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War in Ukraine
A Ukraine flag fluttering on a pole

Durham strengthens ties with twinned Ukrainian university

29 March 2023
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Ukraine flag and logos for Durham and ZNU universities

The war in Ukraine remains of immense concern to us all. Today (March 29) marks the one-year anniversary of the UK-Ukraine Twinning Initiative, under which we are twinned with Ukrainian university Zaporizhzhia National University (ZNU).

Today, Universities UK International (UUKi) has announced new funding to support twinning partnerships across the UK and Ukraine. Durham will receive £200,000 to further support our friends and colleagues at ZNU.

Supporting ZNU

Over the past year, we have worked with ZNU on academic research and supported ZNU’s teaching, which is taking place remotely. We have run The Ukrainian Talk Series, an ongoing programme of public events involving panellists from ZNU, Durham and experts from the international community, hosted by Dr Markian Prokopvych from our History Department.

In response to the invasion of Ukraine, and geo-political volatility in many places around the world. We’re also working closely with the Council for At-Risk Academics (CARA), who support academic fellowships for those who are at risk in their home country which includes, but is not limited to, Ukraine. We fund six CARA fellowships per year for academics at risk in their home country to come to Durham with their families, where they’re able to undertake a postdoctoral academic placement for a period of two years in a place of safety.

Research collaboration

The new funding will support pan-University research collaborations across law, history, geography, psychology, finance and biosciences, including summer schools focusing on topics such as enhancing legal research and rebuilding leadership, workshops on oral history, urban recovery, and mental health in times of war. Some Ukrainian visiting fellows and students will come to Durham from ZNU to collaborate later this year.

Twinning partnership

The twinning scheme was announced by UUKi and the Cormack consultancy group and to date 106 partnerships have been formed. The partnerships enable Ukrainian staff and students to access additional support from both the UK and Ukrainian higher education systems.

Find out more