As Ukraine has embarked on an intensive process of harmonizing national animal welfare standards with those of the European Union, the country's scientific and research institutions are supporting this process with their research. With this letter, we express our desire to join the consortium through this competition in the first direction "Animal Welfare". Taking into account the research profile of our Institute, we express interest in developing research along the main research and supporting socio-economic research directions of the SRIA on welfare:
Core Welfare SRIA Research Actions:
OO4-1: Advance understanding of positive welfare, including identification and validation of indicators of positive emotional states via behavioural, endocrine, and neurological measures.
Supporting Socio-economic SRIA Research Actions:
OO9-2: Assess socio-economic implications of changes in livestock and fish farming, including shifts in public demand for higher welfare standards and new legislative requirements.
We hope that the created consortium will contribute to the development and strengthening of partnership relations between Ukraine and the countries of the European Union and other countries, the development of international cooperation in the field of research and innovation in animal husbandry.

The Institute of Animal Biology of the National Academy of Agrarian Sciences of Ukraine is a leading research institution in Ukraine on the issues of biochemistry, physiology, nutrition and biotechnology of animals. Among the priorities are the study of the influence of environmental factors on the physiological and biochemical status of the animal organism, their health and well-being and the development of methods for obtaining environmentally friendly livestock products. Our researchers study animal behavior using welfare and behavioral assessment methods in different breeds of farm animals. Sheep breeding, pig farming, poultry farming and dairy farming are our current research tasks. We are currently working on a project to harmonize national animal welfare standards with European Union standards and their implementation at local levels.