News: 24.02.2006 - Dear friends, I received some requests about abstract submissions and some concerns that SS43 is not on the list. Please note that we plan only for INVITED talks for this session. However, we will dedicate a lot of time for discussions. If you would like to share your ideas or a successful case of collaboration please write directly to the email below.

The ongoing Russian aggression strongly disrupts all aspects of life in Ukraine where science and in particular astronomy is not an exception. Before 2014 Crimea was one of the largest astronomical centers in Ukraine and home to many optical, radio and solar telescopes. After its illegal annexation some of the astronomical infrastructure was absorbed by the Russian Academy of Sciences, while other was repurposed for military use. Ukraine completely lost access to all these instruments. An observatory in the Kharkiv region hosting one of the world's largest low-frequency radio telescopes UTR-2 and the Giant Ukrainian Radio Telescope currently in development spent a considerable amount of time under occupation during which a large part of equipment was looted or destroyed. Repairs require significant funds which Ukraine is currently not able to provide. The necessity to resist the aggression demands that most of the science budget is spent on applied and military-related research whereas financial support for astronomy is limited. This results in termination of projects and lack of staff and equipment. Moreover, the education system also suffers from the consequences of war which puts under risk the future of astronomy in Ukraine. Recovery and development of science heavily depends on the support of the international community. In this special session we would like to bring together members of the Ukrainian astronomical community, European policy makers and representatives of major astronomical and astrophysical facilities to discuss the path to recovery of the Ukrainian astronomy. We would like to focus on drawing the strategies of increasing European involvement in saving Ukrainian astronomy through various funding schemes, international collaborations and educational initiatives.

Programme

• Current status of astronomy in Ukraine
• Current initiatives and projects
• Recovery and innovation
• Research infrastructure
• Collaboration and participation in European projects
• Education programmes

Invited speakers

The list of confirmed speakers includes:

• Ihor Lukyanyk
  Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv, Ukraine / Scientific Secretary of the Ukrainian Astronomical Association
• Michiel van Haarlem
  Executive Director of LOFAR ERIC, Dwingeloo, Drenthe, Netherlands
• Grazina Tautvaisiene
  Institute of Theoretical Physics and Astronomy, Vilnius University, Lithuania / Vice-President of the International Astronomical Union / Coordinator of Europlanet Telescope Network
• Stuart McMuldroch
  Director General of CTAO, Bologna, Italy
• Jakub Szlachetko
  Director of the SOLARIS National Synchrotron Radiation Center, Kraków, Poland

Scientific organisers

• Iurii Sushch - Chair
  CIEMAT, Spain/Ivan Franko National University of Lviv, Ukraine
• Kateryna Frantseva - Co-chair
  University of Groningen, Netherlands
• Pavlo Plotko - Co-chair
  German Centre for Astrophysics (DZA), Germany
• Ihor Lukyanyk
  Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv, Ukraine
• Yaroslav Yatskiv
  Director of Main Astronomical Observatory, Ukraine / President of the Ukrainian Astronomical Association
• Iryna Vavilova
  Main Astronomical Observatory, Ukraine
• Daria Dobrycheva
  Main Astronomical Observatory, Ukraine
• Vyacheslav Zakharenko
  Director of Radioastronomical Institute of the NASU, Ukraine
• Christian Stegman
  DESY Director in charge of Astroparticle Physics, Germany
• Günther Hasinger
  German Centre for Astrophysics (DZA) Scientific Director, Germany
• Saskia Matheussen
  Dutch Research Council (NWO), Netherlands / Deputy Chair of Astronet
• Violette Impellizzeri
  Head of Astronomy at ASTRON, Netherlands
• Agnieszka Slowikowska
  Director of Joint Institute for VLBI ERIC (JIVE), Netherlands
• David Green
  CTAO Deputy Project Scientist, Italy

Contact

iurii.sushch @ ciemat.es