Universities of Great Britain and Ukraine strengthen their partnership
Seventy-one partnerships have been confirmed since Cormack Consultancy Group and Universities UK International launched the Twinning initiative, with UK institutions signing up to partner directly with their Ukrainian counterparts for a minimum of five years.
National Technical University of Ukraine “Igor Sikorsky Kyiv Polytechnic Institute” within the framework of the Twinning program establishes partnership relations with the University of Sheffield.
On June 28 the Presidential Foundation for Education, Science and Sport of Ukraine in partnership with Universities UK International and Cormack Consultancy Group, with the participation of UK Ambassador to Ukraine Melinda Simmons and Ukrainian Ambassador to the UK Vadim Pristayko held an online conference on the Initiative of Twinning between UK and Ukrainian Universities.
The same day, the UK government announced a further round of measures to help Ukraine’s academic community.
Besides £190,000 of financial assistance to support the twinning initiative, it pledged a further £9.8 million to the Researchers at Risk scheme, established with an initial £3 million in March to help more than 130 Ukrainian scientists and other researchers continue their work in the UK.
The UK-Ukraine partnerships include a breadth of practical assistance, including:
- Helping to physically rebuild Ukrainian campuses
- Mutually recognising credits, enabling English-speaking Ukrainian students to take online courses from UK universities that count towards their final degree
- Allowing Ukrainian teaching and research to continue in UK laboratories and classrooms
- Sharing academic resources, such as libraries and technical equipment
- Preserving Ukrainian archives in UK institutions, as well as facilitating more cultural and language exchange opportunities
- Sharing mental health support, particularly for Ukrainian staff and students suffering from conflict-derived post-traumatic stress disorder
- Allowing Ukrainian students to catch-up on missed learning at summer schools hosted in UK institutions
More broadly, it is hoped that the scheme will help mitigate any potential ‘brain drain’, helping Ukraine’s universities to not only survive the conflict, but putting them in a position to play a critical role in post-war reconstruction.
