Published April 4, 2017
A press conference devoted to the Ukrainian-Polish Days of Education, Science and Innovations, which will take place on April 6-7 in Kyiv, was held at the news agency UKRINFORM on April 3.
Emilia Jasiuk, Counsellor of the Embassy of the Republic of Poland to Ukraine for Science and Education, Serhii Sydorenko, Deputy Rector of Igor Sikorsky Kyiv Polytechnic Institute in charge of international collaboration and Corresponding Member of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, and Waldemar Siwinski, President of the Polish Education Foundation Perspektywy, informed journalists about events within the framework of the program of Ukrainian-Polish education meetings.
Supported by the Ministry of Science and Higher Education of Poland, the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine with active participation of the Foundation for the Development of the Education System, the National Contact Point Horizon 2020, Igor Sikorsky Kyiv Polytechnic Institute and the Education Foundation Perspektywy, the Ukrainian-Polish Days of Education, Science and Innovations is the biggest forum, compared to similar events.
“This is a remarkable event for our countries, as many Ukrainians who number more than 4,000 study in Poland,” Emilia Jasiuk told the press. “Unfortunately, Polish students in Ukraine number only between 700 and 1,000 and we think it is very important to increase their number. In addition to the exchange of students, we attach particular importance to cooperation in research and innovation projects, as well as to cooperation between higher education institutions of Ukraine and Poland in EU programs.”
One of the major events within the Ukrainian-Polish Days of Education, Science and Innovations will be the Forum of Rectors of Technical Higher Education Institutions of Poland and Ukraine, organized by the Conference of Rectors of Technical Universities of the Republic of Poland in conjunction with the Association of Rectors of Technical Higher Education Institutions of Ukraine. According to Serhii Sydorenko, this high-caliber meeting takes place for the third time, as the inaugural forum was held at National Technical University of Ukraine “KPI” in 2009, and the second one at the Lviv Polytechnic Institute in 2014. The present Forum is the greatest event, given that 84 rectors and deputy rectors of Polish technical HEIs agreed to participate in it. Overall, the Polish delegation will number 250 educators who are expected to take part not only in the Forum of heads of technical HEIs but also in other events within the program of the Ukrainian-Polish Days of Education, Science and Innovations. Nearly 90 heads and their alternates will represent Ukrainian technical HEIs. In total, over 200 participants from various Ukrainian HEIs will attend the Forum.
“The main purpose of our meeting is to build the highway that will connect Poland and Ukraine in the sphere of science and education,” Waldemar Siwinski pointed out, adding that Polish and Ukrainian HEIs boast considerable scientific achievements, therefore it is worth joining efforts aimed at drawing up joint projects to participate in EU research programs.
The format of the two-day Forum with the participation of rectors of Polish and Ukrainian technical HEIs includes plenary meetings and seven parallel round tables devoted to different fields of scientific cooperation, namely international and foreign economic activities of technical HEIs as the factor of their internationalization, European accreditation of engineering education and EUR-ACE certification, the introduction of dual degree programs, joint participation in EU projects within the framework of the Horizon 2020 Program, and development of contacts within the Erasmus+ Program, among others. Surely questions about widening of a network of startup schools and the formation of joint innovation environments will be under discussion.
The Polish-Ukrainian Days of Education, Science and Innovations will close on April 7 with a gala concert in which the best artistic amateur groups of Polish and Ukrainian universities are supposed to take part. Remarkably, Kasia Mos, who will represent Poland at the 2017 Eurovision Song Contest in Kyiv, is the special guest of the concert.