Collaborations with the International Science and Technology Center and the Science and Technology Center in Ukraine

Abstract

The International Science and Technology Center and the Science and Technology Center in Ukraine (STCU) are non-governmental organizations whose mandates are to foster the goals of international nonproliferation by distributing donor funds from the United States, Canada, and the European Union to former Soviet Union (FSU) scientists to work on non-defense related research projects. To that end, the ISTC and STCU provides support to scientists working on conversion projects, many of which relate to research and development to improve public health and the environment, especially in the recipient countries. For example, the STCU organizes workshops to give scientists from Ukraine, Uzbekistan, and Georgia, the three FSU countries supported through the STCU, the opportunity to meet with international environmental colleagues. This paper discusses opportunities by the ISTC and STCU to encourage the exchange of information. This paper also describes the opportunities for former Soviet weapons scientists to become better integrated in the global environmental science community and to help find Western engineers and scientists with whom to collaborate in future ISTC and STCU proposals and projects.