In the wake of the full-scale unprovoked war aggression in Europe in 2022, the educational landscape has been significantly altered, necessitating adjustments in many plans. Despite these challenges, it remains vital for the Ukrainian higher education sector to maintain its resilience and continue its development.
The main objective of the research project was to study the strategies of integrating and strengthening the endeavors within the regional university communities in building a culture of social responsibility while ensuring academic engagement and support of doctoral candidates at risk and synchronizing these practices with European policies and standards.
The project manager is Dr. Olha Fast (Ass. Prof.), Vice-Rector for Research, Teaching and International Relations, Municipal Higher Educational Institution “Lutsk Pedagogical College” of the Volyn Regional Council. Mykhailo Dudai is a project team member as a doctoral student and Early-Career Researchers Council representative.
The project was focused on searching for suitable solutions for gaps in doctoral education capacity strengthening at institutional and national levels in Ukraine, primarily due to underestimating its societal dimensions, and on synchronizing the Ukrainian practices with European policies and standards, including helpful initiatives in integrating resilience and sustainability into its academic, research and engagement activities; creating an inclusive and welcoming culture within academia that encourages respect, support, and mentorship.
Through the project, we have established connections with various European partner universities, such as the Department of Physical Culture at the Academy of Physical Education and Sport by Jedrzej Sniadecki in Gdansk (Poland), and the Department of East European Studies at the Faculty of Arts at Charles University (Czech Republic). We have also established contacts with regional universities in Ukraine, including the Laboratory of Academic Culture of a Researcher at Sumy Makarenko State University (prof. Olena Semenoh). These connections have allowed us to develop three interdisciplinary educational courses: “European Standards of High-Quality Disciplinary Research”, “Quality of Supervision: Negotiation and Ethics in the Doctoral Journey”, “Institutional Support of Doctoral Candidates’ Research Capacity: EU Approaches and Trends”.
The implementation of the proposed educational courses aims to achieve the following short-term effects: to ensure Ukrainian PhD students’ belonging and research engagement, return to stability, and help to alleviate psychological anxiety; to advance doctoral students’ research competencies in line with ethical and methodological standards; to minimize the risks of doctoral student attrition; to activate faculty and peer mentorship and professional networking within the academia regarding doctoral students at risk diversity; to diversify the institutional strategies of doctoral students’ academic and researcher identity development in war and post-war circumstances.
The Dissemination activities include:
- guest lectures (February-March 2024), Dr. Fast, Prof. Semenog;
- webinars launching (Webinars “Academic and Researcher Identities: Addressing War & Post-War Time Barriers”, “Overcoming Isolation: Doctoral Students’ Wartime Experiences and Dilemmas”, “Quality of Supervision: Negotiation and Ethics in the Doctoral Journey”, “Improving Research through Well-Being and Engagement”) (February-May 2024), Dr. Fast, Prof. Semenog, Dr. Kapranov, M. Dudai.
- Plenary session of the II International Scientific-Practical Conference on CURRENT ISSUES OF INTERCULTURAL COMMUNICATION at Lutsk National Technical University (Lutsk, Ukraine) – Dr. Olha Fast («Doctoral Students at Risk Academic and Professional Support: Doctoral Education Quality Management Issues»), 10 April 2024.
- panel discussions (“Institutional Support of Doctoral Candidates’ Research Capacity: EU Approaches and Trends”) (May 2024) Dr. Fast, Prof. Semenog, Dr. Kapranov.
