An article about the Institute of Applied Physics of the NAS of Ukraine – its history, achievements, and research in the conditions of the frontline zone – has been published on the educational and informational portal "KUNSHT".
The article notes that applied physics during Soviet times was closely intertwined with the defense industry: fundamental research was primarily of interest to the party leadership for the development of advanced military technologies. In the second half of the 1980s, Sumy was a powerful center with machine-building and chemical industries but lacked a significant research component. Therefore, it was decided to open a large-scale Institute of Applied Physics here. However, the Soviet Union ultimately collapsed, and an independent Ukraine established a separate institute with a peaceful focus in December 1991. Its first director was Volodymyr Storozhko, who brought with him a core staff from Kharkiv and the electrostatic accelerator he had developed. He also managed to attract physicists of Ukrainian origin from Novosibirsk and Sukhumi. Currently, NAS of Ukraine academician Volodymyr Storozhko is the honorary director of this Institute.
In the mid-2000s, the National Academy of Sciences had relatively good funding, and the institute received another accelerator (in addition to the existing one). A broad international collaboration was also established, which continues to this day, including with the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN), as well as German, French, Polish, and Chinese scientists.
According to the scientific secretary of the Institute of Applied Physics of the NAS of Ukraine, Candidate of Physical and Mathematical Sciences Oleksiy Voroshyl, the Institute was founded at the very end of the Soviet era, so they did not manage to build huge buildings like in other similar institutions, which made them easier to maintain in the new realities.
Currently, the institute has about one and a half hundred employees. After the start of the full-scale invasion, many scientists left, but after the liberation of the Sumy region, most returned. Only a few people are currently abroad, and the institution continues to operate almost fully.
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Source: educational and informational portal "KUNSHT"