Ukraine

Since Russia's invasion on 24 February 2022, Ukraine has suffered massively from the consequences of the war. Educational and research facilities have been destroyed and hundreds of thousands of pupils, students and researchers have had to flee. Nevertheless, international support, particularly from Germany, is helping to keep things going.

To bundle the aid measures, the Alliance of Science Organisations founded the Ukraine Coordination Group, which was transformed into a permanent format in 2023/24 under the leadership of the Leopoldina. It also maintains dialogue with the European Commission, the Ukraine Donor Platform and the host states of the Ukraine Recovery Conferences (URC).

Shortly before URC2024 in Berlin, the Alliance, led by Leopoldina and the Max Planck Society, published the "Ukraine Action Plan" - a roadmap for strengthening the education, research and innovation sector in the short, medium and long term. At URC2024, higher education, research and innovation were firmly included in the reconstruction agenda for the first time.

In September 2025, the Alliance joined the newly founded International Coalition for Science, Research, and Innovation in Ukraine. It is closely interlinked with the Coordination Group and the action plan.

The Leopoldina is committed to keeping the interests of Ukrainian science visible internationally. It promotes a dialogue at eye level that focuses on the needs of the Ukrainian partners. Bilateral delegation trips by the heads of the academies deepen cooperation in a spirit of solidarity.

Together with NANU, the National Council for Science and Technology of Ukraine and other partners, the Leopoldina is involved in strategic competence building and networking as well as in realistic considerations for reconstruction.

In order to safeguard endangered scientific careers, the Leopoldina ran the special "Leopoldina Ukraine Distinguished Fellowship" programme from 2022 to 2025 using its own funds. It enabled fellows to continue their research in Germany while maintaining their institutional ties in Ukraine.

In 2024, the Leopoldina organised the first conference of the Ukrainian academic diaspora in Europe in a consortium with six German partner organisations. Around 300 researchers came together in Berlin to network and develop perspectives.

In close cooperation with friendly academies - including the Polish Academy of Sciences and the US National Academy of Sciences - the Leopoldina is supporting a funding programme for Ukrainian research groups conducting networked research both in exile in Poland and in Ukraine.