Invisible University for Ukraine (IUFU) is a certificate program for Ukrainian undergraduate and graduate students, whether residing in Ukraine or in refuge, whose studies have been affected by the war.
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. The name of this solidarity program evokes the underground and exile educational initiatives (such as the “flying universities”), as well as the tradition of Invisible Colleges formed after 1989 in Eastern Europe.
The program is not meant to replace or duplicate the existing education opportunities in Ukrainian universities, but to support them by filling the gaps that temporarily emerged because of the Russian invasion. By strengthening the ties of Ukrainian educational institutions, scholars, and students to transnational networks, we hope to counter the destructive effects of brain drain by creating access to educational infrastructure and academic knowledge for students irrespective of their current location.
The program is designed in a hybrid format, combining online teaching with on-site winter and summer schools. The program is comprised of four main components:
- thematic courses, including small group meetings mentored by doctoral students and postdoctoral scholars
- student individual research projects
- a series of offline events
- skill-building activities (academic English, academic writing).
In Fall 2025, IUFU offers ten online interdisciplinary courses in the field of humanities and social sciences. As a rule, courses consist of 12 sessions (100 minutes), equal to 4 ECTS credits. Students are expected to take no more than three courses. In addition, IUFU offers several short trans-disciplinary intensive online seminars and plans to organize offline meetings in Lviv and Kyiv. Courses are taught online, in English, in the late afternoons once a week per class. Classes are recorded and available to watch online for registered students if their circumstances prevent them from attending the online sessions.
The envisioned duration of the Fall Semester is 29 September–19 December 2025. The most motivated and successful participants will have an opportunity to participate in a Winter School in January 2026 (a separate application form will be circulated in November).
Course Offering in Fall 2025
- Beyond the West: History, Politics, and Prospects of Ukraine’s Engagement with Africa, Latin America, and South-East Asia. Course director: Maksym Yakovlyev (Kyiv-Mohyla Academy)
- Feminisms and Women’s Rights in Eastern and Central Europe. Course co-directors: Oksana Kis (Imre Kertész Kolleg Jena) and Zsófia Lóránd (University of Vienna)
- Ukraine’s Environment: From Imperial Frontiers to Ecocidal War. Course co-directors: Oleksiy Chebotarov (University of Oslo / University of St. Gallen) and Anna Olenenko (Khortytsia National Academy / University of Alberta)
- Civil Society and State in Times of War and Post-War Recovery: Legal Dimensions. Course co-directors: Marta Mochulska (Ivan Franko University of Lviv) and Mariia Zivert (Kyiv School of Economics)
- Minorities in War-Torn Ukraine: Legacies, Policies and Identities. Course director: Viktoriya Sereda (WIKO Berlin / Kyiv School of Economics)
- Research Methods for the Social Sciences. Course co-directors: Levente Littvay (CEU Democracy Institute, Budapest) and Inna Melnykovska
- Protests, Social Transformations and the EU: Rethinking the Balkans for Ukraine. Course co-directors: Marija Mandić (University of Belgrade) and Olesia Marković (Kyiv- Mohyla Academy)
- Facing the Legacy of the Yugoslav Wars. Course co-directors: Vladimir Petrović (NIOD Institute for War, Holocaust, and Genocide Studies, Amsterdam) and Miloš Hrnjaz (University of Belgrade).
In addition, for the students of the Invisible Graduate School and motivated MA and BA students, we offer two seminars: Writing-in-Process, directed by Olha Bryukhovetska (National University of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy / FernUniversität in Hagen) and Ukraine: Reexamining the Decolonization Paradigm, co-directed by Ostap Sereda (Ukrainian Catholic University / Bard College Berlin) and Balázs Trencsényi (CEU). A separate motivation letter is required to apply for these two IGS seminars.
Mentoring and Academic English classes are open to those who take at least one thematic course.
Brief course descriptions are available here.
DEADLINE FOR APPLICATIONS:
15 SEPTEMBER 2025, MIDNIGHT, 12 PM (CET).
Admitted course participants will be notified by 25 September 2025.
Who is eligible and how to apply? Any student who has been pursuing a BA, MA, or doctoral degree program at a Ukrainian university in the academic year 2021-22, or who started their university studies in 2022, 2023, 2024, or 2025. Participation in the program is free of charge.
Applicants should fill in the application form via the following link: Application Form | Invisible University for Ukraine | Fall Semester 2025. If you experience any difficulties with the form, please send all application materials to iufu@ceu.edu.
The application package should include:
1) a short motivation letter (up to 1 page) including:
- reasons 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 indication of interest in Academic English communication/writing classes;
2) a short CV including:
- name in Ukrainian and in the version used in an international passport
- e-mail address
- current location
- previous education, current university, student status, and program of study
- involvement in civil activities/volunteering or related experience
- estimated level of English language competence.
Applications can be submitted in English or Ukrainian.
Research scholarships (up to 800 Euro per semester) are available on a competitive basis for those BA, MA, and doctoral students who wish to implement a special empirical or theoretical project in addition to their course work in IUFU, drawing on their academic background, current thesis project, and/or related to the themes of the courses. Students receiving research funding are required to submit a research paper of 10-12 double-spaced pages at the end of the semester. The best papers will be published on Visible Ukraine (visibleukraine.org). Research grant recipients are required to participate in mentoring sessions.
Those who wish to apply for a research scholarship should also include a concise project proposal (between 400 and 800 words), including a title, main lines of the envisioned research project and its desired outcome, and 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. Selected applicants will be notified by 30 September 2025.
With questions about the application, please turn to the IUFU student coordinators:
Olha Krasinko, PhD student, CEU, Krasinko_Olha@student.ceu.edu
Kateryna Osypchuk, CEU Alumna, Osypchuk_Kateryna@student.ceu.edu
With questions about the IGS seminars Writing-in-Process and Ukraine: Reexamining the Decolonization Paradigm, please turn to their coordinator:
Nadiia Chervinska, CEU Alumna, Chervinska_Nadiia@student.ceu.edu