That was final event within the IV Stage of I Cycle of the Project “Polish-Ukrainian cooperation of representative organizations of rectors – to improve the activities of higher education institutions”, which is implemented in 2018 by Warsaw University of Technology with the financial support of the Polish Ministry of Science and Higher Education under the auspices of the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine.
The project partners are the Conference of Rectors of Academic Schools in Poland (KRASP) and the Union of Rectors of Higher Education Institutions of Ukraine, the Polish Rectors Foundation (PRF), who signed a tripartite agreement.
The conference was held in a mixed form (online and offline) in Polish with simultaneous translation into Ukrainian. About 40 rectors from Ukraine and Poland gathered in the Senate Hall of the Warsaw University of Technology, invited guests – officials of both participating countries, representative institutions of higher education and science.
The first session was moderated by the Rector of Warsaw University of Technology, Professor, PhD Krzysztof Zaremba. Own reports and interesting speeches were presented by Deputy Minister of Education and Science of Ukraine Oleksii Shkuratov; Honorary President of the Conference of Rectors of Academic Schools in Poland, Rector of Warsaw University of Technology in 2021-2020, Professor, PhD Jan Schmidt; as well as President of the Polish Rectors Foundation, Project Leader, Professor, PhD Jerzy Woźnicki.
“Let me express my gratitude for the invitation to take part in the Ukrainian-Polish forum. I want to emphasize that we can be effective to both parties, as the result of the project, which was implemented in Ukraine for several years, was the establishment of long-term cooperation of our rectors’ union with Polish colleagues. I would like to express special gratitude to the Union of Rectors of Polish Higher Education Institutions, the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine, the Polish Rectors Foundation, especially the Rector of Warsaw University of Technology.
We highly value and respect the experience as well as prestige of Polish universities in the European educational space. Deliberations on key areas of cooperation with higher education institutions of our countries, exchange of views and experiences during the project, further implementation of its results will contribute to the effective operation of higher education institutions in Ukraine.
In our opinion, an important manifestation of the project effectiveness is the adoption of three joint resolutions, which indicates a high level of work performed.
I would like to express my hope that the cooperation between the rectors of higher education institutions of Ukraine as well as the Association of Academic Schools of Poland, and the Polish Rectors Foundation will remain one of the priorities of Ukrainian higher education institutions with Polish higher education institutions activities.
I am convinced that today’s forum of rectors is another important page in the life of our countries, a step towards the implementation of new projects and plans,” – speaking on behalf of the delegation of Ukrainian rectors, said the Chairman of the program session – Head of the NGO “Union of Rectors of Higher Education Institutions of Ukraine”, Rector of The Kyiv National University of Construction and Architecture, Professor Petro Kulikov.
Rector of Poltava Polytechnic, Professor Volodymyr Onyshchenko took part in the conference online. At the end of September, during the Polish-Ukrainian Rectors’ Seminar in Odessa, which took place within the framework of the Project, he presented the successful experience of cooperation with Polish universities and the policy of supporting young scientists.
“Systematic cooperation between Polish and Ukrainian universities began 5 years ago with the Polish-Ukrainian scientific conference “Classical University in the context of the challenges of the era”. The project showed a successful and unique example of bilateral cooperation at the level of key national stakeholders. Academic diplomacy has taken our partnership to a new level and it is difficult to overestimate the importance of sharing the experience of leading universities. Within the project many expert events were held, including a seminar and rector’s discussion on ratings in university development strategy in October 2019; a series of webinars “School of Strategic Management in Higher Education” for rectors and vice-rectors of higher education institutions of Ukraine in October-November last year; joint scientific conferences and visits of delegations. The scientific approach in the adjustment of educational policies allowed us to thoroughly investigate existing practices and develop recommendations to the Ministers and rectors of both countries, enshrined in joint resolutions,” – said Rector Volodymyr Onyshchenko.
Practical cases were presented during the reporting session by the program coordinator of the project, Warsaw University of Technology scientist, PhD Iryna Dehtiarova in the report “Polish-Ukrainian cooperation of representative organizations of rectors – to improve the activities of higher education institutions; results and key achievements of the Project in 2018-2021”.
During the Forum, participants summed up four years of cooperation of national conferences of rectors in the project, presented a detailed thematic report for 2018-2021, final monograph published in Polish and Ukrainian, as well as key conclusions and results of researches. The researches directly concerned the financing of higher education, rankings in the development strategies of higher education institutions, university statutes, and doctoral schools in Poland. In addition, the rectors discussed suggestions and directions for future cooperation of rectors’ conferences within the II Cycle of the Polish-Ukrainian project for 2021-2024.
At the end of the program session, the signing ceremony of Annex 2 to the tripartite agreement of November 14, 2017 took place.
Within the framework of the project Poltava Polytechnic actively cooperated with the Polish scientific community. In 2019, Polish scientists were invited to the Regional Summit on Economic Diplomacy to strengthen cooperation between business, science and local self-governments. At this conference Poltava Polytechnic represented Poltava region. Lecturers of the Polytechnic actively participated in the activities of scientific diplomacy – the inaugurations of the academic year at leading Polish universities.
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