The British-Ukrainian partnership between UzhNU and UCLan continues

UzhNU delegates visited a foreign university, presented ideas for potential projects and had the opportunity to discuss language and culture during the war.

Representatives of 5 faculties of UzhNU paid a working visit to one of the best universities in the UK - the University of Central Lancashire. They travelled to Preston as part of a large-scale programme to support Ukrainian universities - the Twinning Initiative - to strengthen cooperation, exchange ideas and develop new ones for the development and improvement of Ukrainian education and science. 

Over the two years of participation in the Twinning Initiative, a lot has been done: we started with English language courses for students and teachers, participation in summer schools, online discussions, remote meetings, and later received a serious boost - computer equipment and made our second visit to a British university in two years. 

The programme involves 25 Ukrainian and 25 British universities. This is an institutional and non-institutional collaboration to support Ukrainian universities during the war and in the post-war period. The initiative aims to unite the efforts of Ukrainian universities with British twin universities that have similar profiles, sizes and specialities. The amount of funding is up to one million pounds. As part of the collaboration, 854 memoranda, 10 long-term programmes, 33 grants, 620 individual projects have already been signed, 4,000 students and more than 1,000 university staff have been involved. 

The UzhNU delegation included: Snizhana Holyk, acting dean of the Faculty of Foreign Philology, Head of the Department of English Philology, Associate Professor; Antonina Bulyna, Deputy Head of the International Relations Department, Senior Lecturer at the Department of English Philology; Diana Kaynts, head of the Department of Urban Construction and Maintenance, Associate Professor; Marianna Kolodii, Senior Lecturer at the Department of Political Science and Public Administration, head of the Center for Gender Education; Nataliia Tolochko, Associate Professor of the Department of Journalism. Nataliya Popovych, Associate Professor of the Department of Multicultural Education and Translation of the Faculty of History and International Relations, joined her colleagues in Britain, because she flew from Germany - that is where she has been doing an internship at the Language Center of Darmstadt Technical University since September.

On the first day of the visit, we had an important meeting with the Vice-Chancellor, Professor Graham Baldwin. It was very nice to hear his words of support! Mr Baldwin noted that he was proud to cooperate with our university, thanked Ukrainians for their resilience and assured them of the intention and importance of further cooperation. At the end of the meeting with the Vice Chancellor, Antonina Bulyna, Deputy Head of the International Relations Department, presented him with a letter of thanks on behalf of the Rector of UzhNU, Professor Volodymyr Smolanka.           

The visit of the delegation was prepared for several months by the specialists of the Department of International Partnerships, headed by Paul Rowe, and the Department of International Relations of UzhNU, headed by Oksana Svezhentseva. Throughout the week, the representatives of UzhNU were accompanied by the Department's employees Sarah Priestley and Rick Brame, whom the delegates are sincerely grateful to for the wonderful welcome, well-coordinated programme, support and the opportunity to contribute to the development of international relations! 

The program of the second day provided for meetings on the territory of the structural subdivisions related to those that represented the farmers. Snizhana Holyk, Marianna Kolodii, Natalia Popovych visited the School of Psychology and Humanities, visited laboratories and educational facilities. Diana Kaynts met with the teachers of the School of Engineering and Computing. In addition, in Engineering Innovation Centre, she saw the possibilities of 3D scanning, innovative solutions for improving people's health and life. Nataliia Tolochko had the opportunity to continue the online communication about international initiatives at the School of Arts and Media. The possibilities of joint scientific research, online meetings, and the potential mobility of students were discussed here.

A separate day of the visit was devoted to presentations of the research areas of UzhNU faculties and departments and British schools. The event ‘Exchange of Knowledge and Research Ideas’ sought to intensify opportunities for cooperation. 

In particular, an agreement was reached to continue English language courses. They also talked about student mobility and agreed to implement the COIL virtual mobility project. According to Antonina Bulyna, next academic year UzhNU will join the University Global Challenge educational project. This year, 20-30 people will take full part in a series of master classes from world-renowned experts, solve cases, exchange ideas, etc.  

British-Ukrainian partnership in higher education: UzhNU delegates strengthened ties with UCLan, presented project ideas, and discussed language and culture during the war.

As part of the visit, another topical event "Building Bridges - research engagement" was held, initiated by teacher Alexandros Koutsoukis. The UzhNU delegates shared their reflections on working in the context of war, trying to maximise the topic of the role of Ukrainian culture, language, identity and explain the existential nature of war. The participants of the poster contest ‘Feeling Ukraine: Fear, Love, Hate’ were also awarded.4 students from UzhNU (2 from the Department of Journalism, 2 from the Faculty of Foreign Philology) became winners - each received a certificate with the opportunity to make a purchase for £50 in the Amazon store. The delegates from UzhNU were impressed by the innovative solutions at the University of Central Lancashire. One of them is the arrangement of a recreation space on the roofs of university buildings and the library. The beautiful view of Preston, comfortable seats, green areas with trees and flower beds allow you to relax your body and soul, which contributes to the efficiency and production of new ideas. 

The modern library has four floors that are open to visitors all the time, all paper books are digitised, and in the rooms equipped with technology you can gain new knowledge and enjoy reading. The buildings have many places for students and teachers to communicate and spend time. 

The friendliness and willingness to cooperate were felt throughout the visit, which means much more than a partnership within the programme. This is a real friendship that we believe will only grow stronger! 

 

 

The full version of the material is available  on the Media Center website (in Ukrainian).

Nataliia Tolochko

• International Activities