Supporting Ukrainian research

The European Social Survey European Research Infrastructure Consortium (ESS ERIC) has implemented several measures to support higher education and research in Ukraine.

It was unanimously agreed by the ESS ERIC General Assembly last month that Ukraine will be invited to participate as a Guest country in the next three rounds of our survey for no fee.

Each country usually funds their own participation based on a formula that considers the country’s gross domestic product (GDP), but this fee will be waived for Ukraine in rounds 11, 12 and 13.

Each participating country sends a national representative to the ESS ERIC General Assembly, which meets twice a year to discuss operational matters.

At the 21st meeting of the General Assembly in The Netherlands last month, a working group of national representatives was established to discuss how to support the Ukrainian national team – and Ukrainian research – further.

As well as these new measures of support, ESS host institute City, University of London recently announced the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding with the Kyiv School of Economics (KSE).

The agreement makes City one of a growing coalition of higher education partners across the world showing solidarity and extending practical support to help Ukraine overcome the devastating consequences of war.

Researchers at the Kyiv School of Economics form part of our Ukrainian national team, and the institute is a member of the Ukrainian Global University which represents a range of institutions.

The Ukrainian Global University was launched in collaboration with the Office of the President of Ukraine and is endorsed by the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine.

The coalition aims to rebuild Ukraine’s education system by supporting university students, scholars and tutors through scholarships, fellowships and postgraduate programmes.

The wide-ranging agreement is expected to lead to more specific collaboration in the areas of education, research and exchange between City and KSE in the months and years ahead.

Professor Rory Fitzgerald, Director of the ESS ERIC, said:

“We are very pleased that the European Social Survey General Assembly and host institution, City, University of London, have shown their solidarity and support to Ukrainian-based researchers.

“Over the past three months we have been horrified by the images of war in Europe and offering our national team free participation to the survey is the least we can do.

“Ukraine participated in Round 10 of our survey as a related study, and the team has been working incredibly hard to secure funding for participation in Round 11.

“We are so grateful to their efforts and hope to offer more support once the working group has discussed this further.”

ESS National Coordinator, Tymofii Brik, KSE, added:

“Kyiv School of Economics is working on many projects to rebuild Ukrainian society and economy. We believe that universities should be the central agents of change. Universities produce knowledge and address most critical issues in Ukraine and beyond (inequalities, climate change, food security, global security, the future of democracy).

“With support of the City, University of London, we aim to advance research and education in Ukraine and build truly leading intellectual centres. To this end, the European Social Survey is a source of crucial and unique data which can shed light and lead us in making complicated policy choices and put Ukraine in the comparative perspective.

“I remember how happy and thrilled I was working with the ESS project in Ukraine in 2008 as a student assistant. I am honoured and humbled to be a national coordinator of the ESS now, working together with my scientific advisor Dr. Andrii Gorbachyk and the international ESS family.”

ESS National Coordinator, Andrii Gorbachyk, Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv, said:

“Ukraine has been participating in the ESS project since 2004. For us, Ukrainian social researchers, it is important to be able to cooperate with a professional team of researchers from different European countries.

“ESS data has always been a source of objective and reliable information about Ukraine in the context of data about modern Europe. We are grateful for the support and the opportunity to cooperate with the ESS project in the next three rounds. For us, it is very important.”