Oleksandr Skorokhod
The issue of scientific personnel in Ukraine has never been as acute as it is today. Over the years of independence, a range of factors has led to a brain drain, typically of young and highly qualified professionals, from Ukrainian science abroad and the formation of the Ukrainian scientific diaspora. The full-scale invasion of Russia into Ukraine on February 24, 2022, triggered a new large wave of migration of scientists.
At the same time, scientists can play a crucial role in addressing numerous challenges arising during and after, including security and defense capabilities, energy, environmental consequences of war, natural resources management, healthcare for military personnel and the population, psychological rehabilitation, etc.
This White Paper addresses the issue of the scientific diaspora — a vital intellectual and human capital owned by Ukraine. Despite its readiness and openness for close cooperation, this potential has remained largely unnoticed by the state for many years. However, the experience of numerous countries worldwide, especially those with a large scientific diaspora (such as China, India, Mexico, and others), underscores the importance of their involvement in science for economic growth and transforming brain drain into brain circulation. In particular, the highly skilled diaspora has played a crucial role in the post-war recovery of countries that have experienced wars on their territories (Germany, Japan, South Korea, countries of the former Yugoslavia, Israel).
The analysis of the situation with the Ukrainian scientific diaspora has revealed their readiness for closer cooperation, as well as the motivation of a significant number of expatriates to return to Ukraine after the war. At the same time, a number of prerequisites and necessary measures critical for enabling both processes have been identified, thus the following proposals are suggested:
— Strengthen institutional support for cooperation with the diaspora, including the scientific one;
— Ensure compliance with academic mobility provisions during wartime and post-war;
— Improve the legal framework for involving foreign scientists and the scientific diaspora in employment in research institutions and higher education institutions;
— Develop pilot programs to facilitate the return of valuable Ukrainian scientists working abroad focusing on priority scientific areas;
— Conduct a comprehensive set of measures to map the Ukrainian scientific diaspora, establish and develop networks and institutions of the scientific diaspora in EU countries and worldwide, and establish connections with the Ukrainian scientific diaspora;
— Initiate a dialogue with international organizations promoting the repatriation of scientists to develop programs for the return of Ukrainian scientists — who are forced migrants;
— Develop proposals for the establishment of a Diaspora Foundation — a nongovernmental organization that could accumulate funds from the diaspora, business, international donors, to support programs for the return of Ukrainian scientists, and projects of Ukrainian scientists.
Utilizing the potential of the Ukrainian scientific diaspora presents an opportunity to make a sort of leapfrogging in scientific personnel management, accelerating the recovery process in Ukrainian science and various sectors of the country’s economy.
*Leapfrogging — a concept used in many spheres of economics and business, the main idea of which is that the implementation of radical innovations, policies allows skipping certain stages of development, accepted in traditional approaches or strategies, thereby bypassing a number of associated problems.