Nine student teams from the universities of Kyiv, Kharkiv, Ternopil, Lviv, Sumy, and Bila Tserkva took part in the International Cooperation in Research and Innovation bootcamp, which took place at Igor Sikorsky Kyiv Polytechnic Institute on April 25-28. For four days, these teams, within the framework of the Swedish Institute's project "RESCUU" (Resilience of Education: Sustainability and Cooperation for Ukrainian Universities) project, these teams learned methods of effective international communication in the field of research and innovation and, at the same time, worked on preparing their own grant applications in the area of Inclusion. And then an international jury, which included experts from Poland, Sweden, and Finland, evaluated their work and selected the three best projects. That is, the end of this spring school was the competition of the final works of its "students".
The RESCUU project aims to promote the resilience of Ukraine's educational institutions during the war and to support Ukrainian teachers, students, and researchers who have remained working or studying at Ukrainian universities. And, of course, to prepare them for active participation in the post-war reconstruction of the country. In Ukraine, the program is being implemented by Igor Sikorsky Kyiv Polytechnic Institute in cooperation with Uppsala University (Sweden), Poznan University of Technology (Poland), Kyiv-Mohyla Academy, and Abo Academy University (Finland). The project will run from January 2023 to June 2024, and the organizational management of the partner universities is carried out by the Coordination Secretariat of Uppsala University.
One of the points provided for by the RESCUU program is the organization of boot camps, that is, several-day intensive training sessions on international cooperation in research and innovation for students and young scientists. In Igor Sikorsky Kyiv Polytechnic Institute, the training within this educational and training camp was conducted in a full-time and remote mode. And it was organized by the KPI Student Parliament with the assistance and active support of two departments – DNVR and DMS.
"New knowledge in the field of international cooperation, teamwork, inclusion and other practices that the bootcamp participants will join will help them to work successfully in research and innovative project teams in the future and will contribute to their career growth," said Vice-Rector for International Relations, Corresponding Member of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine Serhii Sydorenko, welcoming the participants of the bootcamp.
The program of the intensive school was extremely intense: expert reports, workshops and trainings on their topics, teams working with mentors to prepare project applications, and on the last day of the bootcamp - their public presentation. Of course, an element of competition added to the excitement, as the jury determined the best of the submitted projects, and the winning team received the main prize - a trip to participate in the International Student Conference on Sustainable Development Challenges in the Baltic States Due to the War in Ukraine, which will take place next September at the Poznan University of Technology (Poland). It is not surprising that the participants were waiting for the announcement of the results of this competition with particular excitement. And, as it turned out, not in vain. "We decided that not just one winning team would go to the conference in Poznan, but the teams that took first, second, and third places," said Natalia Seminska, Vice-Rector for Educational Work of KPI, to applause, before announcing the winners. They were the team of Igor Sikorsky Kyiv Polytechnic Institute with a project to create a virtual inclusive educational environment (first place), the team of Bila Tserkva Agrarian University with a project to help internally displaced persons (second place), and the team of Western Ukrainian National University (Ternopil) with a project to create an inclusive environment for students (third place). Members of the winning teams also received small prizes from the organizers and certificates of participation. In fact, representatives of all the universities that came to Kyiv for these four days received certificates of participation in this bootcamp. But the most important thing that all the participants returned to their universities with was the knowledge and skills they had acquired.
"Our project involves a combination of online and offline activities to improve the state of inclusion at the university, then in Ukraine, and then, possibly, in the world," said Vyacheslav Oliynyk, the leader of the winning team, a student of the KPI's Educational and Research Institute of Energy Saving and Energy Management. "The essence of this project is to organize training for students, teachers, and curators to the level of mentors who will be able to help people with special needs in their socialization and education.
"In my opinion, it was a great event. For us, it was the first offline event after a long break due to known reasons," shared his impressions Professor Serhii Shukaiev, Head of the Department for Coordination of International Project Activities at the SMS. The skills of preparing international project applications are the tool that will allow our country's universities to move towards integration into the European and global research space. In fact, science and education are realized through international grants. Therefore, such skills are extremely necessary for our youth." He also added that in the fall, Igor Sikorsky Kyiv Polytechnic Institute will host another bootcamp within this project, and it will be dedicated to innovation and startups.
"We tried very hard to prepare this bootcamp," said Yulia Maksymiuk, President of the KPI Student Parliament, "and we have already received a warm feedback (feedback on the work of the team and its individual members - ed.).
Thus, the first bootcamp in Igor Sikorsky Kyiv Polytechnic Institute within the framework of the international project "RESCUU" has taken place. Preparations for the second one are underway.
For reference: The Swedish Institute is a government agency of the Kingdom of Sweden, whose goals include financing joint projects for individuals, organizations, and companies. In this way, the organization builds relationships with young world leaders of tomorrow and promotes global development. The Swedish Institute is funded primarily through state budget allocations.
Final of the bootcamp at KPI
Nine teams from different parts of Ukraine spent four days improving their management skills, learning from the experience of European projects, and working on their projects.
The purpose of the bootcamp is to develop students' skills in implementing international projects.
By a unanimous decision of the jury, the KPI team won the bootcamp with a project of a virtual inclusive educational environment.