Education, training, capacity building and networking actions to strengthen Ukrainian and EU nuclear research

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This action should support:

• further cooperation with Ukrainian research entities and academia to improve the participation of their researchers in co-funded Euratom research and training activities, thereby enabling broader, more efficient and inclusive collaboration in the field that is mutually beneficial;
• nuclear education and training programmes to ensure that adequate nuclear knowledge and capabilities are maintained so that nuclear installations can be operated safely in Ukraine;
• realisation of the full potential of Ukrainian research entities and infrastructures, and research programmes in a European framework that covers specific areas of the Euratom Research and Training Programme.

Scope:

Nuclear expertise is key to mastering nuclear technology and to operating nuclear installations safely. With 15 nuclear power plants, Ukraine is one of the biggest operators in Europe, and also uses a wide range of other nuclear research installations.

The ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine puts the safe operation of Ukrainian nuclear installations at serious risk. Damage was caused to the overall education and training academic framework in addition to infrastructures and loss of human capacity, as many people have to seek refuge in non-occupied parts of Ukraine or even abroad. To counter these negative tendencies, the EU is supporting high-level nuclear education and training, knowledge management and competences in Ukraine.

To preserve the pre-invasion level of nuclear education and training in the country and cover the country’s human capital needs with adequate knowledge, the major nuclear education and training providers in Ukraine will take part in this action. Nuclear operators and regulatory technical support organisations are also expected to participate, including EU Member State institutions experienced in implementing technical assistance programmes.

This action should also benefit from close interactions with the Ukrainian National Contact Point to Euratom. This should result in a better integration of Ukrainian research entities into EU/Euratom nuclear research networks and vice versa. Supported activities should be tailored by the area and the priorities of the organisations concerned, such as promoting and continuously delivering university teaching and courses, joint workshops, better cross-border brokerage events or specific training linked to this field.

Special attention should be given to boosting competences and high-level safety standards of Ukrainian entities. This includes MSc/PhD students, researchers, the availability of teachers, all actors helping to acquire the know-how accumulated in other countries, facilitating transnational cooperation to identify and share good practices, and raising the general standards, including support to programme applicants.

This grant will be awarded without a call for proposals in accordance with Article 195(e) of the Financial Regulation and the relevant provisions of the Regulation establishing the Euratom Research and Training Programme 2021-2025.

The general conditions, including admissibility conditions, eligibility conditions, award criteria, the evaluation and award procedure, the legal and financial set-up for grants, financial and operational capacity and exclusion are provided in Parts A to G of the General Annexes.