Study Group welcomes Ukrainian universities twinning initiative

Study Group welcomes Ukrainian universities twinning initiative

Study Group has warmly welcomed the announcement that seven of our UK partner universities have joined in an important new initiative to support Ukrainian universities, including their staff and students. The programme is the latest of a number of important initiatives endorsed by the UK government and organisations such as the Council for At Risk Academics to provide practical support to scholars and students affected by the war in Ukraine.

71 ‘twinning’ partnerships in total are now in place between British and Ukrainian universities, with the following Study Group partners being involved:

• Durham University – twinned with Zaporizhzhia National University
• Lancaster University – National Technical University 'Dnipro University of Technology' (DUT)
• University of Cardiff – Zaporizhia State Medical University
• University of Leeds – Kyiv National Economic University
• University of Leeds Medical School – Bukovinian State Medical University
• University of Sheffield – National Technical University of Ukraine 'Igor Sikorsky Kyiv Polytechnic Institute'
• University of Sussex – Oles Honchar Dnipro National University

The initiative, which sees the twinning lasting for at least the next five years, was launched by the Cormack Consultancy Group and Universities UK International, with the
UK government announcing £190,000 of financial assistance to support the programme.

Practical support under the twinning programme will see British universities sharing academic resources, such as libraries and technical equipment, with their Ukrainian counterparts, and facilitating the use of UK laboratories and classrooms for teaching and research by Ukrainian universities whose own facilities may have been destroyed or occupied.

English-speaking Ukrainian students will be able take online courses from UK universities that count towards their final degree, and will be able to catch up with their learning at summer schools hosted in the UK. Ukrainian students and staff will also receive mental health care and other support.

Says Study Group CEO Emma Lancaster, “As an organization firmly committed to global education as a way of reinforcing international cooperation and understanding, we are delighted to hear that so many of our partner universities, alongside other colleges across the UK, have joined in this marvellous gesture of practical solidarity with the Ukrainian people at this time of need. This is one of a number of initiatives across higher education to show solidarity with Ukrainian students and institutions, and I am delighted that Study Group is also working with the non-profit organisation We Speak Science to provide online programmes aimed at learners from disadvantaged backgrounds, refugees, and people displaced by the war in Ukraine.”

The initiative has also been welcomed by the President of Ukraine who has praised partnership programmes between British and Ukrainian universities.