Research Fellows

Tetiana Gardashuk, Dr. Hab. in Philosophy, the Head of the Department of Logic and Methodology of Science, H. Skovoroda Institute of Philosophy, National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine; a co-founder of the National Ecological Center of Ukraine (1991). Memberships: a Member of the European Sustainable Use Network (ESUG) from 1996, and a Gender Equality Officer for ESUG from 2023.  Completed a research internship: at Iowa State University, USA (1997); ITAS, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, Germany (2013); NIAS-KNAW, Netherlands (1996; 2023-2024), and VUIAS (2023-2024). Publications: individual monographs, chapters in books, scientific articles, and publications in media. Experience: teaching, participation in international conferences, environmental project management, and expertise.

KIU-Research project The project ‘The Value of Rivers, Instrumentalization Practices, and the Future of the Kakhovka HPP Area’ aims to contribute to the consensus search concerning the future of war-damaged territories. The research takes into account 1) the multiple roles of rivers; 2) the historical/social context of hydropower development; and 3) environmental peacebuilding (EPB) as a methodological framework for dilemma-solving between renaturalization, economic development, and other interests. This project is an opportunity to verify the feasibility of EPB as a workable methodology for post-war restoration in Ukraine.  

Research interests:

• Philosophy of science, eco-philosophy, and contemporary ecologism
• Bioethics and environmental ethics
• Environmental colonialism, environmental impacts and nuclear threats of war, and ecocide
• Methodology of environmental peacebuilding

Yuliya Krylova-Grek. PhD, an Associate Professor at the National University of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy, a researcher of Uppsala University, the director of NGO “Institute of Psycholinguistic Research”. She is an expert in psychology of language and media analysis and has research experience in the influence of media and political communication on public opinion and conflict dynamics. Additionally, she acts as a forensic linguist and psycholinguist, and an expert in the Crimea Human Right Group. Her work focuses on identifying hate speech, propaganda, and psychological impacts in media, particularly in the context of the Russo-Ukrainian conflict.  She has been a visiting scholar at Uppsala University, MacEwan University, and visiting professor at University of Hradec Králové.

KIU-Research project ‘Ukraine and Russia: Deconstructing Myths and Analysis of Propaganda Narratives’ The ongoing conflict in Ukraine has not only resulted in military aggression but also a new type of information war. In this context the destruction of culture and national identity has become a central theme in Russian narratives that serves for anti-Ukrainian myth construction. This research aims to study the dual functions of language in information warfare: 1) language weaponization for construct anti-Ukrainian myths and narratives; 2) how language is applied to counteract propaganda and protect culture and national identity in information space.

Research interests: related to language, media, and communication studies examined through the lens of sociolinguistics and psychology of language.

Mykhailo (also Mikhail) Minakov is a senior advisor at the Wilson Center’s Kennan Institute, professor at the Free University (Brīvā universitāte, Riga), and a philosopher and a scholar working in the areas of political philosophy, social theory, international development, and history of modernity. He is also the editor-in-chief of the peer-reviewed journal The Ideology and Politics Journal, of the Kennan Focus Ukraine blog, and of the philosophical web portal Koinè. Minakov is the author of seven books, co-author of another six books, and of numerous articles in philosophy, political analysis, and history. Mykhailo has over twenty years of experience in research and teaching in the universities of Ukraine, Germany, Italy, Switzerland, and the United States.

KIU-Research project ‘Reviving the Heroic Spirit of the 1990s’ The ongoing war poses an existential threat to Ukraine as a state, a country, and a nation. The Russian invasion of Ukraine has also provoked a change in collective memory about the cultural legacy of Ukraine before 2014. To somehow respond to these processes and limit their harm, I research the intellectual fiction and philosophical works of the early 1990s. This heritage is linked to the political and social processes in early post-Soviet times when Ukraine and other contemporary Eastern European and Northern Eurasian societies were shaped and started their democratization.

The emergence of new societies was also connected with new social imagination that is visible in artefacts like post-Soviet constitutions, partizan ideologies, corporate strategies, works of contemporary art, philosophical theories, and works of fiction. In my research project, I want to revisit the heritage of Ukrainian literature and social philosophy of the 1990s and analyze it to find how ideas and visions made the tragic events of the catastrophic period of 1989 – 1990s meaningful, acceptable, and inspiring.

Research interests: 

• political systems and regimes, patronal politics and grand corruption, history of international relations, Eastern European and Northern Eurasian area studies (with a focus on Ukraine, Belarus, and Moldova, as well as on the post-Soviet de facto states)
• ontology, human existence, history of philosophy, philosophy of history, social epistemology, and ideology theories

Viktor Muraviov, a leading legal scholar at Kyiv Taras Shevchenko University, is renowned for his expertise in international law, with a focus on European Union law, human rights, and comparative constitutional studies. His academic career is marked by numerous publications that explore international governance, the European integration process, and Ukraine's evolving legal system, establishing him as a key voice in these fields. Beyond academia, Prof. Muraviov has played a significant advisory role for Ukraine’s governmental and legal institutions, particularly in aligning national laws with European Union standards. His contributions have been instrumental in shaping Ukraine’s legal education, inspiring a new generation of legal professionals, and supporting the nation’s legal reforms. Prof. Muraviov’s influence extends across Eastern Europe’s legal landscape.

KIU-Research project The research project examines the significant impact of ongoing war on individual rights within Ukraine. It explores how the Ukrainian government may impose restrictions such as freedom of expression, movement, and assembly, often justified by security concerns and military necessity. The project also considers how international human rights laws effects the national legislation. This analysis aims to provide insights into balancing security and human rights in active conflict zones, with broader implications for international law and policy in war-affected regions.

Research interests:

• Impact of War on Human Rights: Investigating how the ongoing war in Ukraine has affected the human rights and fundamental freedoms of its citizens.
• Legal Framework: Analyzing the legal basis for introducing restrictions on human rights during wartime, including international humanitarian law and Ukrainian legislation.
• Methodology: Utilizing a combination of qualitative and quantitative methods, including case studies, interviews with affected individuals, and analysis of legal documents and international reports. 

Tetyana Panchenko studied sociology at the Karazin Kharkiv National University,  holds a PhD and a habilitation in political science from Dragomanov Pedagogical  National  University. She has been working in the positions of Lector, Assistant Professor, Professor in the political science department at the Karazin Kharkiv National University since 2001. She also worked in different research projects at the ifo Center for International Institutional Comparison and Migration Research in Munich (2022-2024), taught in Ukrainian Free University in Munich (2016-2017), held research fellowship at the Humboldt University in Berlin (2013–2014), was an alumna of the academic programs of Central European University, Institute of Federalism at the University of Fribourg and Catholic University Eichstätt-Ingolstadt.

KIU-Research project ‘On the border of two spaces: the transformative experience of Ukrainian refugees in Germany’ explores how transformative experiences of Ukrainian refugees shape the process of their migration, flight and integration and relate to long-term plans. It focuses on their readiness to integrate in the host country and support their country. It covers the time perspective of a longitudinal study since the beginning of the war and based on qualitative in-depth interviews and online surveys. 

Research interests:

• Comparative Regionalism
• Subnational Policy
• Voluntary and Forced Migration from Ukraine
• Qualitative and Mixed Metod in Migration Studies

Taras Romashchenko is an associate professor of the Department of Economics and International Economic Relations at Bohdan Khmelnytsky National University of Cherkasy, Ukraine. He is also a visiting professor and senior lecturer at Bielefeld University and has been a postdoctoral research fellow at Danube University Krems. Currently, also acts as a co-chair of German-Ukrainian online discussions about Ukrainian intellectual life – ‘Lunch Talks with Lviv’.

He holds a PhD in international economics from Donetsk National University of Economics and Trade, Ukraine, and has published on topics such as global labour migration, international flows of highly-skilled workers, remittances, etc. Recent publications have focused on the socioeconomic and demographic challenges faced by Ukraine in the context of the ongoing full-scale invasion by Russia.

KIU-Research project In addition to security issues, one of the main challenges to Ukraine's post-war reconstruction may be the lack of skilled labour needed to rebuild its economy. The Ministry of Economy of Ukraine estimates that in the coming years, Ukraine will need at least 4.5 million workers in various industries. Thus, the research within KIU fellowship aims to justify efficient incentives for the voluntary return to Ukraine of forced migrants who fled because of the war. The repatriation of millions of refugees should become the basis for Ukraine's post-war socioeconomic, demographic and infrastructural reconstruction. 

Research interests: Ukrainian diaspora, international labour migration and development of the countries of origin (diaspora direct investments/DDI, remittances, etc.), forced migration, voluntary return migration, refugee policy and challenges.

Inna Volosevych is Ukrainian writer and researcher. She gained her Master’s degree in Sociology from the National University ‘Kyiv Mohyla Academy’ with honors in 2006. Since then, she has been working in Ukraine for the research companies GfK, Ipsos, and Info Sapiens in the area of social research. She is currently Deputy Director of Info Sapiens. Volosevych has managed more than 1.000 social research projects, mostly for international donors. She joined KIU in 2024 to work on a research project Adaptation of the Ukrainian Labour Market to Wartime.

KIU-Research project As a result of Russia’s aggression, Ukraine is suffering the greatest economic crisis of its post-independence history. As of October 2024, each seventh Ukrainian became IDP. In 2022, one-third of all Ukrainians employed before the war, or 6.4 million employees, had lost their jobs. Within 2022-2024 the unemployment level was decreasing but very slowly. At the same time, more than 6 million Ukrainians became refugees so the employers also lost their personnel. The project aims to study the strategies of adaptation of Ukrainians to the wartime labor market and to provide recommendations for the facilitation of the reconstruction of the Ukrainian economy. 

Research interests:

• Gender studies
• Migration studies
• Employment studies
• Values studies
• Mental health studies