On May 9, 2025, an online meeting was held, organized by the team of the State Scientific and Technical Library of Ukraine (Director Alla Zharinova and Deputy Director for Research and International Cooperation Tetiana Yaroshenko, https://dntb.gov.ua), with open data and repository infrastructure expert Viacheslav Tykhonov (https://dataverse.nl). Volodymyr Kotsyubynskyi, Head of PNU-OpenLab (https://open-lab.pnu.edu.ua/), took part in the meeting.

The discussion focused on strategic approaches to developing a national system of scientific repositories aligned with the FAIR principles. Special attention was given to the role of controlled vocabularies such as Finto, BioPortal, and OntoPortal, which ensure data interoperability in scientific infrastructures.

The capabilities of the Dataverse platform were presented, highlighting its implementation in the Netherlands for the academic sector and discussing its potential as a technical and conceptual foundation for building a Ukrainian repository system.

On April 30, 2025, the Ivano-Frankivsk National Medical University hosted the 4th Scientific and Practical Conference with international participation, titled “Advancing Best Practices in PhD Training,” dedicated to the 80th anniversary of the university’s founding.

The conference focused on pressing issues related to doctoral training under the academic and research program 222 “Medicine,” including the openness and relevance of scientific profiles, challenges in selecting dissertation topics, the integration of artificial intelligence into the educational process and research, the development of open science, and involvement in grant-based activities.

Special attention was given to aligning educational processes with the standards of the European Higher Education Area and to the development of interdisciplinary competencies among doctoral candidates. IFNMU is actively implementing effective mentorship models aimed at supporting the professional development of early-career researchers.

Also during the conference, Volodymyr Kotsiubynskyi, Head of the Department of Applied Physics and Materials Science at PNU, presented current practices for implementing open science principles in the university’s research activities. In his presentation, he outlined key achievements of the Advanced Materials Open Science Centre (PNU-OpenLab), established as part of the HORIZON-INFRA-2023-EOSC-01-01 project (2024–2026).

The focus was on managing open research data, in particular, the creation of the institutional repository DataSet (https://dataset.pnu.edu.ua/), which operates on the InvenioRDM platform. The presentation demonstrated how the synergy of open technologies, advanced digital infrastructure, and the university’s strategic vision contributes to advancing open science at both the local and national levels.

On April 23, 2025, Professors Volodymyr Kotsiubynskyi and Volodymyra Boichuk, participants in the project “The Advanced Materials Open Science Centre,” took part in the Forum of Young Scientists’ Councils of Higher Education Institutions in the Ivano-Frankivsk Region, titled “Scientific Trends: The Formula for a Young Researcher’s Success.”

The event, hosted by Vasyl Stefanyk Carpathian National University, brought together young scholars and academic leaders to explore current challenges and opportunities in the development of science in Ukraine. Discussions focused on the evolving role of early-career researchers in societal transformation, models for science-industry collaboration, and prospects for the commercialization of research outcomes.

Particular attention was devoted to the advancement of open science practices in Ukraine. As a featured speaker in the panel discussion “Open Science: A New Research Culture,” Professor Volodymyr Kotsiubynskyi presented the implementation of open science principles at Vasyl Stefanyk Carpathian National University. He highlighted key achievements from the first six months of activity at the Open Science Center OpenLab (https://open-lab.pnu.edu.ua/), established within the framework of the project, funded under the HORIZON-INFRA-2023-EOSC-01-01 programme (2024–2026).

His presentation emphasized the structured approach to open research data management, including the development of the institutional repository DataSet (https://dataset.pnu.edu.ua/), built using the InvenioRDM platform. The session illustrated the productive synergy between open technologies, digital research infrastructure, and the university’s strategic commitment to fostering open science at both regional and national levels.

Once again, Easter comes to us in difficult times — times of trials, struggle, and great hope.
Today, Ukraine’s destiny is intertwined with pain and loss, yet also with unbreakable spirit, sincere faith in victory, and a deep longing for peace, justice, and light.

May the Glorious Resurrection of Christ become for each of us a symbol of renewal, strength, and faith.

May the Lord protect our defenders, inspire each of us to do good, and may the dawn of peace and justice rise over Ukraine as soon as possible.

The Initial Stage of the project “Advanced Materials Open Science Centre at the Precarpathian National University” (led by Volodymyr Kotsiubynskyi) has been completed. The project is funded under HORIZON-INFRA-2023-EOSC-01-01 (2024–2026). The main outcomes include the establishment of PNU-OpenLab (https://open-lab.pnu.edu.ua/) as part of PNU’s research ecosystem, as well as the creation of the PNU-DataSet repository (https://dataset.pnu.edu.ua/), serving as a platform for accessing open data generated at Vasyl Stefanyk Precarpathian National University. Notably, the repository has a multidisciplinary nature and will be accessible not only to the university’s staff.

As of today, the technical work related to testing the software that will integrate the repository into the CrossRef system (https://www.crossref.org/) — the DOI provider for the repository’s resources — is nearing completion. During the Initial Stage, the project team conducted an analysis of the current state of open science practices within the OSCARS scientific cluster community, in accordance with Ukraine’s National Open Science Plan, adopted by the Ukrainian government (https://zakon.rada.gov.ua/laws/show/892-2022-%D1%80#Text). At the national level, the team is actively involved in adapting EU Open Science standards (https://openscience.eu/) to scientific and educational practices in Ukraine. Notably, they are contributing to the development of the professional standard “Research Data Management Specialist” in alignment with the European Skills, Competences, Qualifications and Occupations framework (https://esco.ec.europa.eu/uk).

Another task successfully completed by the team during the project’s Initial Stage was the development and adaptation of an open access procedure for scientific facilities at PNU-NanoLab for Ukrainian researchers (https://nano-lab.pnu.edu.ua/en/tsentr-kolektyvnoho-korystuvannia-nau/). Testing has also begun on the implementation of data access protocols in accordance with EOSC requirements.

Much has been accomplished, but this is only the preparation for the Main Stage of the project, which will begin in April 2025.

On March 3-4, the OSCARS meeting took place in an F2F (face-to-face) format to ensure the most effective interaction among all participants. The project “Advanced Materials Open Science Centre at the Precarpathian National University” was represented at the event by professor Volodymyra Boychuk.

The event began with a brief overview of the results from the first year of activities within the OSCARS work packages (WP 1-4) and the next steps planned for 2025.

A total of 54 projects, funded as a result of the first OSCARS call, were presented in a flash-talk format. The distribution of projects into sessions was based on their main objectives and covered the following topics: repositories, data and data types, software, artificial intelligence and tools, promotion of open science, and community building beyond clusters.

The primary focus of the event was on interactive discussions in the World Café format. Participants worked on finding joint solutions to key challenges, and the outcomes of the discussions were summarized in concise reports. Additionally, members of the EOSC EU Node project shared their results and invited all attendees to collaborate.

The meeting became a significant milestone in the development of OSCARS, establishing a platform for effective cooperation, experience exchange, and joint decision-making to further advance Open Science.

On this special day, let’s celebrate the brilliance, resilience, and achievements of women and girls in science.

Throughout history, women have made groundbreaking discoveriesтand paved the way for future generations. Today, we honor their contributions and encourage young minds to dream big, stay curious, and never stop questioning the world around them.

On 15 January 2025, a large-scale online event took place (with approximately 500 participants) – the presentation of the 2nd OSCARS Open Call for Open Science projects, announced as part of the activities of the OSCARS (Open-Science Clusters’ Action for Research and Society) collaboration.

The collaboration includes leading European research infrastructures, grouped into thematic clusters by fields: Humanities and Social Sciences, Life Sciences, Environmental Sciences, Photon and Neutron Science, Astronomy, Nuclear and Particle Physics (https://science-clusters.eu/).

In total, 58 projects received funding in the first round of the call, selected from 264 proposals submitted by 607 organisations. The event featured six speakers, all leaders of winning projects, including Volodymyr Kotsiubynskyi, who presented the project “Advanced Materials Open Science Centre at the Precarpathian National University (PNU-OpenLab)”, implemented by a team from the Precarpathian National University (https://oscars-project.eu/projects/pnu-openlab-advanced-materials-open-science-centre-precarpathian-national-university).

The entry of the Ukrainian team into the Science Clusters, which are an integral part of the European Open Science Cloud (EOSC), is an important step towards the integration of Ukrainian scientists into the European research area. 

On 13 January 2025, the Advanced Materials Open Science Centre at the Precarpathian National University (PNU-OpenLab) was founded. The main goal of the Centre is to consolidate the research activities of Ukrainian scientists from universities in Western Ukraine and research institutes of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine in the field of obtaining, characterizing, and implementing advanced materials and nanomaterials according to the principles of Open Science.

The foundation of the Centre is part of the implementation of the project “Advanced Materials Open Science Centre at the Precarpathian National University” (Principal Investigator is Volodymyr Kotsiubynskyi), funded under HORIZON-INFRA-2023-EOSC-01-01 (2024-2026). The project outcomes will include the creation of a university repository for multidisciplinary open data, the organization of open access to the research infrastructure of the Department of Applied Physics and Materials Science, certification of the PNU-NanoLab, expanded cooperation with industrial enterprises, installation of an autonomous energy supply system at the university, and for the creation of a regional node of the CERIC-ERIC system. The main idea behind PNU-OpenLab is to facilitate the integration of Ukrainian scientists into the European research space.

https://oscars-project.eu/projects/pnu-openlab-advanced-materials-open-science-centre-precarpathian-national-university