- The University of Sheffield is marking the one year anniversary of the #TwinForHope initiative in which UK universities twinned with their Ukrainian counterparts in response to the war in Ukraine
- Sheffield has twinned with the National Technical University of Ukraine Igor Sikorsky Kyiv Polytechnic Institute (KPI) - one of the oldest and largest universities in Ukraine
- Since forming the partnership, Sheffield has donated £20,000 to rebuild air raid shelters so students can continue their studies, donated key IT and laboratory equipment, shared online library resources, launched teaching and research collaborations and connected student unions
The University of Sheffield is marking the one year anniversary of a twinning initiative that has seen it help staff and students affected by the war in Ukraine.
Today (29 March 2023) marks one year since the launch of the #TwinForHope campaign, in which universities from across the UK twinned with their Ukrainian counterparts in response to the Russian invasion.
Set up by Universities UK International and Cormack Consultancy Group, the campaign has led to more than 100 twinning partnerships that have enabled Ukrainian universities to stay open, Ukrainian academics to continue vital teaching and research activities, and Ukrainian students to continue their studies.
As part of the initiative, the University of Sheffield has twinned with the National Technical University of Ukraine Igor Sikorsky Kyiv Polytechnic Institute (KPI) - one of the oldest and largest universities in Ukraine.
KPI is recognised as one of Ukraine’s best technical universities, and like Sheffield, is internationally renowned for outstanding teaching and research in engineering. It is also listed in the QS World University rankings - one of only four Ukrainian universities in the prestigious league table.
However, the Russian invasion has had a huge impact on KPI, its staff and students, and its day-to-day operations have been significantly disrupted by the conflict. KPI students have died in the conflict and many students, teachers and employees have been left without their own homes.
Since twinning, the University of Sheffield has donated £20,000 to rebuild air raid shelters on KPI’s campus in Kyiv, which has enabled the university to resume in-person education. Sheffield has donated key IT and laboratory equipment to help KPI maintain its teaching and research activities, including high performance computers.
The University of Sheffield’s Library has shared its resources with KPI, so Ukrainian staff and students can access a vast range of online journals, texts and resources to support their studies.
Academics from across the University of Sheffield have launched research and teaching collaborations with their peers at KPI, particularly in engineering and nuclear research. The English Language Teaching Centre at Sheffield is also helping staff and students at KPI learn English – a key language for international research and collaboration – and Sheffield Students’ Union is supporting KPI’s Students’ Union.
The positive impact of #TwinForHope has recently been recognised by the UK government through the award of £5 million UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) investment to support its work. To mark the one year anniversary, 33 universities, including Sheffield, have been awarded funding to enable further research and innovation collaborations.
The twinning partnership with KPI forms part of the work the University of Sheffield is doing in its University of Sanctuary initiative. The scheme supports students, scholars and other staff who are seeking sanctuary in the UK or affected by war in their home countries.
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