Science in times of crisis: How does the war affect the efficiency of Ukrainian scientists?

The modern concept of open innovation highlights the role of technology transfer from universities to the business environment. An increase in technology transfer efficiency is one of the tasks assigned to Ukrainian universities by the state. The nature of technology transfers in the world and the role of universities in this process call for revising traditional approaches to its production in Ukraine. This stipulated the substantiation of theoretical and methodological principles of technology transfer from universities to the business environment, which should serve as a fundamental platform for further economic, technological and other actions in the innovation development of Ukraine. For this purpose, the modern theoretical and applied components of technology transfer from universities to the business environment are researched; the theoretical and methodological principles of technology transfer are determined and the conceptual approach to understanding technology transfer from universities to the business environment is proved. To achieve the tasks at hand, the background and trends in technology transfer from universities to the business environment have been researched; the role of universities in modern technology transfers is analyzed; the peculiarities and potential of the scientific area of Ukraine are considered; the influence of university technology transfer centers on the universities’ academic entrepreneurship has been studied; the nature of knowledge transformation during the technology transfer is substantiated; the influence of technology transfer on the university subsystems is considered; the effects of technology transfer are investigated; models of interaction in the system “University – Governmental Authority – Business” are studied; and modern approaches to the technology transfer from universities to the business environment are researched. Given the research conducted, theoretical and methodological principles for technology transfer were formed, which conceptualize the technology transfer from universities to the business environment.

This study aims to investigate the role of Fintech in predicting the spread of COVID-19 based on consumers’ Fintech perceptions and behavior before and after the outbreak of COVID-19. The study used a questionnaire-based survey distributed in different countries of the world using the LinkedIn platform for this purpose to reach the targeted population. The snowball sampling technique was used. The study targeted consumers with Fintech experience, especially in digital payments services. 507 samples were retrieved. For the analysis, the Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) was used. The study revealed novel results in predicting COVID-19 spread; these three variables (Fintech Behavior before COVID-19, Fintech Behavior after COVID-19, and Fintech Perception after COVID-19) could predict 52.5% of the variance in the dependent variable (COVID-19 Spread) (R² = 0.525, p < 0.05). The findings show that Higher Fintech perception and behavior among Fintech users will help in reducing the spread of COVID-19 by avoiding the use of contact payment methods. Contactless payment methods are the main tools in Fintech that might help in avoiding the probability of COVID-19 spread. Consumers’ Fintech perceptions and behavior are the most influencing factors that could predict the spread of COVID-19 in this study, where digital payments are the main concern. It is recommended that consumers adopt digital payment methods and tools, especially contactless payment methods, to fulfill their financial services. Other researchers are also encouraged to use the same model to predict the spread of this virus in the Fintech context.

The improvement of global Internet access and the COVID-19 pandemic, which necessitated mass testing of online teaching methods, have forwarded the competition between higher education institutions from the regional level and the struggle for the rich student into the competition for students in all countries. The paper aims to determine the influence of the rating of higher education institutions on the interest of Internet users by conducting a comparative analysis of the popularity of the official names of higher education institutions in search queries in Ukraine and Poland. To do this, a comparative analysis of the change in the interest in leading higher education institutions in Ukraine and Poland in search queries in the Google search engine is carried out. The analysis is performed using the Google Trends web application. As a result, it is found that a high position of the university in the national ranking does not guarantee more search queries about it on the Internet by both national Internet users and users from the neighboring country. In general, Internet users continue to be most interested in universities located in their region at the time of the search.