Ukraine’s Scientific Independence

A nation’s independence is often seen to be largely a political and economic matter. However, less conspicuous is the challenge found in the scientific transformation of a newly freed country. Like political and economic organizations, scientific efforts and activities are deeply collaborative. Where a country has been wedded to another for 70 years, its direction of scientific work, the structure of its organizations, and the way in which they are funded, is inevitably linked to the erstwhile mother country. Disentangling them takes time.JOIN US ON TELEGRAMFollow our coverage of the war on the @Kyivpost_official. Unlike many countries that have faced independence in the past and lacked a matured scientific community – India might be an example – Ukraine did not have to start building a distinctive scientific infrastructure from scratch. Its scientific pedigree and accomplishments were already superlative. Indeed, the reality is that Ukraine was an intellectual powerhouse of the Soviet Union, largely on account of the creativity of its people, mixed in with that thoroughly Ukrainian independence of mind that never faltered, even under the worst excesses of Marxist repression. Vernadsky, Palladin, Sikorsky, Korolyov, and others, are household names. The scientific independence of Ukraine, which came with political independence in 1991, was more a case of a flower sprouting anew rather than the planting of a seed. A transition between two scientific worlds The complex politics of scientific independence can best be understood in personalities rather than the blander exterior of institutions. An inspiring modern figure of Ukrainian science, but one who exemplified Ukraine’s exit from the Soviet orbit, was Borys Paton (1918-2020). Appointed in 1962 to chair what was then the Academy of Sciences of the Ukrainian SSR, he was the son of the founder of the E.O. Paton Institute of Electric Welding in Kyiv, now an institute of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine. He and his father, one could say, built a welding dominion, which was central to the ambitions of Soviet industrialization. Other Topics of Interest Attacks on Ukrainians in Poland: a Populist Phase or a Disturbing Sign of Poland Going Pro-Russian? A Polish perspective on how populists are creating a monster in Poland, with the creature now feeding on irrational images of genocidal Ukrainians in their midst. Borys Paton was scientifically an extraordinary individual. His accomplishments in developing new methods in welding, so crucial to any metallic structure from bridges to buildings, were not confined to Earth. He oversaw the first test of welding aboard a spacecraft (Soyuz-6) in 1969, making construction methods extraterrestrial. This experiment led the way to the first demonstration of cutting and welding in open space outside the Salyut-7 station. The work established the technical basis for assembling and maintaining space stations. Behind the science, Paton was a mirror of Ukraine’s transition to independence. During Soviet times, he was showered with honours for his work. Four Orders of Lenin came his way, he was a Hero of Socialist Labor twice, and a member of the Central Committee of the 27th Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. Fast forward to the period after independence and he is awarded the Hero of Ukraine, for “dedicated service to science, outstanding achievements in the field of welding and special electrometallurgy” and he was a recipient of the Order of Liberty. Here we have a man who stood like a colossus astride two worlds. Within this transition there came inevitable frictions. He was one of the signatories of the infamous ‘Letter of Ten,’ written by key members of Ukraine’s academic community in 2011 supporting the more assertive policies of President Viktor Yanukovych. I think it would be mean spirited to hold this against Paton; history made him a man of two epochs, each of which placed expectations on him. His life was a personification of Ukraine’s journey to self-determination. The many scientific contributions of independent Ukraine The growing pains did not hinder the continuous development of science in Ukraine. Since independence, it has blossomed in many directions. In 2022, Maryna Viazovska, a former student of the Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv, became the first Ukrainian mathematician to win the Fields Medal, the highest award in mathematics, for her work in understanding the packing of spheres in many dimensions. Contributions in materials science, biochemistry, advanced physics, aerospace engineering, and a plethora of other disciplines have continued apace. Ukraine’s entrepreneurial spirit has made it exceptionally successful at translating its science into useful applications. Ukraine has found many strengths that have made it competitive and anchored its broader scientific activity, for example the growth of scintillation and semiconductor single crystals used in radiation detectors for high-energy physics, security screening, and medical imaging. The country has become an internationally recognized centre for fundamental research on the synthesis of a diverse range of chemical compounds used in commercial pharmaceutical production. The breadth of scientific activity that has continued in independent Ukraine and its connection to the wider business world has honed a uniquely Ukrainian scientific culture. The full-scale invasion has dealt a terrible blow. The physical damage to institutes, laboratories and, of course, people, is obvious, but the intellectual fervour and creativity on which science runs is unmoved and will likely burst forth with greater vigour. The scientific future What of this scientific future? Further integration with the European scientific community seems inevitable, even outside any formal membership of the EU. Ukraine is part of the EU’s HORIZON research and innovation framework program. Last year, a conference to consider how to build Ukrainian astronomy was hosted in Leiden, Netherlands. However, as I have remarked before, the Ukrainian European outlook should not shrink the nation’s sense of opportunity to link with the rapidly growing scientific potential in the East and the inevitable emergence of African science. The nation’s geographical location places it in an historically rich location to take advantage of the emerging global scientific situation alongside its tilt towards Europe. Then there is the eternal problem of priorities. Like all countries, Ukraine must grapple with where to direct state funding for science. On this score, Ukraine’s challenge is not so much how to support the formation of new organizations, but what to focus on in an already impressive institutional landscape. Between its prodigious universities, colleges, and the institutes of the National Academy of Sciences (which unlike many other academies, initiates scientific programmes and operates its own organisations) Ukraine has a formidable task in adjudicating scientific expenditures, especially when more of its budget will be freed from defence. Nonetheless, this is an enviable position to be in, a world of protean choices. It is better to possess a surfeit of scientific opportunity rather than a lack of it. Yet restructuring and streamlining seems inevitable. In whatever way these forthcoming dilemmas are resolved, one undeniable contribution of Ukrainian science throughout its modern history, and one that will surely advance unhindered, has been what I can only describe as its creative ‘flourish’. Vernadsky’s noosphere, a concept of a new phase of human rational thought that emerges from the biosphere, and Sikorsky’s early experiments in his Kyiv backyard on his crazy idea for a flying machine, a contraption we would later call a ‘helicopter,’ are just two examples. Many nations do good science, but not all nations produce people who have these eccentric, but groundbreaking ideas. It takes a certain free mentality, and a willingness to encourage and celebrate it in the wider population, to contribute this to progress. The scientific character of a nation is a manifestation of the underlying national personality, because that is the place from which it springs. Ukraine’s scientific persona is brilliant, innovative, ingenious, joyous, and original. The scientific world sees this; all the world should protect it. Charles Cockell is Professor of Astrobiology at the University of Edinburgh. The views expressed in this opinion article are the author’s and not necessarily those of Kyiv Post.