Ukrainian Global University (UGU) aims to bring together the world’s best educational institutions to support Ukrainians and give them opportunities for high-quality education and research to rebuild their country. The initiative was launched in partnership with the Office of the President of Ukraine by the consortium of leading Ukrainian educational institutions and organizations, i.e. Kyiv School of Economics, Ukraine Global Scholars, Ukrainian Catholic University, Ukrainian Emerging Leaders Program at Stanford University, Professional Government Association of Ukraine, SET University, and Kyiv Academic University. The initiative is endorsed by the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine and the Embassy of Ukraine in the US.

Ukrainian government, educational institutions, and civil society organizations jointly launch Ukrainian Global University (UGU). It is a global network that brings together the world’s best educational institutions. This non-profit initiative aims to connect Ukrainian students, fellows, scientists, and tutors with educational institutions worldwide, newly offered  scholarships, fellowships, and postdoc programs. The platform ensures that the displaced students, scholars, and fellows are not abandoned; it also supports those who are willing to study/do research abroad in order to come back and rebuild Ukraine. The main goal of the UGU initiative is to overcome the devastating consequences of Russia’s aggressive war and jointly with the international intellectual community develop ideas and practices to build a new Ukraine.

“Integration of Ukraine in the world educational space was and still stays one of the key priorities of our country. Now Ukrainian scholars, students, tutors, and researchers, suffering from Russian aggression, need support!” By investing in educational potential in collaboration with the leading universities of Ukraine and worldwide, we invest in our future! The establishment of the Ukrainian Global University is a call to the educational community of the whole world to support Ukrainian scholars, students, researchers in getting a quality education. These people will return to Ukraine to rebuild it after the war, with a world-class education behind them”, said Olga Budnyk, Advisor to the President of Ukraine on the Fund of the President of Ukraine for Support of Education, Science and Sports.

In the first phase, the UGU focuses on establishing personal and institutional partnerships with schools, higher educational institutions, and research centers worldwide. UGU is looking for partnerships that will create stimulating intellectual environments for a medium to long term. The initiative will engage with foundations and universities that can sponsor students, scholars, researchers individually and as groups. The details and conditions are agreed with each partner institution on a case by case basis, but all partners are encouraged to sign an open memorandum with UGU that defines the shared values and principles. Please join the effort to build Ukrainian academic and intellectual sovereignty by expressing an interest in partnership at  https://uglobal.university/. 

Stanford, Yale, Harvard and other leading universities have already supported the initiative and committed specific resources and programming, such as fellowships for visits and funding for joint activities. “Stanford recognized the importance of creating new educational programs for Ukrainians six years ago, when we created The Ukrainian Emerging Leaders Program. The alumni of this program have already made significant changes to improve Ukraine. I endorse UGU and appeal to all other universities in the world to support Ukrainian students and academics,” said Michael McFaul, Professor of Political Science at Stanford University, Director of Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies.

“University Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne has a long tradition of solidarity with scholars and students in exile. It is particularly important to us that UGU is initiated and led by Ukrainian scholars who are currently fighting not only for the sovereignty of their country, but also for our common European values. We will continue our support after the end of the war, when Ukrainians will go back to rebuild their country,” said Christine Neau-Leduc, President of the University Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne.

To maximize the effort of the UGU initiative, the team is building a network of volunteers. Alumni and university representatives from all over the world are welcome to join UGU and help connect more educational institutions to the network. They can become UGU ambassadors at their universities or reach out to an administration at any institution worldwide to initiate the process of their partnership with UGU.

If Ukrainian students/scientists are willing to be UGU participants, they can follow a  simplified application process on the UGU website. After being accepted, the UGU participants will go through a fully guided application process to any educational institution listed on the platform to maximize their admission chances. UGU is also partnering with a language-learning app DuoLingo to enable Ukrainians to take English tests and get certificates free of charge no matter where they are. The initiative requires all students to return to Ukraine after finishing their education/research to help rebuild the country post war.

While the war is still going on in Ukraine, Ukrainian universities and other educational institutions are already taking care of ways to rebuild the country as fast as possible when the victory comes. Ukrainian participants of the initiative will get access to high-quality education and research abroad and will be able to apply their cutting-edge knowledge and skills in their home country. In the future, the UGU team plans to launch internships and programs in Ukraine that will allow participants to reintegrate quickly and contribute to rebuilding Ukraine once they are back.

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“Ukraine defends itself today against brutal Russian aggression and fights for our homes, people, democracy and freedom. This fight is also a fight for the Ukrainian future and after we win this war, Ukraine will need all our talents and expertise to rebuild our cities. We need to do everything to help all Ukrainian students and scholars in the USA to continue their studies as well as to start new programs for many so that our Ukrainian children and students will not fall victims of russian war, but be the educational battalion, which will add a lot to education and science in USA while here and be the professional reserve for new Ukraine after our victory,” said Oksana Markarova, Ambassador of Ukraine to the United States.

“The concept of UGU proposes a globally coordinated response to the urgent need for protecting and investing in the human capital necessary to rebuild the country. A Ukraine-led initiative, UGU could serve as a model for other nations and for higher education institutions around the world,” said Ariel Armony, Vice Provost for Global Affairs, University of Pittsburgh.

“UGU is a critical initiative at a moment when Ukrainian education faces its most existential threat since independence. With many worthy, individual efforts now underway to help students, institutions and faculty, there is a danger that some will fall through the cracks and that students and faculty dispersing across the globe will lose contact with their home country. UGU brings together the country’s leading educational institutions to help students and scholars to get the support they need, maintain their ties to Ukraine, and mitigate brain drain,” said Lucan Way, Professor of Political Science, University of Toronto.

“ESFAM was created 25 years ago with the mission of sharing with French learners in Central and Eastern Europe the values of the Francophonie: solidarity, diversity, democracy. It has a long tradition of welcoming Ukrainian students in French and Belgian degrees, who  can thus quickly acquire essential skills for development and reconstruction,” said Nicolas Maïnetti, Director of ESFAM.

“Ukrainian scholars and students are not at risk – they are at war, and they need fundamentally new types of programs and organizations. Our initiative will become a major academic hub in the world to facilitate discussions about the most pressing global issues and support suffering nations,” said Tymofii Brik, Vice President of international affairs at Kyiv School of Economics, one of the initiators of UGU.

“We need hundreds of thousands of top-educated students to rebuild the Ukrainian economy, like Singapore, India, and South Korea once did with the help of students they educated abroad. It is not a new model, but highly successful and needed for both the Ukrainian students and Ukraine,” said Julia Lemesh, President, Board Member at Ukraine Global Scholars Foundation, one of the initiators of UGU.

“It’s time for Ukrainian students, scholars, and fellows to become part of global networks of knowledge and contribute their leadership, energy, and creativity to the development of a free democratic world. UGU is the perfect way to do that,” said Oleksandr Akymenko, co-founder of Ukrainian Emerging Leaders Program at Stanford, one of the initiators of UGU.

“After one month of war we can see how devastating it is to Ukraine. To rebuild our country we will need people with global networks and a global mindset. I am sure this program will help to achieve such results and UCU will actively support it,” said Sofia Opatska, Vice-Rector for strategic development at the Ukrainian Catholic University, one of the initiators of UGU.

“As the largest network of western-educated professionals in Ukraine, we are privileged to co-found UGU. Ukrainians are now experiencing unprecedented international support, and UGU presents a unique opportunity to upgrade Ukraine’s human capital by creating and streamlining numerous opportunities for study and research to rebuild Ukraine,” said Kostiantyn Lisnychyi, Head of the Board at the Professional Government Association of Ukraine, one of the initiators of UGU.

“Now more than ever, Ukrainian students and researchers need to be a part of the global academic community and have access to the world’s best practices. This will enable the UGU initiative to spur the development of post-war Ukraine, boosting its economy by empowering the best talents with high-quality education that they can apply to rebuild their country,” said Iryna Volnytska, President of SET University, one of the initiators of UGU.

“We hope that UGU, based on the joint efforts of leading Ukrainian and foreign universities, will help preserve Ukraine’s intellectual potential during the war, increase its research skills at the best European and American universities, and create new international links and projects that  will form the conditions for young Ukrainian scholars to return to Ukraine after the war,” said Vitaliy Shadura, Vice Director for Science and Education of Kyiv Academic University, one of the initiators of UGU.

For more information please visit https://uglobal.university/ 

Media contact: [email protected]

About UGU partners:

About Kyiv School of Economics

Kyiv School of Economics is an undergraduate and graduate school of economics and management in Kyiv, Ukraine, founded in 1996 by the Economics Education and Research Consortium (EERC) and the Eurasia Foundation. KSE today is the most ambitious Ukrainian educational project and the most potent intellectual hub in the country. Its mission is to build an intellectual foundation for a strong economy in Ukraine. Since the school’s opening, 1159 students have graduated from KSE with a Master’s degree. In 2021, KSE opened Bachelor’s programs. KSE now integrates KSE University, KSE Business School, KSE Institute (think tank), and Kyiv School of Economics Charitable Foundation.

About Ukraine Global Scholars

Ukraine Global Scholars (UGS) is a non-profit organization that has helped 150+ Ukrainian high school students from modest backgrounds receive $37+ million in scholarships to top global boarding schools and colleges. In exchange, students commit to returning to Ukraine for five years to rebuild the country.

About Ukrainian Catholic University

The Ukrainian Catholic University is a Catholic university in Lviv, Ukraine, affiliated with the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church. It was the first Catholic university to open on the territory of the former Soviet Union. It has 1900 students studying in six faculties. Professional degrees are offered in journalism and business; doctoral degrees in history and theology. In 2018 and 2019, students entering UCU had the highest external independent evaluation scores.

About Ukrainian Emerging Leaders Program at Stanford University

The Ukrainian Emerging Leaders Program (UELP) is a 10-month academic training fellowship hosted at Stanford University. The program was founded in 2016 at the Center on Democracy, Development, and the Rule of Law at Stanford Freeman Spogli Institute as an initiative to address development challenges in Ukraine and across the broader region. The objective of the UELP  is to strengthen fellows’ leadership skills and bolster their academic foundation.

About Professional Government Association of Ukraine (PGA)

An independent, non-partisan, not-for-profit NGO that brings together over 25 Ukraine-based alumni associations with over 3,000 western-educated Ukrainians. Its mission is to serve as a civil society platform for improving the quality of government in Ukraine and internationally as well as  making Ukraine’s public service world class. To achieve its mission, the PGA encourages western-educated Ukrainians to work in the government and advocates for comprehensive public administration reform. The PGA facilitates the reform implementation and monitors its progress in cooperation with local and international partners. 

About SET University 

SET University is a new Ukrainian tech university with a mission to grow future tech innovators by teaching them modern technologies and how to apply them in business. The university combines a modern academic approach and strong expertise in technology to create an intellectual and educational hub focusing  on entrepreneurial culture, research and the tech community. 

About KAU

The State Research Institution «Kyiv Academic University» (KAU) is a new Ukrainian research-intensive university  of  the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine (NAS of Ukraine) and the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine. The main idea behind KAU is a combination of a research-intensive education system based on  research institutions of NAS of Ukraine, strong integration into the European Research Area, and international cooperation with US research universities. The core mission of KAU is to address pressing societal challenges for the revival of Ukrainian science and technology and to build an equal and inclusive community.