Friedrich Schiller University Jena is part of the "German-Ukrainian University Network", which is being established with the help of the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD). The aim of the initiative is to support Ukrainian universities in their reconstruction and to enable the Ukrainian higher education sector to integrate into the European Higher Education Area. A total of 29 German universities are being funded, and their partner institutions are 47 Ukrainian universities. The DAAD funding programme begins this month and is scheduled to run for four years. The University of Jena will receive 790,000 euros in funding for this period.

"European solidarity in action"

"Science unites - even and especially in difficult times. Friedrich Schiller University Jena sees it as its responsibility and an expression of active European solidarity to support Ukrainian institutions of higher education in their reconstruction efforts. The German-Ukrainian University Network creates a strong institutional framework for this, enabling exchange, joint projects and structural development," says Prof. Dr Andreas Marx, President of Friedrich Schiller University Jena.

The partner universities in this DAAD project are the National University Kyiv-Mohyla Academy, the Ivan Franko National University in Lviv and the Ukrainian Catholic University in Lviv. The President of Ivan Franko University in Lviv, which is already a partner in the EC2U (European Campus of City-Universities) alliance together with the University of Jena, expressly welcomes the new network: "The cooperation with two other Ukrainian universities in this forward-looking project strengthens both our institutional ties and the European idea in its most comprehensive form. A broader understanding of 'European Studies' - as an area in which Ukraine is naturally integrated geographically, historically and politically - is a clever and commendable approach," says Prof. Dr Roman Gladyshevskii.

On the part of Friedrich Schiller University, the focus is on strengthening and deepening collaborations that have been active for years and improving networking, says Dr Claudia Hillinger, Head of the 欧洲杯投注地址_明升体育-竞彩足球比分推荐 Office at the University of Jena. "The DAAD is already explicitly focussing on the time after the war," says Hillinger.

Interdisciplinary European Studies programme?

One module in the project bundles the existing cooperation with the three Ukrainian partner universities and is intended to lead to an interdisciplinary "European Studies" programme with physical and virtual teaching modules. Six subject areas are involved on the Jena side: Political Science, Economics, Slavic Studies, Philosophy, Eastern European History as well as German as a Foreign Language and German as a Second Language. The programme focuses on political systems and their economic functioning, cultural practices and European languages. Digital teaching, mirror seminars and co-teaching allow courses to be organised flexibly in the current situation and Ukrainian lecturers to be involved. Joint summer schools, guest lectureships and periods of guest studies promote exchange and mobility, although initially more in the direction of Germany, says Claudia Hillinger.

The project also includes the "University Administration and 欧洲杯投注地址_明升体育-竞彩足球比分推荐isation" module, which aims to pave the way for the European higher education landscape. Here, training courses are offered, for example on quality assurance of international degree programmes, Science Management, intercultural skills acquisition or AI application in internationalisation processes, from which Ukrainian and German university staff will benefit equally.

A kick-off event is planned for autumn

Claudia Hillinger emphasises that the German-Ukrainian University Network is a further step towards supporting and accompanying the Ukrainian institutions of higher education on their way to Europe. The initial course for the network is now being set and a kick-off event is to be held in autumn this year as a visible sign of the project launch.