Polish universities that are part of European Universities will receive a total of almost PLN 16 million to support cooperation with Ukrainian partners at the supranational level thanks to the ‘Solidarity with Ukraine’ programme of the National Academic Exchange Agency.
The ‘Solidarity with Ukraine’ programme offered Ukrainian refugees the opportunity to continue their studies, work on their doctoral thesis or follow any other form of education at Polish universities and institutes. The suspension of teaching and other problems faced by universities in Ukraine resulted in limited possibilities to carry out activities related to the mission of the universities.
In the face of new challenges and needs, the Ministry of Education and Science (MEiN) has launched opportunities to financially support universities supervised by the Minister that are part of European University Alliances and will undertake cooperation with Ukrainian partners.
“Our aim is to maintain the intellectual value of the Ukrainian people. We are keen to ensure that its staff can continue to carry out scientific research after the end of the war”, said deputy head of the MEiN Tomasz Rzymkowski at a press conference accompanying the signing of the agreements.
The next step in the implementation of the ‘Solidarity with Ukraine’ programme is intended to lead to the development of long-term cooperation between the organisations forming the partnership and to cooperation at supranational level, e.g. in adapting Ukrainian universities to EU standards and rules arising from the European Economic Area or the European Research Area.
Funding under the ‘Solidarity with Ukraine’ programme will be provided to 18 of the 22 Polish HEIs that are members of the European Universities consortia. Each alliance is formed by a minimum of three higher education institutions from at least three EU member states or other programme countries. The project aims to create the ‘universities of the future’ and strengthen the competitiveness of EU universities internationally.
Arkadiusz Słomczyński