About the Project

Ukraine as one of the closest and largest neighbours of the EU has a high potential for scientific and technological development. The country has a long tradition of scientific bilateral cooperation with many EU countries and is a priority partner country within the European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP). The BILAT-UKR project focuses on further enhancing the bilateral partnership between Ukraine and the EU based on the S&T agreement by means of concrete initiatives in order to prepare the ground for Ukraine’s association to the 7th Framework Programme (FP7).

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The project BILAT-UKR aims to contribute to the Commissions objective of the fuller integration of the Ukraine into the broader European Research Area. Also it constitutes part of the implementation of the EU-Ukrainian Action Plan, the main guiding tool of the European Neighbourhood Policy with the Ukraine, whose general objective is to share EU stability, security and prosperity with Ukraine. With regards to FP7, Ukraine shows an excellent potential but its potential was not fully realized. Therefore the project will ensure coherence and coordination of the various (thematic) activities under the umbrella of the EU-Ukrainian S&T agreement and will contribute to a stronger coordination of bilateral activities with Ukraine.

The main objectives of BILAT-UKR are:

• to strengthen the S&T cooperation between the EU and Ukraine in particular through a stronger participation of Ukraine in FP7 and other Community programmes and initiatives and through a better link between activities on Member States and Community level.
  
• to improve the framework for enhanced future and sustainable S&T cooperation between the EU and Ukraine and contribute to develop optimum instruments.
  
•  to provide support for the working groups set up in Ukraine with the aim to organize a thorough thematic and high level policy dialogue between the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine and the European Commission.

These objectives will be achieved by:

• information gathering and dissemination on S&T in Ukraine, EU and Ukraine S&T programmes, on ongoing cooperation programmes and activities building on existing information tools on Member States/Associated States, Community and Ukrainian level.
  
• setting up an EU-Ukraine web-portal building on existing web-based tools on Community level, MS level and in Ukraine.
  
•  raising the capacities of the consultancy services in Ukraine (National Contact Points-NCPs) and providing target advice through networking with experienced NCPs in Member States.
  
• supporting Partner Search through building an inventory of existing web-based toolsfor EU-Ukraine S&T partner search, identifying good practice and providing an optimized tool.
  
• an inventory of existing instruments, regulations, obstacles and best practices, both on bilateral (Member States and Ukraine) and Community level, with a particular
  emphasis on the needs for a legal frame.
  
• involving policy stakeholders from EU-Member States, EU-Commission and Ukraineto come up with proposed solutions for a common frame, benefiting from and
  suggesting recommendations for the implementation of the ENP Action Plan.
  
• contributing to the kick-off of the Working Groups, providing a knowledge base forsupporting their activities, results and recommendations to associate Ukraine to the
  specific programme “Cooperation” under FP7.
  
• providing a knowledge base and develop an agenda in three areas: Mobility, S&T infrastructure and Innovation, in view of possible link of the international dimension
  of the Specific Programme “People” and “Capacities” to the respective Ukrainian instruments, facilities and strategies.

The project is embedded in a variety of other related EU-Ukraine joint activities and will make optimum use of synergies with ongoing activities, especially with IncoNet EECA. Furthermore a series of important dissemination activities will provide the necessary visibility to the project for both the scientific community and the policy makers and stakeholders. Among these activities are:

• Assuring a wide public outreach of EU-Ukrainian S&T Cooperation through the EU-Ukrainian S&T web-portal including a searchable data base listing Ukrainian S&T institutes.
  
• Information packages for different target groups on specific aspects of EU-Ukrainian cooperation including access to FP7.
  
• Raising awareness of Ukrainian policy makers of the potential beneficial impact of S&T Cooperation with the EU and of respective policy needs.
  
• Providing public information on the project by means of press releases and e-newsletters.
  

BILAT-UKR consists of the following 5 work packages (WP):

WP1 (Information dissemination and awareness raising)
WP1 aims at promoting Ukrainian S&T partners, their activities and opportunities for enhanced cooperation and good cooperation practice through delivering and spreading concise, up-to-date and relevant information, support partner search and offer targeted advice to Ukrainian National and Regional Contact Points (NCPs/RCPs).

WP2 (Instruments for enhanced future cooperation in S&T)
WP2 focuses on the analysis of the current basis for international collaboration (i.e existing instruments, rules and regulations on bilateral and Community level) as well as on the exploration of new instruments for enhanced future cooperation across all themes. The access to information on the FP7 and other cooperation instruments will be increased.

WP3 (Knowledge base for emerging horizontal issues of sustainable cooperation)
The objective of WP3 is the provision of EU and Ukrainian policy makers with relevant knowledge on the following three emerging issues: mobility, S&T infrastructure and innovation. Concrete proposals for joint actions will be developed.

WP4 (Supporting Ukrainian Working Groups and preparing measures to set up Ukrainian Mirror Technology Platforms)
This WP aims at developing recommendations to effectively set up and implement the mechanisms of the Ukrainian Working Groups activities considering the example of the Russian Federation. Ukrainian S&T institutions and innovative companies will be assisted as regards the integration into EU Technology Platforms.

WP5 (Management and communication)
WP5 will ensure that the objectives of the project will be met within the agreed budget and timeframe. It also focuses on carrying out quality control and effective internal communication.  Links to other projects addressing EU-Ukraine S&T cooperation with particular emphasis on coordination with the IncoNet EECA will be established.