of Saarland/ HZI, O. Vovk, CEO Enzym GmbH, Lviv, Prof. I. Komarov, CEO, Lumobiotics GmbH, Karlsruhe/ Enamine, Kyiv, Dr. A. Gödecke , Country Manager ELEKS Germany, ELEKS GmbH, Berlin. Many speakers compared the ways from laboratory to products in Germany and Ukraine. Further, young scientists presented their posters and Final of the 4th PhD Thesis Presentation Contest took place. Great musical interlude was provided by Sofia and Uljana Kovalchuk with Ukrainian, German and Italian songs.
The second day was centered on cooperation in education and started with Plenary Session: “Academic cooperation between Higher Education Institutions in Baden-Württemberg and Ukraine: from student exchanges to joint study programs”. It started with introduction from Dr. Gisela Zimmermann (DAAD-IC Kyiv) and further was moderated by her and Prof. Garaschuk. Many general and specific questions how to improve cooperation in the fields of Science and Education between Ukraine and Germany were discussed.
Especial point is connected with participation of Dr. Olga Beine-Golovchuk in this meeting. Olga graduated from the department of Biochemistry and Biotechnology of Vasyl Stefanyk Precarpathian National University and made her scientific career in Germany. She is active member of the German-Ukrainian Academic Society and delivered information on funding and potential ways to enhance it. It is really nice to follow her progress in Germany.
Interestingly, on Thursday, September 19, in front of the main building of the university, animal defenders were demonstrating, and thier conference took place neaby our location at the university, and on Friday, September 20, there was a huge youth action for an environmentally safe future.
The meeting could not be so successful without organizational efforts of Dr. Oksana Seumenicht and Dr. Yuri Kovalchuk with excellent technical assistance Ms Ariana Kaupp.