The Portsmouth-Odessa PhD bursary will allow a Masters student in Ukraine to come to Portsmouth to continue their research studies.
Today is the one-year anniversary since the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Through its partnership agreement with Odessa Polytechnic National University in Ukraine, the University of Portsmouth has agreed to provide funding for a Masters student at Odessa to start a fully-funded PhD at Portsmouth.
The Portsmouth-Odessa PhD bursary will allow the student to come to Portsmouth to continue their research studies.
Professor Graham Galbraith, Vice-Chancellor of the University of Portsmouth said: “I am extremely proud that we can make a positive difference during this humanitarian crisis.
“Our support for staff and students at Odessa is an important part of our mission to use teaching and research for global good and will further strengthen our ongoing relationship with our partners in Ukraine.”
The University’s agreement with Odessa Polytechnic National University is aimed at creating a long-term partnership, with the initial focus on identifying ways the University can support its Ukrainian partner during the current Russian conflict. The agreement is part of the university sector’s #TwinForHope initiative.
The partnership provides a support framework for both institutions to work together, as well as a range of academic collaboration activities. Areas of activity of mutual interest include support to Odessa’s academics and students, development of online materials, research groups and providing equipment.
I am extremely proud that we can make a positive difference during this humanitarian crisis.
Our support for staff and students at Odessa is an important part of our mission to use teaching and research for global good and will further strengthen our ongoing relationship with our partners in Ukraine.
To further support researchers around the world who are at risk, the University is also allocating £80,000 of funding per year through the Council for At-Risk Academics (Cara), which helps academics in danger to escape to a safe place where they can continue their work.
The University will work with the UK-based charity Cara to offer two fully-funded fellowships, providing sanctuary for the scholars and their families for two years.
The funding will be open to academics across the world, who are at risk in conflict-affected areas and fragile states. The University’s Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences has signed an agreement with Cara and recently welcomed its first academic at risk.
The newly announced package of support builds on the University’s ongoing commitment to helping academics in danger who need and deserve support. It has previously worked with Scholars at Risk, a US-based international network of academic institutions that protects threatened scholars and promotes academic freedom.
The University also offers a Sanctuary Scholarship to undergraduate students seeking asylum that covers all of their tuition fees and provides ongoing personal and financial support during their course. So far, there have been two Sanctuary Scholars since 2021.