SCAS News - 14 November, 2023

Inauguration of the Virtual Ukraine Institute for Advanced Study (VUIAS) Held in Berlin

On Wednesday, 8 November, the official inauguration of the newly founded Virtual Ukraine Institute
for Advanced Study (VUIAS) took place at the Wissenschaftskolleg zu Berlin, as the first cohort of
VUIAS Fellows - consisting of 22 Ukrainian scholars from different disciplines – were welcomed and
introduced.

The human rights defender Oleksandra Matviichuk, whose Center for Civil Liberties in Kyiv was a Nobel
Peace Prize laureate in 2022, delivered the keynote speech and received a standing ovation. In addition,
representatives from the Ukrainian Embassy, partner institutions, funding bodies and the first Fellow
cohort had been invited to say a few words. The musical part of the evening featured works by Ukrainian-
born composers. The inaugural event was followed by an opening conference on 9 November.

SCAS is one of the partner institutions of the VUIAS initiative, and SCAS Principal Christina Garsten and
the first ever SCAS-VUIAS Fellow Iryna Mogilevkina participated in the events on behalf of the Collegium.

VUIAS was initiated in 2023 by the Wissenschaftskolleg in cooperation with partner institutions in Ukraine,
other parts of Europe (among them SCAS) and the US.

Through its Fellowship programme, VUIAS aims at supporting Ukrainian scholars in their efforts to prepare
for a future re-build of the Ukrainian scientific landscape, to create national and international networks and
to work against the feared brain drain resulting from the war. A long-term goal is to eventually found a
Ukraine Institute for Advanced Study onsite in Kyiv.

Currently, two kinds of Fellowships - VUIAS Fellowships in Ukraine and VUIAS Fellowship abroad – are
provided. With the first call for applications launched already in the spring and summer of 2023, the first
cohort has thus been able to take up their Fellowships this autumn.

Read more: WIKO Berlin Press release, 10 November 2023: "Eröffnung - das Virtual Ukraine Institute for
Advanced Study nimmt seine Arbeit auf " >>

Read more: About VUIAS >>