University of Bayreuth, Statement 24 February 2022

Statement of the University of Bayreuth on Russia's invasion of Ukraine

"The University of Bayreuth is dismayed by the Russian Federation's war of aggression on the Ukraine, which is contrary to international law. This action contradicts all the principles of peace, freedom, cosmopoltanism, tolerance, and the international understanding of the world we as the University of Bayreuth represent. We are concerned for the well-being and lives of the Ukrainian people, and we stand in solidarity with them. Our thoughts are especially with our Ukrainian students and the academics of our Ukrainian partner universities (Yurii Fedkovych Chernivtsi National University, National Ivan Franko University Lviv, Lviv Polytechnic National University, and Ukrainian Catholic University). Hopefully, there will be an end to this senseless bloodshed very soon, and a return to peaceful negotiations and non-violent conflict resolution."

The University of Bayreuth currently has four partner universities in Ukraine: There is a Memorandum of Understanding with Yurii Fedkovych Chernivtsi National University and Lviv Polytechnic National University as well as with the National Ivan Franco University in Lviv. With the Ukrainian Catholic University (UCU), we have an MoU, an Agreement on Faculty Exchange and an Agreement on Student Exchange, which means that formal exchange opportunities have also been agreed. In addition, an ERASMUS+ funded project between the UCU and the UBT "Mobility with Partner Countries" is currently running.

There are several projects, too: Erasmus+ project "UTTERLY" is coordinated at the UBT's Center for Continuing Education in Higher Education, which aims to establish uniform competence standards and certification processes for the continuing education of university teachers as well as "Centers of Teaching Excellence" at eight Ukrainian partner universities. In addition, Bayreuth researchers are coordinating the "Learnopolis+" project of the DAAD and the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research. The University of Bayreuth, the National Ivan Franco University in Lviv, the National Vasyl Stus University in Donetsk and the National Pedagogical University in Ternopil are jointly developing Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) for the continuing education of university teachers on the topics of "International Cooperation", "Inclusion" and "Media Production in Foreign Language Teaching".

Statement of the University of Bayreuth on Russia's invasion of Ukraine

Anja-Maria MeisterPR Spokesperson University of Bayreuth

Anja-Maria Meister
PR Spokesperson University of Bayreuth