University of Birmingham: EUniWell welcomes Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv
EUniWell, the European University for Well-Being, is pleased to welcome a new member from Ukraine to the Alliance: Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv (KNU). KNU and the EUniWell partners will use their combined strengths to improve the well-being of individuals, communities and societies in Europe and beyond, through international exchange, innovative education and excellent research.
KNU is a highly distinguished institution. With a long tradition of achievements and successes in both teaching and research, it is a leading academic and educational centre in Ukraine. In this present crisis, the university is faced with new challenges and tasks.”
EUniWell Chief Development Officer Professor Beatrix Busse
On behalf of the Steering Committee of the EUniWell Alliance, EUniWell Chief Development Officer Professor Beatrix Busse welcomed KNU, saying: “KNU is a highly distinguished institution. With a long tradition of achievements and successes in both teaching and research, it is a leading academic and educational centre in Ukraine. In this present crisis, the university is faced with new challenges and tasks. Peace, democracy and freedom of research and teaching form the basis of our scientific activities within EUniWell. It is therefore a particularly meaningful step towards upholding these values that KNU is becoming part of EUniWell at this time.”
EUniWell Chief Student Officer Lotte Nagelhout comments: “EUniWell first established a relationship with KNU in Spring 2022 in response to the war in Ukraine, with students from both EUniWell and KNU taking a central role in the collaborative efforts. Against the backdrop of this crisis, which has led to the international displacement of more than five million people and severely affected higher education in Ukraine, it is more important than ever to come together across borders to support, create and expand common European educational and research opportunities.”
Professor Volodymyr Bugrov, Rector of KNU, emphasises the importance of the cooperation for both parties: “Membership in the EUniWell Alliance for our University is a symbolic event that should contribute to development and institutional cooperation. This is a reasoned choice, the key factor of which was the philosophy of the Alliance. Educational and scientific partnership for the achievement of well-being and the goals of sustainable development will truly realise the classical nature of KNU. Membership in the Alliance is a new, innovative experience for KNU, as well as a new responsibility. And, after the accession of KNU, both our University and the Alliance will be strengthened and must rise to the challenge together.”
Founded in 1834, today Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv is Ukraine’s largest national higher education institution and recognised as one of its most prestigious. KNU has the highest research paper output of any Ukrainian university, and is also the country’s top research producer (as assessed by total paper citation count).
Located in the Kyiv metropolitan area, KNU encompasses 12 faculties, 11 Institutes, 2 Colleges and a Lyceum, as well as a number of other facilities, including: a Ukrainian Studies Centre, Language Centre, a Botanical Garden, Kaniv Natural Reserve with an area of more than 2000 acres, a Geological and Zoological Museum, an Astronomical Observatory, Radiation Safety Centre, and the Maksymovych Academic Library, which currently holds more than 3 million documents in its inventory.
The 188-year-old Ukrainian institution maintains bilateral partnership agreements with more than 300 foreign educational and scientific institutions from 62 countries. As a research-intensive institution with global reach, it will make an important contribution to the EUniWell family, opening up new horizons for EUniWell students and staff.
As the ninth member of the European University for Well-Being, KNU joins the Universities of Birmingham, Cologne, Florence and Murcia, Leiden University, Linnaeus University, Nantes Université, and Semmelweis University.
EUniWell was launched in 2020 in the second pilot phase of the European University Initiative. The Alliance pursues a holistic, knowledge-based and action-oriented approach to well-being, in response to the call of the Council of the European Union to the Member States to promote the ‘Economy of Wellbeing’, a virtuous cycle between society, economy and the environment, leading to greater well-being across those dimensions. The core mission of EUniWell is to understand, improve, measure, and rebalance the well-being of individuals, our own community, and society as a whole based on our joint values – democratic, inclusive, diverse, research and challenge-based, inter- and transdisciplinary, entrepreneurial, and co-creational.
The shared values and opening up of exciting new opportunities between KNU and the existing Alliance partners will enable EUniWell to bring the European Education Area closer together, and to collectively shape a future with a greater focus on well-being for all.