The National Agency for Academic Exchange (NAWA), together with the University of Gdańsk, is organizing a conference “Solidarity with Ukraine” in Gdańsk on May 12-13, presenting the scientific and academic community’s commitment to helping Ukrainians.

The event will show various activities undertaken by the academic and scientific community in the face of the war in Ukraine: scholarship aid, volunteering, and joint research projects. One of invited guests is the Ukrainian Minister of Education and Science, Serhiy Shkarlet.

The “Solidarity with Ukraine” program is addressed to universities where the number of full-time students is at least 150, and to institutes of the Polish Academy of Sciences, institutes of the Łukasiewicz network or research institutes. In the application, they declared the number of students or doctoral students from Ukraine that they are ready to accept, providing them with the possibility to continue their studies, prepare a doctoral dissertation, take language courses or other forms of education free of charge. The possibility of studying was to be provided in the period from March 1 to September 30. In addition to the exemption from tuition fees, a scholarship will be paid to participants. If necessary, everyone will also be provided with psychological and legal assistance.

“The Polish academic and scientific community has passed a difficult exam. In a sense of solidarity with the Ukrainians, from the first days of the war, it began to act, providing not only shelter but also the possibility of continuing education and research work for representatives of the academic and scientific community in Ukraine. The agency, using its previous experience gained on the occasion of a similar program “Solidarity with Belarus”, started working out the concept of a program addressed to Ukrainians immediately. I am glad that NAWA, in the face of the crisis, was once again able to provide a tool to build a slightly better world”, said Dr Grażyna Żebrowska, NAWA Director.

Adrian Andrzejewski