2024 Fall Semester — Invisible University for Ukraine (IUFU)

Launched in Spring 2022, Invisible University for Ukraine (IUFU) is a certificate program (offering ECTS credits) initiated by Central European University for junior and senior undergraduate (BA) and graduate (MA and PhD) students from Ukraine, whether residing in Ukraine or abroad, whose studies have been affected by the war. The name of this transnational solidarity program evokes the various nineteenth and twentieth-century underground and exile educational initiatives (such as the “flying universities”) in Eastern Europe, as well as the tradition of Invisible Colleges formed after 1989 in the region.

The program offers an intensive learning experience on the role of Ukraine in changing European and global contexts, placing questions relevant for Ukrainian students into a transnational comparative perspective. It seeks to articulate the Ukrainian cause internationally in the context of overlapping conflicts and crises by giving voice to the young generation of Ukrainian intellectuals. The program is not meant to replace or duplicate the existing education opportunities in Ukrainian universities but to support them by filling the lacunae that temporarily emerged due to the Russian invasion. By strengthening the ties of Ukrainian educational institutions, as well as scholars and students, to transnational networks, we hope to counter the destructive effects of brain drain through creating access to educational infrastructure and academic knowledge for students irrespective of their current location. We also hope to create a community of Ukrainian students and academics, wherever they currently reside, who can contribute to the resilience of Ukrainian society during the war and will be able to have an impact on the civic and academic structures of the society after the war.

In 2023, 420 students were involved in 15 thematic courses, co-taught by over 190 lecturers and 70 mentors, and 15 English academic writing groups. 144 research scholarships were distributed. In 2024 Spring, we offered 6 courses for 360 students, co-taught by 105 lecturers and 39 mentors, and 8 English groups. We also distributed 68 research scholarships.

IUFU is implemented by Central European University (Budapest Campus), in cooperation with Imre Kertész Kolleg, University of Jena, as well as other Ukrainian (Ivan Franko National University of Lviv, Ukrainian Catholic University) and global university partners and research institutions (such as the Center for Urban History of East Central Europe). The main supporters of IUFU are the Open Society University Network (OSUN) and the Deutscher Akademischer Austauschdienst (DAAD).

The program is designed in a hybrid format (online teaching, complemented by an on-site Winter school in January 2025 in Budapest). It is comprised of three components:

  • thematic courses, including small group meetings mentored by doctoral students and postdoctoral scholars;
  • student individual research projects;
  • skill-building (academic English, academic writing).

Structure of the Program:

IUFU offers in the Fall Semester of 2024 eight online interdisciplinary courses in the field of Humanities and Social Sciences that can be taken by students with different backgrounds. Each course consists of 12 sessions (100 minutes); equal to 4 ECTS credits. Students are expected to take at least one course and not more than three. Besides thematic courses, several trans-disciplinary intensive online seminars lasting for one to two days will be offered to all students of the program. Courses are taught online in late afternoons once a week per class. Classes will be recorded and available to watch online for registered students if their circumstances prevent them from attending the online sessions.

Research scholarships (up to 800 Euro per semester) are available on a competitive basis for those BA and MA students who wish to implement a special empirical or theoretical project in addition to their course work in IUFU, drawing on their academic background, previous work, current thesis project, and relevant to the current situation, and/or related to the themes of the courses. Students receiving research funding will be required to submit a paper of 10-12 double-spaced pages based on their research at the end of the semester. The best papers will be published on the site Visible Ukraine (visibleukraine.org). Those who receive the grant are required to participate also in the mentoring sessions. For PhD students, who would like to apply for research grants, we offer a separate call to participate in the newly launched IUFU Graduate Support Program.

Mentoring and Academic English classes are open for those who take at least one thematic course.

Who is eligible?

Any student who has been pursuing a BA, MA, or doctoral degree program in a Ukrainian university in the academic year 2021-22, or who started her/his university studies in 2022, 2023, or 2024. Participation in the program is free of charge.

How to apply:

Applicants should fill in the application form https://forms.gle/BfJFC2XVU3s5xKLBA and also send all application materials to iufu@ceu.edu (if you cannot access or use the application form, please indicate it in your application letter to iufu@ceu.edu).

Deadline for applications: 12 September 2024, 12 AM (midnight) CET. Admitted participants will be notified of the results of the research scholarship selection by 23 September at the latest.

The application package should contain a short (up to 1 page) motivation letter including:

  • reason for applying to IUFU and expectations from the course(s);
  • a description of the applicant’s thematic interests (e.g., research topic or thesis topic);
  • choice of preferred course(s) an applicant would like to take (up to 3) and an indication of interest in Academic English classes;

and a short CV with information on:

  • name in Ukrainian and in English as they appear in the applicant’s international passport (or, in the absence of the passport for foreign travel, in other government-issued IDs);
  • e-mail address;
  • current location;
  • previous education, current university, student status, and program of study;
  • involvement in civil activities/volunteering;
  • estimated level of English language competence.

Those who wish to apply for a research scholarship should also include a concise project proposal (between 400 and 800 words), containing a title, describing the main lines of the envisioned research project and its desired outcome, including references to the relevant sources and secondary literature on the topic. The applicant shall indicate within which course the research project is planned to be implemented.

Applications can be submitted in English or Ukrainian.

Timeline:

The envisioned duration of the Fall semester classes is 23 September–20 December 2024. The most motivated and successful participants will have an opportunity to participate in a Winter School in January.

Course offering in Fall 2024:

In addition, we plan to offer workshops open to all IUFU students on research methodology, educational opportunities for Ukrainian students globally, civil society initiatives, as well as other relevant topics chosen by the students themselves. IUFU students also organize other extracurricular activities, such as book clubs and thematic discussions.

Brief course descriptions are available at visibleukraine.org/programs/ongoing-programs

Mentoring:

In-person and small-group instruction, helping the students to develop their research projects and reflect on the thematic lectures. It will start in early October and will be conducted by doctoral students and postdoctoral scholars from CEU and other partner institutions. Participation in mentoring sessions is obligatory for students who receive research stipends.

Prospective team of teachers:

The program is taught by prominent scholars linked to the Central European University (including members of its faculty, as well as researchers of CEU Democracy Institute and the Open Society Archives), Ukrainian and German partner institutions, and internationally renowned specialists from East Central and Western Europe, and North America.

Organizers:

  • Ostap Sereda, Associate Professor in History at the Ukrainian Catholic University in Lviv and recurrent visiting professor at CEU (program director);
  • Vladimir Petrović, Research Professor, Institute of Contemporary History, Belgrade, and CEU Democracy Institute Budapest (academic vice-director);
  • Balázs Trencsényi, Professor, CEU History Department and Director, CEU IAS; Renáta Uitz, Senior Research Fellow, CEU DI;
  • László Kontler, Professor, CEU History, and Pro-Rector for CEU Budapest;
  • Joachim von Puttkamer, Professor in History at the Friedrich Schiller University of Jena and Director of the Imre Kertész Kolleg;
  • Nazarii Stetsyk, Associate Professor, Department of Theory and Philosophy of Law, Ivan Franko National University of Lviv.

With questions about the application please turn to the IUFU student coordinators:

  • Nataliia Shuliakova, BA student, Yale University, shuliakovan@ceu.edu
  • Olha Stasiuk, PhD student, CEU, stasiuk_olha@phd.ceu.edu
  • Yevhen Yashchuk, CEU alumnus, PhD student, Oxford University, Yashchuk_Yevhen@student.ceu.edu

For further information, visit www.ceu.edu/non-degree/Invisible-University