The University of Liverpool marked the third anniversary of the UK-Ukraine twinning scheme, including its own collaboration with Sumy State University, at the Research Twinning Showcase and Networking 2025 event last week (27-28 March 2025).
The event, aiming boost scientific links between the UK and Ukraine and promote further academic collaboration, included presentations, poster sessions and working group discussions to explore existing activities and identify potential new collaborative projects.
The University hosted more than 130 participants for the two-day hybrid event held at the School of Law and Social Justice, with presentations from representatives of organisations, foundations and volunteering initiatives alongside various universities involved in the twinning scheme.
The twinning initiative is coordinated by Cormack Consultancy Group with the support of Universities UK International, the President's Fund of Ukraine for Education, Science, and Sports, and the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine.
Vivienne Stern, Chief Executive of Universities UK and Charles Cormack, Director of Cormack Consultancy Group also reflected on the success of the scheme so far in presentations to the attendees.
L-R Dr Tetyana Mayboroda, Deputy Head of International Affairs, Sumy State University, Prof Tariq Ali, Prof Igor Potapov
Professor Igor Potapov, Professor of Computer Science at the University of Liverpool and key voice in the Science for Ukraine initiative said: "I would like to extend my sincere thanks to all participants of the UK-Ukraine Research Twinning Showcase 2025, as well as representatives of organisations supporting scientific collaboration, including UUK, UKRI, Research England, British Council, DSIT, CCG and Springer.
"It is vital to support academic collaboration between the UK and Ukraine and to build sustainable partnerships across many fields. We would like to transfer our successful experience developed by the Science for Ukraine UK team and the University of Liverpool and foster participation across academic sector by launching the LinkUA (Linking Ukrainian Academics) programme.
"We also are inviting UK academics to join our UK-Ukraine Academic Mentoring Programme as mentors to help strengthen our international research community."
Professor Tariq Ali, Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Global Engagement and Partnerships at the University of Liverpool said: "At Liverpool, we are proud of how our partnership with Sumy State University is an example of the power of education to unite, share hope and change people's lives.
"This initiative exemplifies our commitment to global engagement and the cultivation of strategic partnerships that not only address pressing societal challenges but also enrich our collective academic and cultural landscapes."
Since the partnership began, the University of Liverpool and Sumy State have:
