Six joint projects between scientists from the Netherlands and Ukraine receive funding
The Dutch Research Council (NWO) and the National Research Foundation of Ukraine have joined forces in a bid to boost Ukrainian science amid the ongoing war with Russia.
In total, six projects—all of which include a collaboration between Dutch and Ukrainian scientists—have been funded through the NWO with a shared budget of €110,000.
Some of the projects are directly related to the current crisis, including the development of hand prostheses and digital healthcare solutions. But others are more traditional in scope, such as an advancement in next-generation antibiotics and an examination of celestial gas movements to better comprehend dark matter.
One project covers novel heart-disease screening methods, while another seeks to understand the physiology of thyroid disease in pregnant women.
The diversity of topics shows the breadth of scientific cooperation between the Netherlands and Ukraine.
Advancing prosthetics
The prosthetics research is perhaps the most pertinent of the projects, given the ongoing war, which has injured more than 120,000 Ukrainians so far, according to one estimate.
The project will bring researchers at Delft University of Technology and the National Pirogov Memorial Medical University (NPMMU) together to measure the use of, and satisfaction with, hand prostheses in Ukraine.
The aim is to use that data to improve the design of prosthetic hands and to inform rehabilitation efforts.
“With these recent events, our work takes on extra charge, as it addresses the challenges of people who are injured or suffering from trauma,” said Serhii Kolisnyk, who will lead the NPMMU side of the project.
“This allocation is not only a financial boost for us, but also an opportunity to collaborate with international partners, leading to knowledge exchange and innovation.
“I am deeply committed to our research and the demonstrable improvements we hope to contribute to the wellbeing of citizens in Ukraine and beyond.”