Academic Survival in Times of Crisis: The Ukrainian Perspective

Organised by

• Department of Political and Social Sciences

This event will be introduced by Sébastien Huber, CIVICA Coordinator and Director ad interim of the EUI Academic Service, and Professor Elias Dinas, SPS Head of Department. 

After a full-scale Russian military invasion of the whole country on 24 February 2022, the higher education system of Ukraine faced not only new challenges related to wartime but also systemic transformation in connection with the European integration of Ukraine. As a result, academic management moved in content and partially in form into crisis management mode. Academic crisis management became an important component of successful work in conditions of instability and uncertainty particularly during martial law. Today main tasks for Ukrainian researchers and academic staff are converting threats into opportunities. They have become primarily the ambassadors of cultural and science diplomacy. On the other side, researchers prepare a philosophical background for peacebuilding in Ukraine and its post-war reconstruction, and in cooperation with academic staff, they promote a smoother integration of Ukrainian higher education institutions into the European Education and Research Area. In this discussion, the authors draw the Ukrainian perspective in the academic area as well as academia’s contribution to the understanding of the Russian-Ukrainian war and the future of Ukraine.