Thematic Summit Under the Auspices of the RIFF Project: A Platform for Shared Scientific Interests and Collaboration on the Implementation of Research Infrastructures in Ukraine
Under the auspices of the EU Horizon project RIFF, “Research Infrastructures for the Future of Ukraine: Roadmap for Sustained Growth and Recovery,” which aims to restore, develop, and integrate Ukrainian research infrastructures (RIs) into the European Research Area (ERA), a thematic summit on health and food security, the environment, as well as data infrastructure, computing, and digital research was held at Masaryk University (MUNI) from June 15 to 16, 2026.
The summit was attended by those responsible for developing the RIFF project’s roadmap for integrating Ukrainian research infrastructures into the European Research Area in the field of the environment, Alla Klepko, Head of the Department of General Ecology, Radiobiology, and Radiation Safety, as well as Vita Strokal, Associate Professor in the Department of Agrosphere Ecology and Environmental Monitoring. The main goal of the summit was to strengthen cooperation and establish ties between the Ukrainian research community and the pan-European research infrastructure. The summit will focus on three ESFRI (European Strategy Forum on Research Infrastructures) priority areas: environment (ENV), data, computing, and digital research engineers (DIGIT), and health and nutrition (H&F).
The summit brought together researchers, educators, and experts from Ukraine and the EU to exchange experiences, build partnerships, and explore concrete pathways for Ukraine’s integration into the European Research Area (ERA). The summit served as a bridge between the EU and Ukrainian research infrastructure communities—a space for meetings, discussions of shared challenges, and the initiation of future cooperation that can contribute to both scientific excellence and Ukraine’s sustainable recovery.
During the event, Alla KLEPKO and Vita STROKAL held focused and substantive discussions with representatives from the fields of health care and nutrition, digital infrastructure, and experts in the development of research infrastructures in the field of environmental protection.
A valuable outcome of the summit was a series of meetings with experts involved in developing a roadmap for the expansion of research infrastructures in Ukraine in the field of environmental protection, including Professor Sanna (Prof. Dr. Sanna Kaisa Sorvari Sundet), Professor Martin (Prof. Dr. Martin SCHERINGER), and the co-coordinator for this area, Jana (Jana KLÁNOVÁ). RIFF coordinator Ondřej (Ondřej HRADIL) and Ukrainian expert Larisa SHEVCHUK also joined the meeting.
During the summit, with the aim of establishing and strengthening cooperation to develop a roadmap for the integration of Ukrainian research infrastructures into the European Area in the field of the environment, meetings were held with representatives of the Boris Sreznevsky Central Geophysical Observatory—Hanna Doroshenko and Olena Kosovets-Skavronska— Yevheniia TKACH from the Institute of Agroecology and Natural Resource Management of the National Academy of Agrarian Sciences of Ukraine, Olga TERTYCHNA from the Institute of Agricultural Microbiology and Agro-Industrial Production of the National Academy of Agrarian Sciences of Ukraine, and other representatives of these institutions.
We would like to thank the summit organizers, RIFF project coordinator Ondřej Hradil, and representatives of Masaryk University (MUNI) for the excellent organization, the warm atmosphere, the positive experience, and the opportunity to engage in meaningful discussions with representatives of European research infrastructures as well as Ukrainian experts, educators, and researchers.
