Looking back with Andrii Popov from Kharkiv National Agrarian University

This time we are warmly welcomed by the first capital of Ukraine – the city of Kharkiv, which means that we are going to the oldest agricultural educational institution in Ukraine, to the Kharkiv National Agrarian University named after V.V. Dokuchaeva, to learn about the first results of the AgriSciences UA platform.

We invite to speak the Vice-Rector for International Relations, PhD of Economic Sciences, Associate Professor of the Department of Land Resources Management and Cadastre of Kharkiv National Agrarian University named after V.V. Dokuchaeva – Andrii Popov.

So let’s not waste time and the first question:

– What achievements is your university proud of in 2020?

– In 2020 KhNAU named after V.V. Dokuchaeva joined the most progressive universities in the world, which signed the Magna Charta Universitatum and became an individual member of the European University Association. I would like to express my sincere gratitude to the leadership of the Czech University of Life Sciences Prague (CZU) for their support in this matter. This is something, that helped us very much and it was possible due to our cooperation with CZU.

Also, within the framework of the project “Enhancing scientific capacities and cooperation of Ukrainian universities in AgriSciences fields”, the university staff received three scientific grants to finance scientific interdisciplinary research. One grant under the supervision and two grants with the participation of scientists of KhNAU named after V.V. Dokuchaeva: “Role of the nitric oxide in the realisation of the stress-protective effect of carbon monoxide and polyamines in plants”, “Sustainable development policy: EU Countries Experience”, “Investigation of the process of soil compaction by wheels of tractors working in the fields”.

– What do you think about the AgriSciences platform for the scientific improvement of higher educational institutions in Ukraine?

– The creation of an agro-scientific platform as a “hub” for improving the scientific potential of higher education institutions in Ukraine is a progressive idea that is already being implemented and has positive results. For example, the effective implementation of the project, as already mentioned, significantly affected the public image of our university and caused a positive response in the educational space of the Kharkiv region. Thus, several higher education institutions that are not officially part of the project’s consortium of universities also joined the seminars and discussions held by scientists and experts of the Czech University of Life Sciences Prague. For example, Kharkiv National Automobile and Highway University, Kharkiv Petro Vasylenko National Technical University of Agriculture  and Kharkiv National University of Internal Affairs.

– What is the estimated number of participants who took part in the events announced on this platform, who were more actively involved in them: students, postgraduates, teachers?

– About 30 participants from the university took active part in the events of the AgriSciences platform. And numerous more took passive participation as well.

–How would you comment on the AgriSciences platform and its agricultural direction”?

– As of today, I would rather point out that the AgriSciences platform is an excellent “window of opportunity” for helping to publish the results of scientific research in Scopus and Web of Science, making themselves known to scientists and becoming recognizable. I consider the statement: “AgriSciences platform to enhance quality of agricultural sciences” as a goal that needs to be implemented together. I believe and am confident that on the basis of this platform, it is possible and realistic to create a professional agricultural publication that would be indexed in Scopus and/or Web of Science.

–What do you expect from the future and what development do you see for the AgriSciences platform and for your university?

– My expectations for the future development of the AgriSciences Platform can be formulated as follows: The AgriSciences Platform can become an information hub that will inform about upcoming scientific events and projects. On the basis of the platform will be organized and held international scientific and practical conferences. Such a first happened in February 2021 – 1st International scientific-practical conference “Economic Readings”. This smaller, practically focused conference took place within the framework of cooperation between KhNAU – CZU – BTNAU and other selected universities. And this international involvement could also partly happen due to the AgriSciences Platform. It was aimed to present the results especially in the category of agricultural economy. The conference was attended by a total of about 50 people from different universities and countries.

Also I believe, that AgriSciences Platform can in future provide even more trainings, seminars and round tables, and it will become a platform for discussion, formation of project groups and submission of project applications for participation in international competitions, projects, grants and programs. As a result, will be developed joint (publicly available) online educational courses on sustainable agricultural development, designed for people with different levels of training and professional experience. I believe that the AgriSciences Platform will help to carry out scientific research in cooperation with scientists from EU countries and will become a place to find scientists and like-minded people for joint research!

Therefore, we would like to thank Kharkiv National Agrarian University named after V.V. Dokuchaeva for the provided information! We hope that in 2021, the results of the AgriSciences platform will bring even greater success for each of the participants and all the planned goals will be achieved, because “The key to any science is a question mark!“.