The workshop Researcher Connect took place in the city of Dnipro on 27 February – 1 March 2017. The programme is a face to face training designed by the British Council for researchers and delivered by experienced and quality-assured international trainers in English.

The workshop covers several key areas, including the main ones: writing abstracts to scientific papers for international publications, writing persuasive research proposals for grants to international organisations, preparing presentations for successful public speaking at international conferences. Participants are selected through open competition (to find out more about the project and eligibility criteria, visit www.britishcouncil.org).

Natalia Volovyk, Ph.D., Deputy Head of the Department of Validation and Reference Standards at Ukrainian Scientific Pharmacopoeial Centre for Quality of Medicines, passed the competition.  Tom Spain, a leading international trainer from Oxford in the UK, conducted the workshop with the support from assistants from British Council in Ukraine. It was held in an interactive form via various discussions, debates, individual and team work of participants exclusively in English. During the seminar, participants had the opportunity to get feedback from coaches as to writing abstracts and proposals, preparation presentations and public speaking. At the end of the project, each participant gave a presentation of the research they are working on to a wider audience; then the analysis of the advantages and disadvantages of them was conducted. Upon completion of the workshop, all participants earned certificates.

Participation in the project is of great importance to Ukrainian Scientific Pharmacopoeial Centre for Quality of Medicines to maintain the status of a leading research institution in the field of standardisation and quality control of medicines in Ukraine and abroad. Received experience will contribute to a stronger representation of Ukrainian Scientific Pharmacopoeial Centre for Quality of Medicines at international conferences, increased publication rates and strengthening its international reputation and ranking.