Ukraine digital: Ensuring academic success in times of crisis

The DAAD funding programme 'Ukraine digital' supports German-Ukrainian university cooperations in implementing digital teaching in Ukraine and helps Ukrainian students to continue their studies digitally.

The war against Ukraine has had a devastating impact on the infrastructure of the Ukrainian education and higher education system. Thus, the programme focuses on the fast implementation of virtual courses.

With the funding programme Ukraine digital, the DAAD provided support to German-Ukrainian University Cooperations from june 2022 to june 2025. German higher education institutions were supported to enable their Ukrainian partner institutions in maintaining their study programmes virtually. In this way, students and scientists/researchers in and from Ukraine had the prospect of completing their studies despite the limitations caused by the war.

The funding programme 'Ukraine digital' supports Ukrainian higher education institutions in maintaining, implementing, and offering their virtual courses. Consequently, Ukrainian students have the prospect of completing their studies despite the limitations caused by the war. At the same time, German higher education institutions offer a virtual platform for Ukrainian refugee students so they can continue and complete their current studies in Ukraine virtually.

Involving Ukrainian lecturers of higher education institutions who are in Germany or other European countries enables them to continue teaching virtually at their home institutions. Therefore, lessons can also be held in the national language from abroad.

Among other things, this programme maintains and creates lasting connections that are of fundamental importance for the reconstruction and future German-Ukrainian cooperation between higher education institutions.
- Objective 1: Virtual courses for students are expanded, offered, and used by students of the partnering Ukrainian higher education institutions.
- Objective 2: Lecturers of the partnering Ukrainian higher education institutions, especially those who have fled, are involved in the courses.
- Objective 3: The expertise for further digitalisation of the participating German and Ukrainian higher education institutions and the professionalisation of digital teaching are available and can be used for the development of further (joint) virtual courses.
Factsheet of the programme Ukraine digital 2022-2024

English

German
"It was a very useful program. It helped me to properly structure and deliver lectures and practical assignments to students in distance teaching to make presentations correctly. I gained practical skills in creating digital courses in my disciplines." Cooperation Partner, Kharkiv National Automobile and Highway University

"Being a recipient of the scholarship program has been a transformative experience for me. This program has not only made my dreams of purs[u]ing higher education a reality but has also instilled in me a sense of purpose and responsibility to give back to my community. The financial support provided by the scholarship has relieved the financial burden on my family and allowed me to fully dedicate myself to my studies."

Student, Donetsk National Technical University

"Sincere gratitude to the organizers of the international educational project for the opportunity to join the leading European experience in digital education in such difficult times. The high quality of the technical organization of the educational process, which involves hundreds of teachers and students in the extremely difficult conditions of front-line Kharkiv, deserves special respect. The provision of financial support by German partners made it possible to create a project and spread modern learning methods among Ukrainian youth, who are now forced to live in different countries."

Cooperation partner, V.N. Karazin Kharkiv National University

"[…] Thanks to this programme I expanded my professional network with new opportunities for collaboration and learning from German colleagues, discovered new directions for further elaboration of the cooperation and explore new possibilities. This programme helped me to stay and grow in my professional area despite the fact of moving to Germany. Also staying in Germany, I have more opportunities to establish and develop cooperation between German and Ukrainian HEIs in the field of education and research. […]" Project staff, Hochschule für nachhaltige Entwicklung Eberswalde

„[…] Many of the participants were internal refugees, so supporting students with scholarships ensured their livelihood and allowed them to focus on their studies.“

Project staff, Technische Universität Chemnitz

„Thanks to this program, I was able to concentrate on what I was studying, and also more easily survive the hardships of war. I am very grateful to the partners of our university for the help provided.“

Student, Kherson State Agrarian and Economic University

"The program Ukraine Digital is highly valuable in providing Ukrainian universities with advanced learning tools for online and hybrid education which is crucial in wartime. Especially, it is important for studying disciplines that include many practical/lab classes. It also activates collaboration between German and Ukrainian universities, which is useful for the development of intercultural competencies of both of them. It is an important predisposition for rebuilding Ukrainian higher education in the after-war period." Cooperation partner, Dnipro State Medical University
- Funded Ukraine digital projects 2024 (document only available in German)
- Project profiles of the funded Ukraine digital projects 2024 (document only available in German)
- Funded Ukraine digital projects 2023 (document only available in German)
- Project profiles of the funded Ukraine digital projects 2023 (document only available in German)
- Funded Ukraine digital projects 2022 (document only available in German)
As part of the funding programme ‘University projects for the digital maintenance of teaching at Ukrainian universities’, five projects will be funded by the 'Harald Christ Stiftung für Demokratie und Vielfalt' and the ZEIT publishing group from January to December 2025. Building on the funding provided in the ‘Ukraine digital’ programme since 2022, German-Ukrainian university cooperation projects that maintain and further develop digital teaching at Ukrainian universities across disciplines will be funded.

Further information on the funding can be found in this DAAD press release (only available in German). Our sincere thanks go to the sponsors for their support of the projects.

Information on the funded projects can be found in this list and in the collected project profiles (both documents only available in German).

Background

Programme Objectives

Programme Outcomes

Project Insights

Funded Projects

Additional Funding