ALL-UKRAINIAN ASSOCIATION FOR EUROPEAN VALUES IN SCIENCE

MISSION STATEMENT FOR THE SCIENTIFIC COMMUNITY OF UKRAINE

Dear Colleagues,

On February 2, 2007, the All-Ukrainian Association for European Values in Science (UAES) held its first Annual Convention.

Our organization was formed one year ago by scientists who believe that it is utterly important to develop and implement a thorough concept of reforming science in our country. We hold that it is vital to come up with an objective appraisal of the real status of affairs in Ukrainian science. It is crucial to revise the existing laws that regulate science and education. It is urgent to take a closer look at the question whether the current legal documents justifying the six existing state Academies are compatible with the Constitution of Ukraine. European standards of democratic government, transparent financing, and objective evaluation of the results of basic and applied research need to be implemented into the life of scientists and educators of Ukraine without any further delay.

It is not a secret to any and all of us that save a handful of loose projects, the current status of science in Ukraine is pitiful. It goes without saying that one of the reasons explaining this sad situation is that every single year, the Law of Ukraine “Regarding Scientific and Applied Science Endeavors” is violated – according to this Law, the financing of science must amount to at least 1.7% of the Ukrainian gross national product, while in fact it never does. Yet, it is obvious that mere scarcity of finances does not account for all problems of science in Ukraine.

The presently operating system of administration and budgeting in Ukrainian science is obsolete and demonstratively inefficient. In particular, standards of evaluation of the quantity and quality of work performed by scientists, though trivial for scientific institutions of virtually all developed countries of the world, are not being applied to Ukrainian scientists. The transparent system of peer review of competing science projects in Ukraine is practically nonexistent. This makes Ukrainian science highly vulnerable for corruption and creates a fertile ground for the growth of anti-scientific sentiment among Ukrainian public, aiding those who protest against investing state budget money into science.

Over the years of Ukraine’s independence, the state officials as well as the leaders of the state Academies have demonstrated a total lack of both desire and ability to reform our science according to the pattern developed in Europe and based on the European experience. This served as the primary reason for us to create UAES. We are united by a common vision of how basic and applied science should develop. We have organized UAES as a means of influencing our state to develop such a policy regarding science that the fruit of scientific endeavor would make our economy grow faster, our state become more secure, and our education gain far better quality.

In 2006, UAES created a set of propositions aimed at amending the concept of development of science in Ukraine. These propositions were sent to legislative and executive bodies as well as to leaders of parliamentary fractions, to individual parliament members, and to media. However, the powers-that-be, not complying with the laws of Ukraine, either ignored our propositions altogether, or sent us nonsensical formal replies. We must stress that our propositions by no means imply that the state Academies – particularly, the biggest, the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine – should be liquidated or merged with universities, or that their colossal property should be privatized.

We are convinced that if reforms in Ukrainian science are further postponed or avoided, or if they are drowned in endless empty talk, Ukraine will simply lose all of its scientific potential irreversibly, thus becoming a typical Third World country.

We are issuing this statement to reach each and every one of you because we understand: if you do not support us today, tomorrow there will be no science in Ukraine. This “tomorrow” is already knocking at our door in the guise of business adventurists as well as pseudo-“scientists” who are actually engaged in business, in their attempts to capture some of the property of our state scientific institutions. This “tomorrow” also manifests itself in the emerging trend to change or to water down all of the standards in evaluation of the scientific achievement that are accepted in the civilized world, as well as in devaluation of scientific degrees and academic positions, and in a total regress in education.

We invite all qualified and honest scientists to join UAES. Your admittance does not depend on your age, scientific degrees or positions that you hold, or on your political convictions. Please ask any questions about UAES, using addresses indicated in our documents (see our Web site at http://www.ukrnauka.org.ua). Please spread this information among your colleagues.

This Statement was endorsed at the Annual Convention of UAES in Kyiv on February 2, 2007.

The members of the Coordinating Board elected on February 2, 2007 at the Annual Convention of UAES: