Olga Vakhrina worked for many years at the Department of International Cooperation of Igor Sikorsky Kyiv Polytechnic Institute. Since 2017, she has been an employee of the Office of International Relations at the Poznan University of Technology, one of the largest and most famous Polish technical universities. Her daily responsibilities include providing assistance to foreign students of Poznan University of Technology, organizing Open Days and webinars "How to become a student of Poznan University of Technology", participating in numerous trade fairs, and organizing language courses for qualified candidates.
At the same time, Olha Vakhrina is a true ambassador of KPI and other Ukrainian technical universities in Poland. "Double degree program with Ukrainian universities: National Technical University of Ukraine "Igor Sikorsky Kyiv Polytechnic Institute", Lviv Polytechnic and Ukrainian State University of Railway Transport in Kharkiv is my favorite brainchild," she says. "I have been to all the master's thesis defenses of the program participants and am happy to see their success. The pandemic and the war have limited this program, but I hope to be able to return to it full time soon."
Her achievements in these activities were duly appreciated by the Polish educational community and were recognized with the award "Star of Internationalization - Marketing Star 2024".
This is one of nine awards under the Star of Internationalization award, which was awarded for the seventh time in 2024. The awards are given to people who are successfully engaged in internationalization in recruitment and marketing departments, Polish language schools, as well as outstanding managers, university professors and researchers. The awards in various categories are granted by the Chapter, which consists of representatives of all Polish institutions and organizations involved in the development of international activities in the field of education.
Thus, the mission of the Internationalization Star Award is to select, recognize and promote people with outstanding achievements in the internationalization of Polish universities. "This is an important award, because the work invested in the internationalization of universities often goes unnoticed, but it is of great importance," says Waldemar Siwinski, founder of the Perspektywy Educational Foundation, which initiated the award.
The award was presented to Olha Vakhrina by Maria Mrowczyńska, Deputy State Secretary of the Ministry of Science and Higher Education, during the 17th conference "Foreign Students in Poland" held in Poznan in early February.