Support for the internationalisation of Ukrainian universities

Ukrainian universities have made significant progress in internationalisation in recent years. The DAAD programme Supporting the Internationalisation of Ukrainian Universities, which was launched in 2019 and financed by special funds from the Federal Ministry of Education and Research, is also contributing to this. It supports projects that primarily train members of the Ukrainian university administration on topics such as time management, acquiring third-party funding and using digital work processes.

Professor Kateryna Skyba is Vice-Rector of the National University of Khmelnytzkyi in Ukraine. One of her tasks is to promote the internationalisation of her university. This is an important task, as since the Ukrainian higher education reform of 2014, the country’s universities have been required to adopt a more international focus in cooperation projects.

The DAAD programme Support for the Internationalisation of Ukrainian Universities makes a valuable contribution to supporting Ukrainian university managers in this. At the beginning of 2022, Kateryna Skyba completed the DAAD-funded training programme “Multiplication Trainings for Higher Education Administrators in Ukraine” (THEA Ukraine X) at Münster University of Applied Sciences in cooperation with Sumy State University. “I wanted to expand my knowledge, be one step ahead when introducing new approaches and build a network, which is essential for successful international projects,” she explains. Skyba found the opportunity to pass on her newly acquired knowledge to her colleagues in Khmelnytzkyi with the support of a Ukrainian tandem trainer particularly appealing. Her experiences on the course far exceeded her expectations, she enthuses: “Not only did I gain insights into internationalisation trends and strategies, but I also learned a lot about time management, resource allocation and effective communication. And I made lasting friendships!”