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Wolverhampton university pledges its support for education in Ukraine

The University of Wolverhampton has pledged its support for education in Ukraine by signing a partnership agreement with a leading university based in the country.

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Representatives from the University of Wolverhampton and the Nizhyn Mykola Gogol State University, based in the Chernihiv region of Ukraine, signed a five-year Memorandum of Understanding

Representatives from the University of Wolverhampton and the Nizhyn Mykola Gogol State University (NMGSU), based in the Chernihiv region of Ukraine, signed a five-year Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) recently.

The virtual signing represents the start of a partnership to promote education and collaboration as part of the UK/UKR Twinning Initiative.

The twinning scheme is an institution-to-institution collaboration model coordinated by Cormack Consultancy Group and the President’s Fund of Ukraine for Education, Science, and Sports with the support of Universities UK International.

The initiative allows universities around the world to support their Ukrainian counterparts in real, concrete ways.

Potential collaboration could see the university hosting a number of NMGSU academic staff to enable them to continue delivering courses online and providing access to online resources.

The Wolverhampton university could also provide online support for English language hosting NMGSU students at a summer school, and develop a social media group to allow students from both institutions to interact.

NMGSU is one of the oldest universities in Ukraine, with three faculties, 28 departments, offering over 30 degrees.

The virtual partnership signing was attended by the University of Wolverhampton’s global opportunities team and by representatives of the NMGSU’s rector’s office and international affairs department.

Tim Steele, pro vice-chancellor for international and regional development at the University of Wolverhampton, said: “The University of Wolverhampton places a great deal of emphasis about working in partnership and we’re an institution that’s approaching nearly 200 years of providing education in our region. Our approach is to work at pace with our partners. We want to stand hand in hand with NMGSU as they continue to face the immense problems caused by the conflict.

“We know the sense of resolve that the academic team in Ukraine are showing during these difficult times and we very much admire the work of this team who are continuing to ensure that students can continue with their studies.

“We are extremely committed to the principles set down in this Memorandum of Understanding and we want to do everything we can to help NMGSU deliver their ambition. We’ve identified a number of ways we can work together – through summer schools, academic exchange and through research, and we look forward to putting these into action.”

Oleksandr Samoilenko, rector of NMGSU, added: “We are very pleased to be partnering with such a well-established institution in the UK.

“This partnership signing will further strengthen our network of partner organisations which includes universities in Poland, Germany, Austria, China, Turkey and in the United States.

“We want to be seen, very much, as a democratic and humanistic country and we hope that, through this new partnership, we can continue to show the world that we are committed to providing the best education for our citizens through collaboration.”

The university’s global opportunities office is the first point of contact for international and transnational education students going through the application process to becoming a student.

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