University of Edinburgh – Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv

The institutions have been the first pair to have a signing ceremony on 19th May, with Professor Peter Mathieson stating: “In signing this Memorandum of Understanding, both institutions are cementing a deep commitment to work more closely on opportunities across teaching, learning and research”.

Professor Kseniia Smyrnova, Vice-Rector for International Cooperation at Taras Shevchenko, praised the initiative claiming: “I am confident that our collaboration will ultimately contribute to further integration of academic community and internationalisation of higher education in Ukraine and the UK”.

Edinburgh and Taras Shevchenko have discussed a number of opportunities to support Ukrainian academics and students:

• The development of summer schools to allow students to catch up on modules. Due to the difficult Visa requirements, only six students will be able to access the opportunity for the time being.

• The creation of virtual exchange programs, which will be easier to manage as students and academics will not require any documentations. These programs will be useful to establish connections between study courses.