In mid-May 2022, the team at Kiel University (CAU) began preparing an emergency project with Assoc. Prof. Dr. Tetiana Skibina to support Kherson State Agrarian and Economic University (KSAEU). The application was submitted to the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) through Ukraine Digital: Ensuring academic success in times of crisis.
Responding to emergency needs
The team had only a few weeks to prepare the proposal and coordinate it with both university boards. CAU’s International Center supported the application, which was submitted on time. DAAD approved funding in early July 2022.
KSAEU had relocated to Kropyvnytskyi while Kherson was under Russian occupation, leaving lecture halls, laboratories, scientific materials and technical equipment behind. At that stage, teaching had switched fully to distance learning, but equipment was scarce and many students had lost sources of financial support.
Equipment and scholarship plans
From CAU’s Institute for Statistics and Econometrics, the team planned to send 70 laptops to support teaching and studying at KSAEU. The project also announced 66 online scholarships for students continuing their studies in Ukraine and invited five students to Kiel, where they could continue their KSAEU studies, attend additional CAU courses and learn German.
Further support included funding courses needed in KSAEU’s bachelor’s programmes in public administration and management. These measures were intended to help sustain teaching and provide practical support during the emergency.
On 29 November 2022, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Tetiana Skibina presented the project’s results at an international online conference on the situation of researchers and students during the war in Ukraine.
We thank DAAD and the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) for supporting the project through Ukraine Digital, CAU’s International Center for its help with the application, and colleagues at both universities for putting the cooperation into practice.
Akademische Kooperation zwischen Universitäten in Kiel und dem ukrainischen Kherson gestartet https://t.co/uZUBf6zdhV
— Universität Kiel CAU 🎓 (@kieluni) October 6, 2022
