A growing number of universities in the United Kingdom are pledging to help rebuild campuses damaged or destroyed once the fighting stops in the Russian war against Ukraine while providing short-term ‘virtual support’ by recognising credits so that English-speaking Ukrainian students can complete their degrees, via online courses from UK universities, through twinning agreements.
So far, 71 universities have confirmed twinning partnerships with Ukrainian universities under an initiative coordinated by the Cormack Consultancy Group and Universities UK International (UUKi).
In particular, the University of Sheffield (UoS) has been paired with the Igor Sikorsky Kyiv Polytechnic Institute (KPI). Specifically, UoS is keen to develop joint researches with KPI, look at the possibility of opening research groups, or offering remote visiting professorships. According to Dr. Malcolm Butler, Vice-President of Global Engagement at the University of Sheffield, UoS will also make the request to the National Westminster Bank about the potential donation of desk top/laptop computers.
Most of the institutions signing up are based in the United Kingdom, but several in North America have also joined the scheme.
A signing ceremony for 24 new partnerships between the UK and Ukraine took place on Ukrainian Constitution Day – 28 June 2022 – with the UK government pledging £190,000 (US$227,000) in financial assistance to support the twinning initiative.
The Cormack Consultancy Group has been active in Central and Eastern Europe for over 23 years and had staff based in Ukraine, as well as working with many Ukrainian universities.
“After the invasion we were approached by a number of UK client universities keen to help in Ukraine, but unsure what to do, so we came up with a very simple idea of twinning universities,” said Charles Cormack, chairman of the Cormack Consultancy Group.
“UK universities are offering a range of support and engaging with academics, professional staff and students. With the support of UUKi, the scheme has grown to attract over 140 Ukrainian universities looking for twins. To date, we have twinned over 70 UK institutions, and the project now has the support of the office of the President of Ukraine, and the UK government.”
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