On May 16, 2026, Science Day in Ukraine, a truly unusual event took place at the O.V. Palladin Institute of Biochemistry of the NAS of Ukraine. The Council of Young Scientists of the Institute, with the support of publishers, organized a real mini book festival. It was the young scientists of the Institute who became the main driving force of the event. Constantly running between floors, setting up microphones, moving tables and drinking water. They could be recognized by the cool caps with the inscription "No science without BOOK" – this was the name and motto of the festival.
It became clear from the very first steps that science really cannot do without a book – a real book fair unfolded in the vestibule of the Institute! The "Artbooks" publishing house attracted visitors with a treasure trove, including adult and children's educational and fiction books (especially notable was the series of books based on the computer game "Minecraft," which is increasingly used in the educational process and engages children in intellectual entertainment). The "Navchalna Knyha – Bohdan" publishing house offered both scientific publications from the "Oxford Library" series and interesting children's and fiction books. "Vikhola" traditionally filled its stall with popular science publications, which have been its hallmark since the founding of the publishing house.
It turned out that the Institute of Biochemistry is also quite involved in publishing popular science literature. Festival guests could purchase rare editions dedicated to the coronavirus, Antarctica, or Nobel laureates. Nearby, at the stand of a volunteer organization that includes young scientists from the Institute, an improvised exhibition of war artifacts was set up, and donations were collected for turnstiles for the Armed Forces of Ukraine. By the way, by the end of Saturday, 2800 hryvnias had been collected in the Gelios-Cat jar.
Just as life buzzed at the fair and the "Workshop" opened its doors for a master class, the air was pierced by the wailing of a siren. The ballistic threat did not catch the organizers by surprise: volunteers calmly and efficiently led guests to the shelter in the building of the Presidium of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine. It was in this setting that the very first event of the festival took place – the reading of the children's book "PPOlya." Darina from the "Artbooks" publishing house introduced guests to its heroine – the scientist Olya, who designed an air defense launcher to save her friends from the Kyiv Zoo... Symbolically, when during the reading the book's PPOlya destroyed an enemy plane, real air defense warriors announced that the danger had passed, and the festival continued at the Institute of Biochemistry location.
Visitors were very interested in tours of the Oleksandr Palladin Museum, which continued tirelessly thanks to the indefatigable curator Maria Misailova. Guests of the Institute listened with interest to stories about the invention of "Vikasol," the Institute's work during the war years, and took photos with the personal belongings of the outstanding researcher.
The museum also became a platform for discussing future book projects. Who knows, perhaps thanks to the festival, a book about the life and scientific achievements of Oleksandr Palladin will soon appear on bookstore shelves.
The first major event in the Institute's assembly hall was dedicated to biographical research. Biographer and candidate of historical sciences Natalia Marchenko from the Department of Theory and Methodology of Biobibliography of the Institute of Biographical Studies of the V.I. Vernadsky National Library of Ukraine, curator of the biographical series of the "Bohdan" publishing house, explained how biographers work and also shared her own tips on how to make biographies of outstanding people interesting for children.
Meanwhile, children together with the "Artbooks" publishing house invented their own characters from the world of "Minecraft." The children's eyes sparkled, markers carefully outlined new heroes, and their hands reached for books – colorful and interesting, a real springboard to reading.
The Institute's assembly hall also became a venue for two more extremely interesting lectures: candidate of biological sciences Oleksiy Kovalenko from the Department of Botany of the National Museum of Natural History of the NAS of Ukraine delighted with the story "Botany in the kitchen: a journey around the world without leaving the dining table," and doctor of biological sciences Leonid Horobets from the paleontological department of the National Museum of Natural History of the NAS of Ukraine prepared a real thriller titled "Resurrection of species."
Finally, an important socio-political event took place at the festival – a panel discussion about women in science. It was especially valuable that women who work not only in science but also in literature joined the discussion in this format. Under the gentle moderation of Maria Misailova, the discussion participants reflected on how to make women visible in science and how book publishing can and does contribute to this. Natalia Marchenko (pen name – Natalia Savchuk) (from the "Bohdan" publishing house), Olga Maslova (from the "Vikhola" publishing house), Kateryna Perkonos (from the "Artbooks" publishing house), and Alisa Sukhikh (consultant of the Council of Young Scientists under the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine, coordinator of the Scientist Support Office) concluded that without that very book, which we mentioned at the very beginning of the report, it definitely won't do here!
And fortunately, there are people to work on this.
According to information from the O.V. Palladin Institute of Biochemistry of the NAS of Ukraine
(author of the original report – Kateryna Baidakova, laboratory assistant of the Department of Protein Structure and Function)
Photos by Volodymyr and Ruslan Koshovenko (KOSHOVENKO TVUA)
