The Ukrainian Astronomical Association (UAA) and the Main Astronomical Observatory (MAO) of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine (NASU) organize the international conference "ASTRONOMY IN UKRAINE - 2000 AND BEYOND (Impact of International Cooperation)". The meeting to be held on 5-8 June 2000. The primary objective of the conference is to consider the integration of astronomical research in Ukraine into the international astronomy. To meet this objective, the conference will consist of several workshops in those fields of astronomy where the "Ukrainian" - "International" partnership has been established and new co-operative studies can be proposed.

A brief review of some recognized achievements of the Ukrainian astronomers which are planned for discussion is mentioned below.

The world's biggest decametric radio telescope UTR-2 (operating wave range is more than 10 m) belongs to the Institute of Radio Astronomy of the NASU (Kharkiv). The decametric VLBI system URAN has been built around UTR-2. Bases from 40 to 900 km long provide an angular resolution from several minutes to several seconds.

The radio telescope RT-22 (Crimea, Katsiveli) are used in the single-dish mode and in VLBI networks for astrophysical and geodynamical research. Now the turning antenna RT-70 (Crimea, Evpatoria) is being upgraded. This antenna is also planned to be used in single-dish and VLBI modes. Some problems of the Earth rotation determination will be discussed.

New space project for ionospheric research named "Warning" is proposed for realization within the framework of the joint program of National Space Agency and NAS of Ukraine during the next years. It will be important to have a discussion on this project with the U.S. specialists involved in the studies of space plasma and ionosphere.

Extragalactic astronomy. Sky surveys. Active galactic nuclei. Stellar population in dwarf galaxies. Chemical composition in the extragalactic HII regions. Early Universe. The primordial nucleosynthesis and baryon mass fraction. Kinetic feedback from massive stars on the ISM in normal and starburst galaxies. Complex (dynamical, chemical and photometric) modelling of the evolution of the star forming galaxies.

A large database of radio observations of meteors has been completed in the Kharkiv Technical University. It can be used to study the distribution of matter in the near-Earth space.

Planets and planetary atmospheres. The optical and physical parameters, spectropolarimetric studies, seismology of planetary atmospheres, search for extrasolar planetary systems.

Stellar variability. Polarimetric, photometric and spectral monitoring and theoretical modelling of variable stars of different types - flare, cataclismic, symbiotic, eruptive, pulsating.

During the Workshops, additional working group sessions and panel discussions will be held to develop future activities related to these topics.

As part of the Workshops, visits to the UTR-2 (Hrakovo, Kharkiv) and Crimean Astro-physical Observatory (Naukove, Simeiz, Kathsiveli, Evpatoria) are planning to organize for interested participants (8-11 June 2000). The full price of excursion is 200 USD. This amount also includes the train tickets and the hotel accomodation in Kharkiv and Crimea.

The Local Organizing Committee is working towards obtaining local support for the meeting. With the help and support of the Kyiv National University and other sponsors, we will be able to offer a very limited free accommodation and subsistence, mainly to Ph.D. students. If you need the financial assistance for registration fee or accomodation please indicate this in "Registration Form".

LATEX (17kb), PostScript gzipped (66kb) and PDF (112kb) versions of "First announcement" are available.

Contact mao-2000@mao.kiev.ua