KIU News

Text in Suspilne.media (in Ukrainian) about Ukrainian Studies featuring Susann Worschech written by Darya Badior, 21 January 2025. See translation below.

Interview with KIU Fellow Dr. Tetyana Panchenko by the Viadrina Press Office about her academic research on Ukrainian refugees in Germany.

The call for applications for the KIU PhD program has been published. The program offers 9 PhD scholarships plus 6 positions for associated doctoral students. The whole duration of the program is 36 months, starting in April 2025. The application deadline has been extended until 9 February 2025.

Starting with the report presentation on the consequences of Russia’s full-scale invasion for Ukrainian academia, the event continues with a panel discussion on the future challenges and reform directions of the Ukrainian science and higher education system. The SCIENCE AT RISK Monitoring Report on Ukraine examines the consequences of the Russian full-scale invasion for Ukrainian academia based on the analysis of the online-survey results among Ukrainian scholars. Analysing 1,720 responses, the Report draws conclusions about the state and needs of Ukrainian scientists in times of war

On Thursday, 14 November 2024, from 7:30 to 9:00 p.m., KIU will participate in a Kyiv Dialogue event at the GLS Campus Berlin. Titled ‘Art as a War Objective: The Destruction of Ukraine's Cultural Heritage by Russia’, this session will address the ongoing assault on Ukraine’s historical and cultural identity. Through immersive VR technology, attendees can explore the Museum of Stolen Art, a digital project dedicated to documenting the cultural losses caused by the war. Featured speakers include Olena Zenchenko from the Museum of Stolen Art Project, Dr. Susann Worschech (KIU), and Dr. Kateryna Rietz-Rakul (Ukrainian Institute in Germany). The session will be moderated by Johannes Voswinkel of the Heinrich Böll Foundation.

The KIU course catalog ‘Interdisciplinary Ukrainian Studies’ is a guide for putting together an individual Ukraine focus at the three KIU universities – European University Viadrina, Humboldt Universität zu Berlin and Freie Universität Berlin – at both the BA and MA level. The course catalog summarizes the current courses on Ukraine and thus offers the possibility of a cross-institutional and interdisciplinary focus. Students from all three universities are welcome to attend the courses at the other universities in the competence network. Courses at the MA level are already eligible for the certificate program ‘Interdisciplinary Ukrainian Studies’, which will start in the winter semester of 2025.

The Competence Network for Interdisciplinary Ukrainian Studies Frankfurt (Oder)-Berlin (KIU) seeks a dedicated student assistant to support the Center for East European and International Studies (ZOiS) in Berlin. Join us to assist in organizing events, supporting with research, managing social media, and editing multimedia content. If you're a student with an interest in Ukraine's politics, culture, and society, have strong communication skills in German and English, and are familiar with MS Office and Adobe programs, apply now! Position available immediately with a 12-month initial contract and a monthly commitment of 40.6 hours.

The KIU is represented at this year's biannual conference of the DGO (Deutsche Gesellschaft Osteuropakunde e.V.). On Monday, 7 October 2024, 2.30 to 4 p.m., KIU project coordinator Dr. Susann Worschech will participate in the panel discussion ‘Support, Reconstruction, Reforms: How can we make Ukrainian cooperation in research even more attractive’? On the second day of the conference, between 1 and 1:45 p.m., she and Guido Hausmann (University of Regensburg) will present the KIU as one of the two DAAD-funded projects for the establishment of Interdisciplinary Ukrainian Studies in Germany.

On Monday, 21 October 2024, 6 p.m., the Berlin-based Ukrainian photographer and writer Yevgenia Belorusets (*1980, Kyjiw) will open the public KIU lecture series in the winter semester 2024/2025 at Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin. The opening lecture will focus on the narrative dimension of the destruction of Ukrainian infrastructure and the question of why it is so difficult to process this destruction in literature. The series forms the first part of a multi-semester lecture series of the Competence Network Interdisciplinary Ukrainian Studies Frankfurt (Oder) - Berlin (KIU), which is organized alternately by the members of the network led by the European University Viadrina.

We are excited to announce that the KIU Summer School is now in full swing! It's not too late to be part of this enriching experience. For more details, visit the Programme section where you can download the full schedule of our Summer School and explore the sessions available.

The opening ceremony of the Competence Network Interdisciplinary Ukrainian Studies (KIU) was celebrated on 11 July 2024, a good five months after the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) made the decision to support the KIU in Frankfurt (Oder) – Berlin with 2.5 million Euros. During the ceremony, tangible and specific steps for action were presented and a debate was held on the role that Ukrainian studies will play in those steps. Scientific coordinator, Dr. Susann Worschech, opened the KIU with the following outlook.

On 11 July, the Competence Network Interdisciplinary Ukrainian Studies Frankfurt (Oder) - Berlin (KIU) was officially opened at the European University Viadrina Frankfurt (Oder). The livestream is available to rewatch at the Viadrina YouTube channel.

The KIU fellowships in Interdisciplinary Ukrainian Studies are out now. Three fellowships support innovative and significant research on topics related to Ukraine. Join KIU for your research and teaching on Ukraine. You are invited to apply until 11 August.

On Thursday, July 11, 2024 at 4 pm in the Auditorium Maximum of the European University Viadrina in Frankfurt (Oder), we will celebrate the opening of the Competence Network Interdisciplinary Ukrainian Studies Frankfurt (Oder) – Berlin (KIU).

On Thursday, 7 March at 11.30 a.m., the European University Viadrina Frankfurt (Oder) invites you to a media conference on the "Competence Network Interdisciplinary Ukrainian Studies Frankfurt (Oder) - Berlin (KIU)".

The European University Viadrina, leading the “Competence Network Interdisciplinary Ukrainian Studies Frankfurt (Oder) - Berlin (KIU)”, has been awarded a grant from the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD). The network was successful in the competition alongside the “Denkraum Ukraine” at the University of Regensburg. The DAAD is providing a total of a five million euros for both projects until the end of 2028.