On December 3, 2025, the Ukrainian State University of Chemical Technology (USUCT) hosted guests of honor – a delegation from the Ministry of Education and Science, headed by Deputy Minister Mykola Trofymenko. After participating in the regional forum on innovation, dual education, and partnership between universities, business, and government, representatives of the Ministry of Education and Science came to USUCT to see how the institute’s updated scientific infrastructure works.

The guests were welcomed by the rector of the university Konstantyn Sukhyi, vice-rectors, and director of the educational and scientific institute Olga Sverdlikovska. During the conversation, they discussed the strengths of the university merger, thanks to which the USUCT today has access to a modern material and technical base and expanded opportunities for the development of applied science.

The first location was the CREATE Research Center, which consists of two scientific laboratories:

• Laboratory for the Design of Innovative Materials and Coatings, which is engaged in the creation of new materials with specified properties for chemical technology and mechanical engineering.
• Laboratory of Functional Materials Science, which is equipped with modern devices for studying the physical and mechanical characteristics of materials.

So, a unique 3D printer for printing with metal has been installed at the CREATE Center. Now, thanks to the CREATE Center, created with the support of the Ministry of Education and Science and the EU Horizon 2020 program, the university has the opportunity to conduct experiments at the level of leading European laboratories.

The guests were also shown modern devices purchased in 2025 with World Bank funds as part of the project “Improving Higher Education in Ukraine for Results” for the research laboratories of the Department of Chemical Technologies of Ceramics, Glass and Biomedical Materials:

• Nabertherm chamber high-temperature furnace for firing materials up to 1800 °C;
• NEXTA STA 300 synchronous thermal analyzer (Hitachi);
• IR-Fourier spectrometer IRSpirit (Shimadzu).

This equipment significantly strengthened the university’s potential in the field of materials science and allowed it to expand the range of research.

The tour of the laboratories was conducted by Senior Research Fellow, Associate Professor, Senior Researcher of the Department of Chemical Technologies of Ceramics, Glass and Biomedical Materials Olexandra Amelin and Head of the Department of Energy, Associate Professor Stanislav Kovalev.

The next was the accredited  testing laboratory for petroleum products, which has been operating at the SEI USUCT since 2010. Here, modern equipment is used to determine the quality of a wide range of fuels and technical liquids – from gasoline and diesel fuel to oils and coolants. Thanks to the support of the Ministry of Education and Science and the World Bank, the Department of Fuel Technologies, Polymeric and Printing Materials purchased key devices for scientific work – a gas chromatograph, which allows determining the component composition of gasoline, and an X-ray fluorescence analyzer, which is used to measure the sulfur content in oil and petroleum products. This indicator affects not only the quality of fuel, but also the level of toxicity of emissions and the efficiency of catalytic converters.

The delegation was particularly interested in the unique training brewery, transferred by LLC “MOVA” to the Department of Technologies of Natural and Synthetic Polymers, Fats and Food Products. It allows students of the food technology specialty to reproduce the full brewing cycle in laboratory conditions. Under the guidance of industry experts, students from the first years acquire skills that fully correspond to production conditions.

In addition, the department operates a universal automatic Bondareff craft cheese factory with a volume of 50 liters, created for educational and scientific projects. It makes it possible to prepare a wide range of cheeses and practice technological processes from milk pasteurization to cheddarization and ricotta preparation. The first results of the work showed significant potential for expanding the practical training of students, conducting master classes and cooperation with dairy enterprises.

The location where the delegation stopped next was the printing and design laboratory, founded in 2023. It houses professional printing equipment that the university received within the framework of the investment program for the development of the Cluster of Printing Industry, Publishing and Digital Technologies. The guests saw a manual 6-color silk-screen printing machine for applying images to advertising, souvenir and branded products.

In addition, in accordance with the Memorandum of Cooperation with Metal-Print LLC, a modern color calibration system was transferred to the laboratory, which allows students to master real production standards of print quality and work with equipment used by leading enterprises in the industry. This partnership also strengthens the possibilities of implementing elements of the dual form of higher education for future printers and designers. On this equipment, students learn to work with modern printing technologies, and the university itself became the base for the Center for Innovative Costs, which is being developed within the framework of the Professional Alternative Dnipro project.

In memory of the visit, the Deputy Minister was presented with souvenir printing products manufactured on this equipment.

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