Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv (KNU)

Since the beginning of our partnership, shared activity has included in-person and online seminars and labs, seed funding for research proposals, skills and resource development, and student and staff visitors to Edinburgh. Activities continue to evolve and look ahead and are strengthened by nearly £200k in funding from the UUK International grant scheme launched as part of the UK-Ukraine Twinning Initiative. 

Read more about the funding:

Grant supports Edinburgh-KNU partnership

This mutually beneficial partnership has created impactful connections in our combined communities. Read below some of the stories so far.

Visitors from KNU visited Edinburgh to honour one year of our partnership and discuss future plans. This anniversary visit fell at a time of cultural significance, Vyshyvanka Day on 18 May, the national day celebrating Ukrainian traditional dress. Edinburgh hosted a special event for delegates with video and music from Kyiv showcasing Vyshyvanka traditional dress, folk songs, and an exchange of Scots and Ukrainian language, alongside reflections on the past year.

 Vesnianky is the name of ancient Slavic ritual songs associated with spring's beginning and the spring field work approach. With vesnianky, people transfer their energy to nature, so that all living things around woke up and came to life again.

Both videos below, have been created by colleagues of the Center of Folklore and Ethnography of the Institute of Philology at KNU and kindly provided to us. The students and teachers of the Institute perform the song Vesnianka.

Five students from KNU came to Edinburgh to complete research for their Masters theses in Chemistry, as part of the ‘Environmental Sustainability Lab’.

In their three-month exchange, they had the opportunity to develop practical skill in the labs in Edinburgh as well as experience life in Scotland for the first time. Sofiia, Nadiia, Maryna, Marharyta and Kateryna all talked about the future impact of this experience on their careers and to Ukraine’s development of science.  

Read about the five students' experience:

Rebuilding a war-torn country: Meeting the future of Ukraine

 The idea for collaboration in Urban Regeneration emerged in Kyiv, where our colleagues faced the prospect of their cities and towns after the war.

Guiding the ‘Impacts of War Lab’ are Dr Kostyantyn Mezentsev (KNU) and Professor Soledad Garcia Ferrari (Edinburgh), which looks to limit damage, achieve justice and aid reconstruction.

The first online workshop in March discussed ‘Post-war/conflict urban regeneration’ and exchanged experiences and ideas between students and staff from both universities. 

I thought it was so inspirational - maybe because we had such a great group of young people, thinking about the future. What has taken place so far is only the beginning…

 Read more about the Urban Regeneration: Impacts of War lab collaboration:

Urban Regeneration: Impacts of War Lab

 The ‘Literatures and Cultures in the Face of War Lab’ focuses on guest lectures, joint seminars, and research mobility, sharing Ukrainian and Scottish culture.

This collaboration between Edinburgh and KNU is led by Dr Emmanuelle Lacore-Martin, Senior Lecturer in French and Francophone Studies, Deputy Head of the Department of European Languages and Cultures (DELC), UoE and Professor Lilia Miroshnychenko, Head of the Department of Foreign Literature and the Institute of Philology, KNU.   

I think everybody has commented on that it's certainly not one sided at all. It's very much a partnership of equals despite the inequalities.

 Read more about the Literatures and Cultures in the Face of War:

Literatures and Cultures in the Face of War: Edinburgh-KNU Collaboration

 In October 2022, the Edinburgh Law School hosted a hybrid masterclass (jointly with the School of Social and Political Science) entitled ‘EU diplomacy in practice’.

The lecture was delivered by  William Hanna (former EU ambassador and Edinburgh University alumnus) and saw the online participation of KNU staff and students.

Led by Dr Leandro Mancano (Edinburgh) and Professors Kseniia Smirnova and Yevgen Gerasymenko (KNU), a visiting research scheme will be rolled out between June and August, which will fund the visit of three members of the KNU academic staff to come to Edinburgh and interact with colleagues at the Law School. 

Further developments are being explored, including a series of joint online seminars and remotely delivered lectures.

Edinburgh Law School 

In August 2022, the University of Edinburgh hosted 50 undergraduate students at the Una Europa One Health Summer School, including four students from KNU. They took part in the two-week programme to work in international teams on innovative solutions to Global Health challenges. In relation to the programme, the KNU students also requested an opportunity to speak to the whole group to share their experiences of the impact of war. 

We talked about food security issues in Ukraine and how the war has impacted the country’s grain supply. I feel this is a safe space to talk openly and coming here makes you realise that you are not isolated. This experience has given myself and other Ukrainian students the confidence to tell our story.

 Read more about the One Health Summer School, which took place in 2022:

Students from Europe gather for pioneering summer school

The Institute for Academic Development (IAD) is collaborating with the Department of Publishing and Editing at KNU to focus on academic writing skills. This has so far resulted in sharing resources, and the next steps will focus on hosting joint online workshops on writing and publishing as part of a KNU researcher week.

The overall aim is to take a shared approach to identify and deliver new ways to offer support at both institutions and to strengthen the support for academic writing and publishing at KNU. 

The IAD offers development opportunities for researchers at all career stages:

IAD development opportunities

NICE is a multi-university virtual exchange programme designed to develop students’ intercultural and entrepreneurial  skills. The Edinburgh-KNU partnership fund has provided the participation of 15 students and four staff from Ukraine in the programme’s Virtual Summer School in July 2023. KNU colleagues will co-deliver parts of the programme. 

We're looking forward to sharing this experience in the summer. In the future, the intention is to continue to work with KNU on the NICE project. Working with colleagues, when their lives and livelihoods are at risk, it gives us a special incentive to prioritise this collaboration. We care about this work, and also deeply care about our friends in Kyiv. 

Find out more about the NICE project:

Nice Project

One year on from the partnership’s beginnings, the breadth and depth of developments make it very clear: this alliance matters.

The value of solidarity, when facing the impact of war, has propelled the efforts of the staff teams and student communities from both institutions. We continue to collaborate, for our people, for our institutions, and for our nations. Now and in the future, we stand with KNU.