“The “Ukrainian Science Diaspora” initiative in the wartime”

The devastating russian military invasion of Ukraine forced millions of people to flee their homes. Among those affected are highly skilled scientists, resulting in a significant loss of human capital for Ukraine, which is crucial for the post-war reconstruction. To address this pressing issue, the Young Scientists Council (YSC) at the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine launched the “Ukrainian Science Diaspora” initiative to mitigate the brain drain. The purpose of this study is to outline the first steps taken by this initiative. Moreover, it demonstrates lessons learned from the pilot meetings. The essence of the initiative is to keep links with scholars who left Ukraine and join the efforts of different migration waves of Ukrainian scientists for the further rebuilding of Ukraine. The YSC and other institutions prepared the analytical report on the needs and plans of Ukrainian scientists abroad. In addition, the paper highlights various events and activities organized by the YSC and other self-formed associations of Ukrainian scientists worldwide, working together to establish networks that could take the form of public organizations or be part of local unions of scientists. At present, efforts are focused on identifying Ukrainian scientists interested in joining this initiative, with the ultimate goal of identifying areas where Ukrainian scientists can participate in post-war reconstruction. The success of this initiative will undoubtedly play a crucial role in ensuring that Ukraine can retain its valuable human capital and continue to thrive in the face of adversity.


INTRODUCTION
In 2014, russian armed aggression against Ukraine began, which continued as a full-scale war after February 24, 2022.As a result, Ukraine is experiencing the biggest migration crisis in its history.According to the UN International Migration Service, 8.0 mln Ukrainian refugees temporarily live abroad (IOM, 2022b).The feature of the new wave of migration is the extremely high percentage of people with higher education and scientific degrees.According to the UNHCR (2022), as of November 2022, 46% of Ukrainian migrants have university or higher degrees.According to approximate calculations and the Ministry of Education and Science in Ukraine, there are about 5,000 researchers with scientific degrees and university and college teachers abroad.These people are scattered all over the world.Therefore, it is crucial to maintain contact with them and not lose them for Ukraine's further reconstruction and development.The solutions can be offered in the mobilization and joint efforts of a global network of Ukrainian scholars of different waves of migration.
The aim of the study is to summarize the experience of creation and the first steps of the "Ukrainian Science Diaspora" initiative, launched by the Young Scientists Council (YSC) at the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine, which emerged in response to the challenges resulting from the ongoing russian war against Ukraine.

Background information on diaspora studies
Diaspora has been a topic of interest for scholars from various disciplines, as it is a complex phenomenon that involves the dispersion of people from their homeland to different parts of the world.There are a lot of approaches how to identify the meaning of diaspora.This study uses the definition of the International Organization for Migration, "Individuals and members of networks, associations, and communities, who have left their country of origin, but maintain links with their homelands.This concept covers more settled expatriate communities, migrant workers based abroad temporarily, expatriates with the nationality of the host country, dual nationals, and second-/third generation migrants" (IOM, 2022a).
At the same time, science diaspora, which is the core interest of this investigation, is not only about common ethnical roots.Science diaspora has gained significant attention in recent years as a means to leverage the knowledge and expertise of scientists who have migrated from their home countries to contribute to scientific development in their host countries.
Gedeshi and King (2019) describe the scientific diaspora as a network of talented scientists from a particular country who have moved to work abroad.Scientific diasporas are primarily associated with working in joint laboratories, joint training, the availability of opportunities to study best practices in the field, as well as in the promotion dimension, and the need to implement these ideas in one's native environment (Flink & Schreiterer, 2010), contributing to science and learning.Echeverria-King et al. (2022) consider the modern diaspora communities as the institutions of science diplomacy for host countries.
In comparison, Meyer and Brown (1999) suggest that policymakers should consider the potential benefits of scientific diasporas when designing policies to address brain drain.Writer (2013) discusses the concept of scientific diaspora and its potential to mitigate the adverse effects of brain drain.However, the authors also highlight some of the challenges that scientific diasporas face, such as difficulties in maintaining connections with their home countries and limited support from host countries.Thus, policymakers should recognize the potential of scientific diasporas and take steps to support their activities.

Nikolic et al.
(2010) study the potential of scientific diasporas to contribute to developing their home countries.They analyze the motivations and barriers of Serbian scientists living abroad to engage with their home country and the potential benefits of their engagement for Serbia, such as knowledge transfer and access to international networks.Teferra (2003) explores the potential of the diaspora as a resource for development in their home countries.The author argues that advances in information and communication technologies (ICTs) have made it easier for diaspora communities to remain connected with their home countries and contribute to their development.Finally, Stanica (2013) explores the potential for diaspora engagement in action, highlighting the importance of institutional support, the quality of ICT infrastructure, and the degree of engagement between the diaspora and their home country.The literature review shows that scientific migration has always occurred in different countries and at different times.However, the current unprecedented flow of scientists from Ukraine is the largest since the Second World War.The science migration is full of problems and contradictions and is understudied.On this path, many efforts are made mainly on volunteer terms and on one's own initiative.Some authors have already targeted the case of Ukraine.Despite the existing studies, there is a need to research the ways and areas of collaboration between Ukrainian scholars within the diaspora community.Therefore, this study is focused on how these communities are developing and setting up.

Concept of the "Ukrainian Science Diaspora" initiative
The Young Scientists Council (YSC) is an advisory body that protects the interests of early-career researchers in Ukraine.One of its tasks is preparing analytical reports on the situation in the academic sector related to such researchers.1).
By creating a community of Ukrainian scientists living abroad and establishing effective networking and collaboration with scientists in Ukraine, the initiative promotes scientific excellence and innovation, supports post-war reconstruction projects, and improves the global image of Ukrainian science.The initiative also seeks to increase the representation of scientific activity

CHARITY PROJECTS
Initiating and implementing charity projects..

INCREASING OF THE REPRESENTATION
Increasing the representation of the scientific activity of community members.

MENTORING
Initiating mentoring by those representatives of the Ukrainian science diaspora who have been living abroad for a long time.

INSTITUTIONAL COOPERATION
Institutional cooperation between Ukrainian and foreign universities and research institutions.

EFFECTIVE NETWORKING
Establishing effective networking in various fields of science both within the Ukrainian science diaspora and between its representatives and scientists in Ukraine.

IMAGE OF UKRAINIAN SCIENCE
Improving the image of Ukrainian science in the world.within the community and launch and implement charity projects.Overall, it aims to leverage the expertise and resources of the Ukrainian scientific diaspora to benefit Ukraine and the world.
The "Ukrainian Science Diaspora" initiative has an activity plan that includes several vital actions (Figure 2).
These actions aim to implement the "Ukrainian Science Diaspora" initiative, which is focused on creating a community of Ukrainian scientists living abroad, facilitating communication and collaboration among them and scientists in Ukraine, and supporting their involvement in post-war reconstruction.Furthermore, the specific actions outlined in the activity plan are intended to identify the needs of Ukrainian scientists and establish a framework for supporting their professional development and involvement in scientific initiatives.

The progress in the development and implementation of the initiative
The initiative is generally based on the methodological tools of the International Organization for Migration, which is part of the United Nations (IOM, 2022a).
In the initial stage of implementation of the "Ukrainian Science Diaspora" initiative, the primary research methods were: • Desk review to explore the diaspora activities of scholars in different countries, including Consultations on establishing centers of Ukrainian scientific communities in different countries and support for their activities.
Mapping the Ukrainian science diaspora and creating a database of those scientists who could participate in joint initiatives in the future.
result, six students who were selected to create the digital platform of the "Ukrainian Science Diaspora" will be financially supported by this program.In addition, for two months, every Sunday, members of the YSC meet online with MIT students, working on the platform.
The YSC and Scholar Support Office (which is also the initiative of YSC) launched series of conferences of Ukrainian Science Diaspora in several countries: • February 21 and March 21, 2023, the conference "Ukrainian scientific diaspora of France: Science for victory" (House of Humanities Foundation in Paris).
• who came to Poland after February 24, 2022.As for the gender distribution of the event participants, the central part (70 people) were women, whose specific weight in the total number of participants was 86% (Figures 3 and 4).
Thus, this event determined the need to implement international experience in Ukrainian higher education institutions, which became the central task of the Seminar.Similarly, a productive scientific discussion during the meeting gave inputs to forming further scientific contacts in the foreign academic environment.It helped those present to determine the purpose of the Ukrainian scientific diaspora in Poland's activity.

CONCLUSION
russia's full-scale aggression against Ukraine provoked an unprecedented wave of migration, which also threatens Ukraine's scientific potential.One of the responses to this challenge was the "Ukrainian Science Diaspora" initiative put forward by the Young Scientists Council.Currently, the "Ukrainian Science Diaspora" initiative is still in the process of forming and developing a network of Ukrainian scientists in different countries.
This initiative has generated interest from scientists of Ukrainian origin who are abroad, scientists from Ukraine, and non-Ukrainian scientists who want to promote Ukrainian science.Policymakers and diplomatic missions from various countries are also interested, as well as foundations that direct their resources to building networks.The development of programs to involve Ukrainian scientists abroad in reconstruction projects is necessary, and the initiative has the potential to promote scientific diplomacy.Although it is currently unsafe for Ukrainian scientists to come back, developing programs for their return is essential to strengthen international cooperation.
In summary, the "Ukrainian Science Diaspora" initiative can bring together diverse expertise, build bridges between other countries and Ukraine, address global challenges, contribute to brain gain, and enhance the reputation of Ukraine.Therefore, it should be supported to promote scientific innovation and progress.
For instance,Fiialka (2022) discusses how the ongoing war in Ukraine has impacted Ukrainian scholars' research and publishing activities and how this has affected the country's scientific output.The study analyzes the publishing trends of Ukrainian scholars before and after the onset of the war.It identifies the factors contributing to changes in their scientific interests and research priorities.Suchikova et al. (2023) investigate the impact of the war on the productivity and research output ofUkrainian scientists, as well as their ability to col-laborate and access funding.They analyze the results of a survey of Ukrainian scientists and compare their responses to those of scientists from other countries.Finally, the authors recommend policymakers and funding agencies support scientific research and collaboration in conflict-affected regions.

Figure 3 .Figure 4 .
Figure 3. Distribution of scholars by science fields