I.I. SCHMALHAUSEN INSTITUTE OF ZOOLOGY OF NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES OF UKRAINE - IZNASU

Their core work

The Schmalhausen Institute of Zoology is Ukraine's principal academic zoological research institution, maintaining extensive natural history collections covering Eastern European and Pontocaspian fauna. Their scientific work focuses on animal biodiversity, evolutionary ecology, and the long-term dynamics of species assemblages in the Black Sea–Caspian Sea region and beyond. In both H2020 projects, they contributed as a third-party resource holder — providing specimen collections, regional expertise, and access to Ukrainian zoological archives rather than leading research activities themselves. Their value to international consortia lies in their irreplaceable physical collections and deep knowledge of Eastern European faunal history.

What they specialise in

How they've shifted over time

Their first project, PRIDE (2015–2019), placed them in a biodiversity and paleoecological context — studying the rise and demise of Pontocaspian species assemblages, an area directly tied to Ukrainian geography and their institutional collections. By SeaChanges (2019–2023), the framing had shifted toward historical ecology and zooarchaeology, emphasizing the human dimension: how and when people exploited marine vertebrates over long time horizons. The trajectory moves from pure biodiversity science toward a more interdisciplinary space where ecology meets archaeology and economic history.

The institute is moving toward human–wildlife interaction research over historical timescales, positioning itself as a bridge between zoology, archaeology, and environmental history — a niche with growing relevance for heritage and conservation policy projects.

How they like to work

IZNASU has participated in both H2020 projects exclusively as a third party, meaning they provide resources — collections, data, or local expertise — rather than holding formal partnership status or receiving direct EC funding. Despite this limited formal role, they sit within consortia totalling 50 unique partners across 18 countries, which reflects the large-network structure of MSCA Innovative Training Networks. Working with them likely means accessing their collections or hosting visiting researchers, not co-managing workpackages.

Through just two MSCA-ITN projects, IZNASU has connected with 50 unique consortium partners across 18 countries — a breadth that reflects the pan-European training network format rather than bilateral relationships. Their geographic footprint is European, with a natural anchor in Eastern Europe and the Black Sea region.

What sets them apart

As Ukraine's National Academy of Sciences zoological institute, IZNASU holds collections and data on Eastern European and Pontocaspian fauna that cannot be replicated elsewhere in Europe. For any project studying Black Sea biodiversity history, post-Soviet faunal records, or long-term ecological change in Eastern Europe, they are the obvious access point. Their value is in the irreplaceability of their physical and archival holdings, not in project leadership capacity.

Highlights from their portfolio

• PRIDE
  Addressed Pontocaspian biodiversity — a geographically specific and scientifically understudied region where IZNASU's collections are uniquely relevant, making their third-party contribution more than symbolic.
• SeaChanges
  A multi-disciplinary MSCA training network on historical thresholds in marine vertebrate exploitation, showing the institute's ability to contribute zoological data to archaeologically framed, human-focused research.