The twinning initiative was launched in March 2022, following the invasion of Ukraine by Russia, to support the Ukrainian Higher Education (HE) sector. It is coordinated by the Cormack Consultancy Group, with support from Universities UK International, the President’s Fund of Ukraine for Education, Science, and Sports, and the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine.

Newcastle University has signed a five-year agreement with the National University of Water and Environmental Engineering (NUWEE), Rivne to aiming to support long-term research and educational collaboration.

To mark the two-year anniversary of twinning with Ukrainian universities, University of Liverpool hosted a Twinning showcase and academic networking event. Newcastle University delegation presented the activities coordinated by the Centre for Water and the International Office.

Through this partnership, Newcastle University has provided support to NUWEE during this very challenging period in several impactful ways. These include organizing a Summer School for Ukrainian academics and students as part of the successful UUKi R&I grant, sharing our extensive electronic library resources by granting NUWEE academics guest researcher status, facilitating exchange students to spend a semester in Newcastle, and offering English peer-assisted learning for Ukrainian students and staff.

Participants at the showcase reported common challenges in sustaining long-term support for the twinning initiatives, attributed to the difficult funding landscape. They committed to collaborate on future grant applications. At the Liverpool meeting, a UK academic mentoring scheme for Ukrainian academics was introduced. Newcastle University staff are encouraged to participate as volunteers.

Twinning partnerships

Dr Dana Ofiteru, Senior Lecturer at Newcastle University's School of Engineering and the academic lead for NU-NUWEE partnership, said “We are committed to developing our relationship with NUWEE and supporting our Ukrainian colleagues during these difficult times. At the meeting in Liverpool, it was reassuring to hear about the experiences of other twinning partnerships across the UK. Everyone is facing the same challenges, and we discussed joining forces to secure more external research funding. We are encouraging our colleagues at Newcastle to get in touch if they want to contribute to the twinning partnership.”

Looking forward, through the newly secured Global Partnership Fund, a group of eight NUWEE academics will participate in a hands-on training workshop on water quality and hydrology monitoring based on the world recognised lab in a suitcase developed by Prof David Werner and his team. The workshop will focus on bringing portable and affordable methods for water quality testing to those affected by war and related damages to water supply, wastewater treatment and conventional laboratory infrastructures. NUWEE staff will also be actively involved in training WIRe CDT PhD student during the Challenge Week to take place in July ’24, sharing their experience and expertise.

If you have suggestions for further twinning activities with NUWEE and you would like to get involved in this strategic partnership of the University, please contact Dimitra Boutsioukis (dimitra.boutsioukis@newcastle.ac.uk), Senior International Mobility Manager, or Dr Dana Ofiteru (dana.ofiteru@ncl.ac.uk), Academic Lead for NU-NUWEE partnership.