Green Deal Ukraїna at the Ukraine Recovery Conference
Green Deal Ukraina organised three side events on research and energy issues at #URC2026 in Gdańsk, Poland. © GDU
End of June, the Ukraine Recovery Conference (UCR2026) took place in Gdańsk, Poland. Unlike previous editions, URC2026 introduced a dedicated Energy Platform, jointly organised by the Ministry of Energy of Ukraine and the Ministry of Climate and Environment of Poland, which brought together energy-related discussions, announcements, and side events in one place, increasing the visibility and coordination of key energy topics. Green Deal Ukraїna, an initiative coordinated by HZB, organised three events on the sidelines of URC on research and energy topics as part of the conference.
Green Deal Ukraїna organised an event on research, higher education and innovation, with speakers from the European Commission, Germany, Poland and Ukraine. The participants discussed how science, universities and international cooperation can contribute to Ukraine’s reconstruction, resilience and European integration. At this event, Green Deal Ukraїna announced the launch of the “Energy and Climate” Master’s programme at the National University of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy, which was developed as part of the Kyiv Energy & Climate Lab (KECLab) as an example of successful German-Polish-Ukrainian cooperation.
Energy governance in Ukraine
Together with the International Energy Agency (IEA), the Ukraine Facility Platform, the German-Ukrainian Office and the KECLab, Green Deal Ukraїna organised a closed-door discussion under the Chatham House Rule on the topic of energy governance. The event built on months of work and numerous bilateral consultations with Ukrainian institutions and international partners. The discussion will continue beyond the URC2026, and the results will be incorporated into strategy development.
Contribution by “Green Deal Ukraїna” to the Energy Platform at the URC
Susanne Nies moderated the session “Sustainable Energy Dialogue: Investment Frameworks, Reforms and Market Transformation”, bringing together representatives of industry, international financial institutions and public stakeholders. Key messages included the fact that projects in the areas of decentralised energy generation, battery storage and renewable energy are already moving from the planning stage to implementation, and that Ukraine’s future energy system will increasingly rely on electrification, renewable energy and system flexibility.
About Green Deal Ukraïna:
Green Deal Ukraïna (GDU) is a 4-year project, initiated and coordinated by HZB, and funded by the Federal Ministry for Research, Technology and Space (BMFTR). The project is a trilateral collaboration between Germany, Ukraine and Poland. GDU aims to empower Ukrainian governmental institutions, policymakers, and society to make informed decisions on energy and climate policy and is developing an independent energy and climate centre in Kyiv – Kyiv Energy and Climate Lab (KECLab), a joint Lab of Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin (HZB) and the National University of Kyiv Mohyla Academy (NaUKMA).
- New technique could make MRI more preciseA team of researchers at the University of Stuttgart and HZB has developed a new method that could make MRI even more precise by eliminating “dead time,” a key limiting factor in the measurement process, thereby enabling the detection of signals that are lost using conventional methods. This method opens up new possibilities for medical diagnostics and non-destructive materials testing. The research team presents the new approach in Science Advances.
- Marcel Risch has been appointed Professor at the Freie Universität BerlinMarcel Risch was appointed to a W2-S professorship in the Department of Physics at Freie Universität Berlin in August 2026. His research group has been transformed into the department 'Mechanisms of Sustainable Electrocatalysis'. Risch investigates the fundamental mechanisms of electrocatalytic reactions and, on this basis, develops knowledge- and data-driven strategies to improve electrocatalysts for the sustainable production of hydrogen, fuels and chemicals.
- Thin nickel films boost green hydrogen productionUltra-thin nickel oxide coatings can significantly improve the performance of anion exchange membrane (AEM) water electrolysers, a promising technology for producing green hydrogen. This was demonstrated by a team led by HZB scientist Dr. Michelle Browne. The results show that a nickel oxide film only 10 nanometres thick outperformed conventional nickel oxide powder electrodes while using less than 1% of the catalyst material. The study is published in the Journal of Materials Chemistry A,