Professor Igor Potapov from the University of Liverpool's Department of Computer Science attended the official launch of the Science, Technology and Innovation (STI) Pillar of the UK-Ukraine 100 Year Partnership at the British Academy on 20 May 2025.
As a key contributor to UK-Ukraine academic collaboration, Professor Potapov supported event planning by inviting leading UK academics and presented two posters showcasing the University of Liverpool's three-year partnership with Sumy State University. He previously organised a major UK-Ukraine showcase in Liverpool in March 2025 to promote best practices in research twinning.
The launch, led by Minister Patrick Vallance, marked the introduction of Pillar 8-Science, Technology and Innovation-as part of the UK-Ukraine 100 Year Partnership agreement.
In their speeches, Minister Vallance and Ukrainian Minister of Education and Science, Oksen Lisovyi (both pictured above), praised the resilience and progress of Ukrainian science during wartime, emphasising the potential for mutual learning and the UK's ongoing support for Ukraine's academic sector and recovery.
Three PhD students from Sumy State University-Kateryna Zhuk (dietary changes in wartime Ukraine), Alina Rassokhina (regulation of online media), and Tetiana Perederii (renewable energy development)-who are co-supervised through the University of Liverpool programme, also attended and met with Minister Lisovyi during the event.
Professor Potapov said: "It was a huge honour to attend the STI Pillar launch and connect UK and Ukrainian researchers, businesses, and policymakers. Minister Vallance and Minister Lisovyi spoke movingly about the strength of Ukrainian science under pressure and the need for continued collaboration. I was delighted to be able to showcase our work here at Liverpool to attendees and to the Ministers.
"Opportunities are available to continue supporting partnerships and I encourage University of Liverpool staff to engage with the UK-Ukraine Academic Mentoring Scheme, which matches UK mentors with Ukrainian researchers. More details are available via the UA Digital Hub."
The success of the University's pilot projects has contributed to the national promotion of the LinkUA concept-a bottom-up initiative designed to support high-impact, sustainable research collaborations.
The goal is to build a scalable ecosystem for capacity-building, talent development, and long-term academic engagement between the two countries.
In addition, University of Liverpool alumni Holly Tann and Adam McQuire are also contributing to the partnership by donating educational equipment through the Casus Pax initiative. They recently visited Sumy State University as part of their ongoing work with the Micro:bit Educational Foundation.
Learn more about the University's partnership with Sumy at: Liverpool-Sumy Partnership
