UKRAINETT+ is a three-year network project funded by the Research Council of Norway for the period 2024 – 2026. The project is devoted to strengthening research cooperation between Norway and Ukraine and dissemination of research-based knowledge on Ukraine to stakeholders and the general public. UKRAINETT+ continues and expands the scope of UKRAINETT – the already established cross-disciplinary Norwegian network for research on Ukraine – by establishing a network branch in Ukraine. Ukrainian research institutions that have formerly or are currently cooperating with Norwegian institutions are welcome to join the Ukrainian network branch – the “+” component of the network. As of now 16 Ukrainian institutions take part in the Ukrainian network branch. With the ongoing war in Ukraine, the Ukrainian state and society are confronted with formidable challenges. In this situation UKRAINETT+ aims to contribute to an informed society in and outside of Ukraine and to a knowledge-based reconstruction of Ukraine, during and after the war.
The objectives of UKRAINETT+ are:
- to strengthen the Ukrainian academic and research sector, enabling their vital role in the rebuilding of Ukraine.
- to disseminate research-based knowledge about Ukrainian society, politics and culture to Norwegian policymakers, public administration, business and civil society engaged in Ukraine, as well as to media and the general public.
- to foster collaboration between Norwegian and Ukrainian educational and research institutions, e.g. by securing project funding from national and international funding agencies.
- to disseminate results of policy-relevant Norwegian research on Ukraine to key stakeholders in Ukraine.
- to provide an arena for Ukrainian researchers in Norway who have fled the war to engage in academic networking with Norwegian colleagues.
The project consists of five work packages:
WP1 Day-to day coordination of UKRAINETT and dissemination activities in Norway
WP leader Marthe Handå Myhre, NIBR, OsloMet
This WP consists of the day-to-day coordination of the network and the organisation of a set of activities in Norway. It includes maintenance of the network webpage and a Facebook page with updates and information about network activities. The webpage aims to become a knowledge hub for everyone interested in Ukraine with information about network members, publications, and activities. The coordinating team will publish this newsletter – UKRAINETT News – four times a year in English with updates on coming and past activities, publications and other relevant information. It will also facilitate a minimum of 3 – 4 hybrid or digital seminars a year with dissemination of research from Norwegian, Ukrainian and potentially other international scholars. A UKRAINETT+ podcast to be launched in autumn 2024 is planned as an additional dissemination platform for the network.
WP2 Annual UKRAINETT+ conferences
WP leader: Olga Iermolenko, Nord Universitet
Three two-day academic research conferences with participation from both Norway and Ukraine are planned during the project period. The first conference will be held at Nord University in Bodø in September 2024 (See more information below). The second conference will be held at the University of Bergen and the third at Oslo Metropolitan University. The conferences will be open to all members of UKRAINETT and representatives of the Ukrainian partner organizations/scholars, and funding will be allocated for travel expenses to a set number of Ukrainian researchers who are able to leave Ukraine, and to Ukrainian refugee scholars in Norway without institutional support. In order to reach network members who are not able to leave Ukraine (or do not have funds for internal travel in Norway), the conferences will be organised in a hybrid format. Each of the conferences will include keynotes open to a wider public.
WP3 UKRAINETT+ Activities in Ukraine
WP leader: Oleksandra Deineko, NIBR, OsloMet
This WP involves the creation and daily management of a Ukrainian network branch comprising research institutions and individual scholars in Ukraine. Its core objective is to facilitate a range of collaborative research initiatives together with Norwegian scholars and to effectively disseminate within Ukraine the research outcomes derived from these partnerships. To ensure effective coordination, two prominent institutions on the Ukrainian side have been designated as formal partners within the project, each with allocated funding for specific responsibilities. V. N. Karazin Kharkiv National University, referred to hereafter as Kharkiv University, will serve as the coordinating institution on the Ukrainian side. Additionally, the Dnipro-based Sociological Company “Operatyvna Sotsiolohiya”, with extensive experience with research dissemination on various platforms to different target groups, will be entrusted with specific outreach tasks, including the production of a UKRAINETT+ podcast in Ukrainian and organising press conferences in Ukraine.
The UKRAINETT Steering group members have nominated partners for the network based on their extensive prior collaborations. These institutions have already expressed their commitment to forming a core group of collaborating partners on the Ukrainian side. Individual researchers and other Ukrainian institutions that wish to actively contribute to and benefit from the network’s activities will be welcomed.
WP4 Support to initiatives for joint project applications
WP leader: Ingunn Lunde, University of Bergen
This work package seeks to stimulate the development of joint Norwegian-Ukrainian project proposals to national and international funding agencies by providing small-scale funding for preparing such proposals. Applications for such small-scale grants will be sent to the UKRAINETT Steering group, which will decide on the allocations. The University of Bergen is responsible for disseminating information about the funding opportunities, preparing the list of potential candidates for seed funding, chairing the discussions on funding at the Steering group meetings, and following up on practical issues with seed funding recipients.
7 applications for seed funding were received within the deadline of the first call, which was 1 June 2024. The applications are currently undergoing per review before a final decision will be made by the UKRAINETT Steering group.
WP5 Round tables with policy makers
WP leader: Geir Flikke, University of Oslo
One of the aims of UKRAINETT+ is to provide Norwegian decision makers with research-based information about Ukraine. This WP consists of a series of round tables with representatives from ministries, Norad and other stakeholders engaged in Ukraine’s rebuilding efforts. Such roundtables will be organized every 6 months during the project period. Stakeholders will be invited to suggest relevant topics. The University of Oslo will be responsible for organizing the roundtables, which will take place physically at the university in hybrid format. The first roundtable will take place in August 2024.