Tashkent, Uzbekistan – Key Expert Ilze Purina, Senior Expert Natalia Shatirishvili, and National Coordinator in Uzbekistan Gayrat Tashmatov met with Nabijon Holov, the newly-appointed National Contact Point (NCP) of Uzbekistan for the European Union’s Horizon Europe programme. Representatives of research institutions and universities, as well as the NCP of Kazakhstan Dr Aliya Sembayeva also attended the meeting.

The experts discussed promotion of Horizon Europe in Uzbekistan, which has started establishing the NCPs Network to provide for more active participation of the country’s research institutions in the programme. Currently, Uzbekistan also considers appointing NCP for Cluster 5 “Climate, Energy and Mobility”. The parties agreed that, once appointed, the SECCA project would support the work and build capacity of Cluster 5 NCP. Dr Sembayeva in her turn shared about the experience of Kazakhstan in the establishment of the NCPs and involvement in the programme.

Uzbekistan has significant research capacity, and the scientists and researchers stand to benefit greatly from the participation in Horizon Europe. To raise awareness about it, the SECCA project also held the workshop “Unlocking EU-CA Research Cooperation under Horizon Europe” on 21 November 2024 in Tashkent. It was organised within the European Union – Uzbekistan Sustainable Energy Days  in cooperation with the Ministry of Higher Education, Science, and Innovations of the Republic of Uzbekistan.

The EU-funded SECCA project will continue assisting the Central Asian countries, including Uzbekistan, with creating conditions and building capacity for more active participation in the Horizon Europe research and innovation programme by providing opportunities for networking, collaboration, and knowledge-sharing.

For contact details of Mr Holov, please visit this page.