New system of priorities in science and innovation: focus on defence, economy and post-war development

On 6 November, the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine adopted as a basis the draft Law of Ukraine “On Priority Areas of Scientific, Scientific-Technical, and Innovation Activity” following its first reading.

The draft law was developed by the Ministry of Education and Science to establish a system of relevant priority areas in science and innovation, replacing the current priority directions for the development of science, technology, and innovation activity.

“Ukraine is transitioning to a European approach in defining science and innovation priorities – through foresight studies, analysis of future needs, and a division of funding baskets into baseline and competitive. This will enable the concentration of state funding on the needs of defence, the economy, and the country’s recovery,” stated Denys Kurbatov, Deputy Minister of Education and Science.

The draft law provides for the creation of a unified two-tier system of priorities in scientific, scientific-technical, and innovation activities:

• The Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine will determine long-term priority directions (for 10 years);
• The Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine will approve medium-term directions (for 5 years), based on the long-term ones.

Updates to priority directions will be carried out using a new mechanism – based on the results of predictive-analytical (foresight) studies, in line with best international practices.

A key element of the draft law is the fundamental overhaul of priority implementation tools: baseline funding will now be provided based on the results of state attestation within academic autonomy; the entire volume of competitive funding will be allocated according to new narrow priorities.

The adoption of the draft law will make it possible to form a new system of relevant priorities in science and innovation that take into account the key challenges and needs of the state, the demands of the real economy, the priorities of integration into the European Research Area, and the potential of Ukrainian science to carry out corresponding research and development.