New educational initiative Ukrainian Global University
The Ukrainian Global University (UGU) initiative is intended to help Ukrainian students, scholarship holders, and lecturers get access to educational institutions around the world where they can study and conduct research.
The main goal of the UGU project is to overcome the devastating consequences of Russia’s aggression and involve leading world experience to build a new Ukraine.
Iryna Volnytska, President of SET University, explains that UGU is a non-profit initiative that will provide Ukrainian students, scholarship holders, scientists, and lecturers with access to the best educational institutions around the world, as well as new scholarships and postdoc programs. The main condition is the return after studing to Ukraine.
The project was initiated by the Kyiv School of Economics (KSE) with the support from the Office of the President of Ukraine. The founder was a consortium of Ukrainian educational institutions and organizations: KSE, SET University, Ukraine Global Scholars, Ukrainian Catholic University, Kyiv Academic University, Ukrainian Emerging Leaders Program at Stanford University, and the Professional Government Association of Ukraine.
It is reported that the initiative was supported by Stanford, Harvard and dozens of other leading universities and approved by the Ministry of Education and Science and the Ukrainian Embassy in the United States.
"It is particularly important to us that UGU is founded 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.
UGU is now building a network of volunteers. Alumni and representatives of educational institutions around the world can join it. They can become UGU ambassadors for their educational institutions or contact the administration of any institution around the world to initiate a process of their partnership with UGU.
If Ukrainian students or scientists are willing to be UGU participants, they can follow a simplified application process on the UGU website. After that, they can go through the full or simplified application process to any educational institution listed on the platform to maximize their admission chances.
The participants can take language proficiency tests for free in the DuoLingo online language learning program and get certificates.