By Richard Stone

In recent months, Serhiy Kvit, Ukraine’s education and science minister, has had the stressful task of overseeing the hurried relocation of 25 science-related institutions, including 11 universities, from separatist-controlled enclaves in eastern Ukraine’s Donetsk and Luhansk regions, or Donbas. The crisis, which began after Russia annexed the Crimean Peninsula last March, has overshadowed ambitious attempts that Kvit is helping orchestrate to reform Ukraine’s higher education and science. The latest move on this front is a draft science law promising sweeping changes, including a new competitive grants body similar to the U.S. National Science Foundation, that’s expected to be introduced into parliament in March or April. Продовження →

(Speech at the American Association for the Advancement of Science 2015 Annual Meeting, February 14, San Jose)

Once in a while Ukraine breaks into the global information space with various dramatic events: at first with the accident at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant (1986), then the Orange Revolution (2004-2005) and the Euromaidan (2013-2014). Having no problem with arranging the truly grand revolutions, the Ukrainian people experience certain difficulties in implementing the projects for which these revolutions are conducted. This remark also applies to reform of the higher education.  Продовження →

(Lection at the Center for Russian, East European and Russian Studies of Stanford University, February, 11, 2015)

First of all we should figure out what do we mean by talking about crisis. After the Soviet Union had collapsed – the whole political and economic life of Ukraine could be considered as a permanent crisis.  Even those short periods, which were originally assessed positively, later were characterized as crisis.  In particular, this can be said about the disappointment of inaction of Ukrainian authorities after the Orange Revolution.  Продовження →

Освітній потенціал – одна з небагатьох конкурентних переваг України на теперішньому переломному етапі нашої історії. Але це лише потенціал. Для того, щоб викладачі й студенти, університети загалом розкрили його та реалізували, необхідно створити відповідні умови. Продовження →