Mariia Dubrova
Head of the Department of Scientific and Educational Exhibitions
Junior Academy of Sciences of Ukraine
Mariia Dubrova heads the Department of Scientific and Educational Exhibitions at the Junior Academy of Sciences (JAS) of Ukraine.
This UNESCO Centre for Science Education seeks to develop the next generation of scientists and boost the country’s intellectual capital.
Each year, JAS engages hundreds of thousands of students, fostering their interest in science, encouraging experimentation, and engaging them in research.
The organisation is part of the Copernicus Academy, a network of scientists from 37 countries that promotes the Earth Observation Programme, as well as Ecsite, ASTC, ASPAC, IFIA, and WCGTC.
In 2020, it opened the national Science Museum in Kyiv, which welcomed more than 250,000 visitors and included 150 interactive exhibits. Building on this success, JAS embarked on a second museum development in Mariupol.
However, due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022, the Kyiv museum was evacuated, and the exhibits delivered to the Mariupol site were lost.
This led the team to create new science centres in the regions, taking educational services to cities and communities hosting internally displaced people.
The first temporary space opened in summer 2022 and welcomed 10,000 visitors in five months; a regional science centre followed in December that year. Also that December, the Science Museum in Kyiv reopened.
Since then, the organisation has launched numerous interactive regional experiences, including science museums in Chernivtsi and Poltava, with projects including Ukraine's first-ever mathematics museum, 'Cuboid', and the touring ‘Science Bus’.
“Mariia Dubrova is an inspiring museum leader whose work in Ukraine demonstrates extraordinary resilience, curiosity, and purpose,” says a nominator.
“She continues to learn, question, and challenge conventional thinking, making her leadership and the projects she delivers stronger and more impactful.”
