As part of the cooperation between the Volodymyr Dahl East Ukrainian National University and Royal Holloway University of London (UK), we invite academic staff and postgraduate students to participate in the international academic mentoring programme. The academic mentoring programme from the United Kingdom is organised by volunteers from Science for Ukraine UK.
The aim of the programme is to provide support to colleagues from Ukrainian universities affected by the war. The essence of the program is that each researcher who passes the preliminary selection will be assigned a mentor from a partner (sister) university, who will provide academic guidance and support.
What is mentorship?
Mentorship is a time-bound, goal-oriented relationship that supports the development of skills and career advancement through confidential one-on-one conversations. It involves a more experienced person (the mentor) providing guidance and support to another individual (the mentee). The mentor always possesses expertise or experience in a specific field of interest to the mentee.
Mentees are colleagues who, at the time of the invasion, held at least an MSc/MA degree and had a minimum of three months of experience in either academic or industrial research. Registration, matching, and mentoring sessions will be managed through the PushFar platform, which provides a wide range of features for both online and offline communication, meeting scheduling, and additional support. We expect mentoring sessions to take place at least once every two weeks over a minimum period of two months.
Programme Objective
The objective of the Science for Ukraine UK Mentorship Programme is to support Ukrainian colleagues in navigating the academic environment in the United Kingdom. The programme does not provide advice on immigration, financial matters, or emotional support — it is focused exclusively on professional development.
Specific Goals of the Programme
The mentorship programme is designed to support Ukrainian colleagues in the following areas:
- Career planning
- Developing a professional network and building an academic/professional profile
- Understanding academic work culture in the UK
- Preparing CVs and application materials
- Navigating the academic publishing process
- Academic writing
- Securing research funding (from UK-based funders only)
- Career progression and professional advancement
How to Join
To register for mentorship support, please visit the following link: https://www.pushfar.com/mentee-registration/6Aj4rMK5y8/
This initiative is supported by Royal Holloway, University of London (UK) as part of its twinning partnership with Volodymyr Dahl East Ukrainian National University, under the Twinning Initiative.
The programme is made possible with the support of the President of Ukraine’s Foundation for Education, Science and Sports, in partnership with Universities UK International and the Cormack Consultancy Group.