Oleksandr Lytvynenko: Development of the Ukrainian Doctrine requires active participation of national scientists

The state’s science and technology policy is essential for the successful social and economic development of Ukraine. This was emphasised by Secretary of the National Security and Defence Council of Ukraine Oleksandr Lytvynenko during a meeting with national scientists on Tuesday, 11 June.

In the course of the dialogue, he invited the scientists to join the work on the Ukrainian Doctrine being developed on behalf of President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

Oleksandr Lytvynenko stressed that the Ukrainian Doctrine should become the basis for the transformation of the state the development of which is impossible without the active participation of national scientists.

“Ukraine should emerge victorious from the war, and we will then face a serious task – economic recovery, and it is impossible to do this without high-quality science, progressive approaches and technologies”, – said the Secretary of the National Security and Defence Council of Ukraine. That is why it is important to support Ukrainian science and enable scientists to work to rebuild and enhance Ukraine’s defence capability.

In this regard, President of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine Anatolii Zahorodnii noted that the developments of Ukrainian scientists in the field of security and defence of our country are actually working today. However, for more effective development, priorities need to be set.

Oleksandr Bohomolov, Director of the National Institute for Strategic Studies, pointed out that the future Ukrainian Doctrine should include a strategy for Ukraine’s scientific, technological and humanitarian development. However, this requires an audit of scientific research capabilities.

During the discussion, it was suggested that Ukraine has all the capabilities and capacities to become a real scientific hub.

“A scientific state is, first and foremost, a motivation for scientists, postgraduates, students, schoolchildren, and young people who want to work for their country”, – said Maryna Viazovska, Head of the Department of Number Theory at EPFL (Lausanne), the second woman in history to win the Fields Medal, the most prestigious award in mathematics for young scientists.

At the end of the meeting, Oleksandr Lytvynenko underlined that in the future document it is important to focus on human-centred approaches in determining national security and defence priorities rather than state-centred ones.

It is important for us to protect not only our country, but also to take care of the security of every person”, – summed up the NSDC Secretary.

The participants of the meeting expressed a common opinion that the Doctrine should receive a mandate of public support.

Among those invited to the meeting:

• Anatolii Zagorodnii, President of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine;
• Volodymyr Horbulin, First Vice-President of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine;
• Serhii Pyrozhkov, Vice-President of the National Academy of Sciences ofUkraine;
• Oleh Rafalskyi, Director of the I.F. Kuras Institute of Political and Ethnic Studies of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine;
• Oleksandr Bohomolov, Director of the National Institute for Strategic Studies;
• Maksym Palamarchuk, Head of the Centre for Foreign Policy Studies at the National Institute for Strategic Studies;
• Viktor Kiktenko, Head of the Asia-Pacific Department of the Krymsky Institute of Oriental Studies of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, President of the Ukrainian Association of Sinologists, member of the European Association ofSinology;
• Oleksii Novikov, Director of the Educational and Research Institute of Physics and Technology of Igor Sikorsky Kyiv Polytechnic Institute, Doctor of Technical Sciences, Professor;
• Dmytro Lande, Head of the Department of Information Security at Ihor Sikorskyi Kyiv Polytechnic Institute;
• Olha Iliash, Professor of the Department of Economic Cybernetics, Ihor Sikorskyi Kyiv Polytechnic Institute, UN National Expert on IndustrialDevelopment;
• Khrystyna Hnatenko, Professor of the Ivan Vakarchuk Chair of Theoretical Physics at the Ivan Franko National University of Lviv, the youngest Doctor of Science in Physics and Mathematics in Ukraine;
• Oleksandr Kordiuk, experimental physicist, professor at Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv, visiting scientist at IFW Dresden, IPHT Jena and the University of Amsterdam, corresponding member of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine;
• Hanna Tolstanova, Professor of Supramolecular Chemistry, Institute of High Technologies, Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv, Fellow of the British Physiological Society. Member of editorial boards: "Frontiers Pharmacology, Ukrainian Biochemical Journal;
• Maryna Viazovska, Head of the Department of Number Theory at EPFL (Lausanne), won one of the world's most prestigious mathematical awards, the Salem Prize, in 2016.