After the opening of Ukraine’s first state interactive Museum of Science in Kyiv, the Junior Academy of Sciences of Ukraine (JAS) initiated the program of creating such museums in the other regions of Ukraine. Design documentation was developed, premises were identified, and state support was provided for museums in Lviv, Kharkiv, Poltava, Uzhgorod, Chernivtsi, Odesa, Lutsk, Vinnytsia, and Mariupol. Unfortunately, Russian aggression ruined all the plans.
Nevertheless, the JAS decided not to stop and to continue its project in these difficult conditions. Since April 12, the JAS in partnership with the Lviv Polytechnic National University opened the Museum of Science and Innovation in Lviv.
The facility will become the first in a chain of regional science centers that the JAS plans to create across the country to support and provide access to a new format of learning. This is especially relevant at a time when so many children have been driven away from their homes by war. In these centers, children and teens will have an opportunity to experience the best JAS educational programs, to see and, just as importantly for children, to touch unique exhibits, as well as to participate in scientific experiments, workshops, and research.
The space opening was presented by the President of the Junior Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, Stanislav Dovgiy. Stanislav Oleksiiovych is a Doctor of Physical and Mathematical Sciences, professor, academician, author of more than 300 scientific works, 38 patents and copyright certificates.
Stanislav Dovgiy has a successful career in business, as Minister of Science and Education, as a MP, etc. Under his presidency, the JAS gained the status of the UNESCO Center for Academic Education. It is the only organization in Ukraine with such a worldwide status.
Today Stanislav Dovgiy is the founder of the family investment company, DOVGIY Family Office, managed by his daughter Oksana Huliaieva, the President of the Junior Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, the Vice President of the European Academy of Sciences and Arts, as well as the author of many social projects of the Dovgiy Family both in Ukraine and abroad.
Finally, Stanislav Dovgiy is the son of the poet, Oleksii Dovgiy and the father of the politician, Oles Dovgiy.
We interviewed Stanislav Oleksiiovych about the present and future of the JAS, war and charity, as well as why exactly now, in a difficult time for the country, during the war, we need to support and encourage young talents, as well as introduce them to scientific environment from the school age.
Stanislav Dovgiy with his son Oles Dovgiy and the Mayor of Lviv, Andriy Sadovyi, at the opening of the Museum of Science
– During wartime, you open the Museum of Science in Lviv. It’s for Lviv children, for children of immigrants. It means that Ukraine is moving on, living, developing, and we are building our future. What does this event mean for you personally?
– You know, I have two feelings in my heart. One is light, that today, despite the war, the loss of life, all these horrors, we are opening museums. We look to the future, towards tomorrow, we believe in victory, we give children, especially those displaced primarily from the eastern and southern regions, hope and faith. It’s also important now not to interrupt the learning process and to use every opportunity for physical interaction with the children in the learning process. When I talk to the children, I see that they already miss their school, their teachers, and their friends. It is here, in a community like this, that they can touch the secrets of science, look through the lens of interactive games and collaborative projects, which is very important. Well, the sad part of my soul is that many children won’t get to see this. There are already about 200 dead… Many injured. Many parents will no longer be able to rejoice seeing their children’s successes.
Definitely, it’s very important, and I see that every child is affected and understands what is happening. And we feel the same.
The exhibition includes puzzles, physical laws, magnetism, electricity and much more
– Over the last year, more than 100 thousand people visited the Kyiv Science Museum. Do you hope for the same popularity of the institution in Lviv?
– You know, today we see that this museum will be able to receive up to 200 children a day, that is about 50,000 a year. We have plans for the further development of the museum. This is only the first step, and we are optimistic about tomorrow.
– Please, tell us about the museum itself. What will its exposition include, what are its features? How will it differ from the Kyiv museum?
– First, there are about 50 exhibits in our Kyiv museum. They are dedicated to optics, acoustics, and physics. Our Lviv partners added some exhibits, and some more came from the Odesa Museum of Interesting Science. The exhibition includes puzzles, physical laws, magnetism, electricity and much more. That is, children of all ages will find something interesting for themselves. Certainly, one must understand that this is only the first step. After we win, we plan to create a full-fledged science museum, just like the one in Kyiv.
Son Oles Dovgiy supports his father’s projects aimed at education and intellectual development of young Ukrainians
– I know that the war caught you abroad with talented Ukrainian children-winners of the academic contests, whom you took to foreign intellectual competitions, and that the Dovgikh family ensured the evacuation of these children to the safety of their parents at your sole cost. Can you tell us how it happened?
– On February 20-25, an international exhibition-contest was held in Dubai, which was attended by creative children engaged in innovative projects. There was a Ukrainian delegation, and our children presented their projects. By the way, I should stress that all the children have won gold medals. On February 25, we were supposed to go back to Ukraine, and we had our tickets booked. However, on the 24th, the war broke up. We found ourselves in psychological, financial and physical difficulties… We had to decide where to bring the children, and to ensure their safety. We started contacting their parents residing in different cities – in Sumy, Chernihiv, Kharkiv … That was a very difficult situation. However, despite everything, the children showed themselves very courageous and disciplined. We have been negotiating with our partners for over a week; our Romanian friends joined us, then our Polish friends, and we decided to move the children to Poland. Our Polish friends and partners were very helpful. Some parents had relatives and acquaintances abroad, so we arranged the further accommodation of each child on a case-by-case basis. After a few weeks, we were able to help all the children. Today they are all safe.
By the way, while we were in Poland, we organized a unique project “Learn Science in Ukrainian.” There are more than two million refugees from Ukraine in Poland today, and a large part of them is children. It is very important that these children do not lose touch with Ukraine and the Ukrainian language. We proposed a project to the Copernicus Center (this is a science museum, one of the best in Europe, maybe even in the world): let us translate all your programs and descriptions into Ukrainian, so that there are English, Polish, and Ukrainian languages. In this way we will start excursions, education, Sunday schools for all Ukrainians. There are more than 20 such centers in different cities of Poland, and we had a meeting with them. Today we have already started to work. The Junior Academy of Sciences undertook translation of all materials from Polish into Ukrainian and our workers, who now stay in Poland, join us and help address organizational issues. I think it will be a good example. It won’t end today, as everyone who comes to this museum will know that English, Polish, and Ukrainian are the great world languages. Many people want to learn Ukrainian now, and they will have an opportunity to come and practice it.
– Did you even think there would be a war like this?
– I can answer you as follows. In 2014, when the war began, actually, my father (the famous Ukrainian poet Oleksii Dovgiy) wrote the following lines:
“I breathe and walk through fire.
And you, having stuffed your wallets tight,
Every day you predict my misfortune.
I curse your poor mind
And those who have conceived you in bad times.
You, bastards, will fall down on the road,
Where Ukraine will grow – a miracle of miracles!”
So we knew that russia would attack, we knew that russia is always war. Still, we always knew that Ukraine would win. Truth always wins.
– Do you think all these actions will set russian science back on civilization?
– They already did it.
Museums of Science, initiated by members of the Dovgiy Family, will be opened throughout Ukraine
Mariupol University and my family will make the best museum
– Before the war, you were planning to open a science museum in Mariupol. You already had a building, and arranged interior decoration works there. What is its current and future fate?
– It is destroyed. I can show you photos. It was supposed to be opened at the Mariupol State University, and some of the exhibits have already been moved there. Unfortunately, all the premises of the university were bombed down. Everything is destroyed…
– Will you rebuild it after we win?
– Definitely! Mariupol University and my family will make the best museum. Fortunately, there are still 20 exhibits left, and they are now in Europe. I am currently negotiating to use them as a base and find partners to buy other exhibits needed for the opening. A part of the funds will be financed by the Dovgikh family, some by the JAS, and we are looking for partners. We believe that we will open the museum, as we planned, in liberated Ukrainian Mariupol!
– What adjustments did the war make to your activities? I know that the JAS had many plans for this year: the construction of the International Center for Children’s Scientific Creativity in Pushcha-Vodytsia, the Ukrainian Future business incubator, the CERN exhibition Accelerate Science, the GENIUS Olympiad Ukraine, and the Agents of Change School. What part of these and other projects of the Academy will be implemented this year?
– Our most important project is the All-Ukrainian Contest in defense of research works of students who are JAS members. Contest-2022 will be held! We have found a solution to all painful issues, and the preparatory work has already begun. The competition will take place online this June. We are pleased that the OSCE Mission in Ukraine has agreed to be a partner of the contest.
As for international competitions, all partners met us halfway and made participation free for our children. Thus, this year the JAS will participate online in about 20 international events.
– The Dovgikh family has a number of charitable projects underway today. Could you, please, share some details with us?
– Basically, all charitable work is done through our charitable foundation Together We Can. This work is coordinated by my son Oles Dovgiy and my daughter Oksana Huliaieva, who, by the way, has a big managerial experience in charity. Frankly speaking, I am very pleased to see an active public stance that my children have taken today, and how much energy, funds and effort they devote to realization of all these humanitarian programs.
More specifically, the focus of our family is humanitarian programs, medical care, preservation of cultural monuments and, of course, educational projects.
Trucks with humanitarian aid from our foundation travel all over Ukraine every day. We also provide equipment for medical units of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and military hospitals. In particular, we have provided a mobile surgery unit to our armed forces on the third day of the war!
Our family has brought together partners not only in Ukraine but also in Europe. For example, during the past few weeks, we have been negotiating with our Austrian partners about a state-of-the-art system that would provide drinking water where treatment systems have been destroyed by war. Today, reagents that could provide TEN MILLION liters of clean water are on their way!
Since our family and our family business have roots in Kyiv, we support the capital city as well. Together with our partners, we ware arranged protection of several monuments important for Kyiv. One of them is the Monument to the Founders of Kyiv on the embankment.
Stanislav Dovgiy at the opening of the Museum of Science and Innovation in Lviv
– Today the JAS is hosting online lectures by Nobel Prize laureates for Ukrainian children. Do I understand it right that these outstanding mentors are engaged at the expense of the Dovgyi family?
– The Lectures of the Future project was founded more than five years ago. Over this period, about 30 of the world’s most famous scientists visited Ukraine, including, but not limited to, Rolf-Dieter Heuer, Chairman of the Group of Advisors of the European Commission, Director General of CERN (2009-2015), Nicole Lemaire d’Agaggio, Secretary General of the European Academy of Sciences, Arts and Letters, Professor of the Technical University of Munich, German astronaut Ulrich Hans Walter, as well as Nobel laureates Erwin Neer (in physiology and medicine), Jules Hoffmann (in physiology and medicine), Kajita Takaaki (in physics), Sir Paul Niors (in physiology and medicine), Harald zur Hausen (in physiology and medicine), Eugene-Zenon Stakhiv (award-winner), etc.
All financial and organizational costs were covered by our family.
It is also worth mentioning that nearly 200 Nobel laureates have signed an open letter in support of Ukraine.
I would like to mention another initiative of ours. We approached Nobel Prize nominees with a proposal to support Ukraine, to support the JAS, and to give online lectures on the most promising areas of science and technology. So far, over 50 outstanding scientists have responded, including 32 Nobel Prize laureates. Five of them have already delivered their lectures, and the rest will be held according to the schedule, which can be found on the JAS website.
– Many prominent businessmen are now announcing the amounts they have spent on humanitarian aid. Is it appropriate to ask you how much the Dovgiy family spent?
– Our business is not a big one, I would categorize it as medium-sized. As for the amount, I think we are talking about nearly UAH 20 mio of personal family funds, which have been allocated to various assistance programs since the beginning of the war. This is a very large amount for our business; moreover, a part of it is loan funds. Still, we believe that today it is the direct responsibility of everyone who has funds or can raise them to spend on assistance. Currently, 90% of DOVGIY Family Office’s business is stopped due to the war, but we believe in victory, we believe in Ukraine and we are proud that we are Ukrainians!