Competence Network Interdisciplinary Ukrainian Studies Frankfurt (Oder) – Berlin (KIU)

About

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The KIU competence network is a four-year DAAD-funded project to strengthen Ukraine-related research, teaching, networking and transfer activities. The competence network, initiated and led by the European University Viadrina, includes the ZOiS, the Humboldt Universität zu Berlin, the Freie Universität Berlin, the Berlin-Brandenburg Academy of Sciences and Humanities and the Wissenschaftskolleg Berlin.

KIU – Competence Network for Interdisciplinary Ukraine Studies Frankfurt (Oder)-Berlin and the “Denkraum Ukraine” Regensburg, led by the European University Viadrina, are the two Ukraine Centers in Germany funded by the DAAD (German Academic Exchange Service). Together, they are working on building Ukraine-related academic research and teaching, disseminating Ukraine expertise in politics, academia, media, and civil society, as well as promoting a Europe-wide dialogue with Ukraine.

 

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KIU – Competence Network Interdisciplinary Ukraine Studies

Frankfurt (Oder)-Berlin

News

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Konrad Sobański: ‘Crisis-Innovation-Transformation: Digital Financial Infrastructures in Wartime and Postwar Ukraine’

Hybrid format | TUESDAY, 11 a.m. - 1 p.m., GD HS 08 | This lecture examines how Ukraine is redefining the foundations of its financial system in response to the infrastructural collapse triggered by Russia’s full-scale invasion. Amid destroyed bank branches, cash shortages, institutional dislocation, and limited access to international finance, Ukraine is developing a digital financial architecture - spanning government service platforms, stablecoins, and blockchain-based tools - that helps to maintain the continuity of core monetary and financial functions. The lecture explores both the short-term role of these instruments during wartime disruption and their potential to transform Ukraine’s financial infrastructure in the long term. | Find the Zoom link in the event description.

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Book presentation: Freiheitssschauplatz. Ein Gesellschaftsportrait der Ukraine

Registration required | Event language: German | Monday, 4:00 - 5:30 p.m., Berlin, Zentrum Liberale Moderne in cooperation with KIU – Competence Network Interdisciplinary Ukrainian Studies Frankfurt (Oder)–Berlin | Three revolutions in three decades, a vibrant civil society and the epitome of resilience – Ukrainian society is as impressive and diverse as it is largely unknown in Germany. Who are the Ukrainians, how do they see themselves and their country in Europe? How have the revolutions, the upheavals of the 1990s and the developments since the Maidan shaped Ukrainian society? What significance do Europeanisation and the decades-long conflict with Russia have for Ukrainian society? In the book ‘Freiheitsschauplatz’ (Freedom Arena), German and Ukrainian experts provide comprehensive insights into Ukrainian society – from political structures and processes such as rapprochement with the EU, the development of the economy and social policy, social dynamics such as democracy, gender issues and migration, to topics such as civil society, culture and the culture of remembrance. The book thus contributes to a better understanding of Ukrainian society, its historical development, its fractures and conflicts, and its resilience. In a conversation with journalist Gesine Dornblüth (texte + toene), editor Susann Worschech and one of the anthology's authors, Garry Polushkin, explain why our knowledge of Ukrainian society is so limited and why it is worthwhile and exciting to take a closer look at it.

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Facts and Findings: KIU Sur Place fellows present their research (online-event)

SAVE THE DATE & REGISTRATION OPEN Part 1: Wednesday, 5 November 2025, 9.30 am to 11.30 am (surplace fellows 2024-2025) Part 2: Wednesday, 5 November 2025, 1.30 pm to 3 pm (surplace fellows 2025) What do memory studies, food security, higher education, political preferences, and history have in common, to name just a few? They are all part of the diverse research conducted by this year’s KIU Sur Place fellows working from Ukraine. At our upcoming event, they will present findings from their scholarship period (Oct 2024–Jun 2025) and share the new questions and perspectives that emerge from their work. In the second part of the event our current KIU surplace fellows (Sep 2025-Dec 2025) will present their ongoing KIU research-projects. The event is open to previous, current and incoming KIU fellows, KIU alumni network, KIU allies, researchers connected to the KIU as well as everyone interested in the topics. Please feel free to to share the information about the event with probably interested collegueas, institutions and organisations. Registration open until Monday, 3 November 2025:

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Dmytro Goncharenko: ‘Sonic Resistance - Experimental Music and Cultural Activism in Wartime Ukraine’

Hybrid format | TUESDAY, 11 a.m. - 1 p.m., GD HS 08 | This talk explores how experimental and avant-garde music communities in Ukraine and the Ukrainian diaspora mobilize sonic practices as forms of cultural resistance during the Russian full-scale invasion. Drawing on cultural and sound studies, it examines how soundscapes, performances, and transnational collaborations create alternative publics and foster solidarity. The lecture highlights the role of sonic activism in challenging colonial narratives, sustaining resilience, and reimagining cultural agency under conditions of War. | Find the Zoom link in the event description.

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KIU Recommends: Panel discussion "War, Art, Religion"

4 November 2025, 6 pm, Panel discussion "War, Art, Religion", Magistrale Kunsthalle (Lenné-Passagen, 2nd floor, Karl-Marx-Straße 192, Frankfurt (Oder)) The panel discussion will address the impact of the Russian war against Ukraine. KIU phd student and art historian Anna Petrova, who has curated exhibitions in Odessa and Berlin, will explore how artists and museums are responding to the war. Also participating is protestant pastor Wolfgang Krautmacher from Lieberose, who has visited Ukraine several times since 2022 and established contacts with protestant congregations. He will reflect on the changes in faith and religious practice brought about by the war. In front of the exhibited paintings by Ukrainian icon painter Danylo Movchan, they will also discuss the danger of art and religion being appropriated for propaganda purposes. The exhibition "Echo Chambers of War: Danylo Movchan and Contemporary Positions" is on display until November 21. Opening hours, every Thursday and Friday 2-7pm and Saturday 12-4 pm. Organized by ukrainian and german allies together with René Pachmann, der Kulturkoordinatorin der Europa-Universität Viadrina, Constance Krüger, und dem Verein Helping Hands Blaue Brücke e.V.

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Introducing Guest Lecturer Prof. Oleh Nivievskyi

In the winter term 2025-26, our second KIU guest lecturer, Prof. Oleh Nivievskyi from our partner university Kyiv School of Economics, will teach three courses focusing our semester topic; Infrastructural fragmentation, infrastructural resilience - Interdisciplinary perspectives on techno-politics and crisis. Prof. Nivievskyi is a economist and specialised in Agricultural Economics and Applied Statistics. He worked as an economic policy advisor with the World Bank Group’s Reforming Investment Climate project in Ukraine and contributed to projects of other international agencies, having more than 20 years of international experience in applied research in agri-food products and factor markets and value chains, as well as in agri-food and regulatory policy impact. Oleh contributed to several major reforms in Ukraine, including a comprehensive farmland market reform and opening of the farmland market in 2021. In 2020, he founded the Center for Food and Land Use Research at Kyiv School of Economics, where he was also Dean of the Faculty of Graduate Economics Studies. He is interested in political economy and performance of local governance in Ukraine, EU integration, conflicts’ impact and post-war rebuilding and recovery, as well as in transport services pricing and policy.

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Fellowships and Programmes

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Fellowships

The KIU Research Fellowship in Interdisciplinary Ukrainian Studies supports innovative and significant research on topics related to Ukraine.

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Programmes

The KIU Competence Network Interdisciplinary Ukrainian Studies Frankfurt (Oder) – Berlin offers various programmes. Among them is its first Summer School on "War in Ukraine: Destruction of heritage – mastering legacy".

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Partners

Funded by

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with funds from the Federal Foreign Office (AA)