Anton Chyrkin has just received the happy news that he is granted MSCA4Ukraine, funding to support researchers from Ukraine. Now he can continue his project at Chalmers for a few more years and his family can get more stability in their lives. A year earlier, they experienced Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine under dramatic conditions.
Before Russia's invasion of Ukraine, Anton and his partner couldn’t believe that it was actually going to happen. On February 23, 2022, the day before the invasion, they went on a four-day vacation to Barcelona. It was late at night, the plane they took might have been one of the last to leave Kiev. Their six-year-old daughter remained in Kiev with Anton’s parents. The situation he describes is almost impossible to take in. In a few hours, he and his partner found themselves on one side of the border of a war where their daughter remained on the other.
“My friend called me five a clock in the morning. We understood immediately that is war. That was a long day, says Anton and his story makes the air in the room where we are sitting freeze.
Their first instinct was to get the child at all costs, then they realized how big a risk it would be. They might not even be able to reach each other and get caught up in all the obstacles and dangers that quickly arose in the war-torn country. It was better for the family members who remained in Kiev to get out into the country, which they thought should be a safer place. Thinking that was a big mistake that many Kiev inhabitants did, since the out-of-town areas and suburbs like Irpin and Bucha were heavily attacked. When they received film clips from relatives who lived further north that showed the Russian military approaching, Anton’s family got in the car to get out of the country through the long ques towards the borders. Thanks to their quick and rational acting and thinking they could all reunite in Vienna five days later.
“You must turn all your feelings off, otherwise you can’t handle a situation like this, explains Anton.”
Colleagues and new research grants gave a fresh start in Gothenburg
Colleagues and friends at Chalmers learned that there were quickly coming new research grants in Sweden for researchers from Ukraine, which made Anton and his family go to Gothenburg. Anton have previously been doing research at the department for Physics and Chemistry and Chemical Engineering. He knew Sweden as a good place to stay and had already made it through the worst culture shocks that he with a smile sums up: “the common laundry room: are you supposed to do laundry together”?
First, he applied for and was granted funds that the Foundation for Strategic Research (SSF) announced early in the spring of 2022. In the fall, the organization Scholars at Risk Europe MSCA4Ukraine opened applications for larger grants that would provide Anton with a larger grant that could make it possible to finance his research for a longer time. His colleagues helped him to apply quick quickly. A couple of weeks ago, he received the happy news that he is one of six researchers in Sweden, out of a total of one hundred and twenty-four in Europe, who got their applications accepted.
“I am so happy and grateful for the help and push that I have received from both research colleagues and the Chalmers grants office.” I must especially mention Jan Froitzheim and Silvia Dürmeier in this context, says Anton
When Anton left after his first period as researcher at Chalmers he had a promising idea in the pipe-line. A tempting offer from the industry and his wish to get back home made him decide to return to Kiev. Now, he could pick up his project again which also gave him and his family new opportunities in the crises.
Will turn coal into energy without any CO2
The research Anton will conduct with the funds from MSCA4Ukraine is about corrosion by coal-based fuels in fuel cells and electrolysers (SOFC/SOEC). In such techniques, the coal can carry chemical energy so that carbon dioxide can be separated and cause no carbon dioxide emissions, unlike when the coal is burned. The energy can be stored and flexibly converted into electricity in the fuel cells on demand. The area where this technique is needed and could be used is broad and can be found, among other things, in industry and transport.
Anton is delighted to continue his project at Chalmers for more reasons than the war. He thinks that Chalmers is ahead and stands out globally, in his research filed high temperature corrosion. That was an important reason why he wanted to come to Chalmers the first time.
Continues his research and helps others from Sweden
His daughter is happy in her preschool, his partner who is a doctor is wanted in Sweden. She works at Sahlgrenska University hospital and studies Swedish on the side. His family has settled well in Sweden. However Anton thinks it is hard to experience the war on the outside. His parents are back in Ukraine. The men cant leave and his mother didn’t want to stay in Vienna alone. He tries to help friends, family, students, and researchers who remain in Ukraine.
“I am here, I have friends from university that are fighting in the war, I continue my research but I can also contribute by helping others” explains Anton.
A little while ago he sent a lithium battery to his parents so they could keep up their electricity supply. In one of the larger robot attacks the university in Kiev was hit and a fundraise to finance new windows was started.
We end the conversation by stating that Ukrainian society is very strong thanks to all its horizontal contacts and networks. Anton sees that there are parallels with the fact that his own situation could have been much more difficult without his networks, friends, cooperation with others and openness to the world outside, with the resilience of his homeland.
Text: Jenny Holmstrand
Photo: Sandra Nayeri
Read more:
MSCA4Ukraine Awards 2023 som finansieras av EU’s Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions
Swedish foundation for startegic research
Article in Chemistry World: Ukraine’s chemists persevere through a year of war