Kherson State University

At the International Office, Rector of Kherson State University (KSU) Oleksandr Spivakovskiy met with KSU students who are currently studying at the University of Klagenfurt as part of a semester-long exchange program.

The students shared their impressions of studying and communicating with professors and students, talked about the specifics of higher education in Austria, and noted the very friendly attitude and strong support for Ukraine.

“We have been participating in international mobility programs for many years, and we strive to offer our students the best opportunities to gain academic experience and improve their language skills at a leading Austrian university,” emphasized KSU Rector Oleksandr Spivakovskiy.

As part of the visit to Alpen-Adria University (AAU), Rector Spivakovskiy also held a productive meeting with Professors Heinrich C. Mayr and Tilmann Reuther. The participants discussed the possibility of hosting KSU’s digital infrastructure on the servers of the Austrian university.

“We aim to expand our cooperation in the IT field, so that KSU can have another powerful platform for conducting research, developing software products, and storing digital infrastructure. This is a great prospect that can help us grow and create better conditions for our researchers and students,” noted Spivakovskiy.

In addition, the KSU delegation met with the Rector of Alpen-Adria University, Professor Ada Pellert. They discussed the potential use of Klagenfurt University’s digital infrastructure to expand KSU’s IT capacities. To foster the development of the partnership, Rector Pellert proposed several joint projects in research and international cooperation. We are starting to work on these issues right away.

Oleksandr Spivakovskiy presented Ada Pellert with publications from Kherson State University – the institutional edition "The Black Swan, or Chronicles of a Relocated University" and a collection of personal essays by members of the academic community titled "Kherson Essays: Living to Win."

“Preserving the history of occupation and full-scale invasion through the lens of university life and the personal reflections of our faculty and students is an important part of our mission as an institution. So is communicating with our partners and telling the story of what’s happening in Ukraine and in Kherson – directly, without propaganda or judgment,” emphasized Spivakovskiy.

He also presented Rector Ada Pellert with commemorative postage stamps featuring KSU and university souvenirs. The KSU delegation was pleased to receive meaningful gifts from their Austrian partners in return.

A visit took place to the ASPIS Center – a facility that provides psychological support to refugees. This topic is especially relevant to KSU, as a new Center for Psychological Resilience was recently opened at the university’s Ivano-Frankivsk office as part of the Erasmus+ BURN project. The center’s target audience includes internally displaced persons (IDPs), among others. It is always insightful to learn how our partners organize such work.

“I would like to thank my colleagues – Vice-Rector Veronika Denysenko, Dean of the Pedagogical Faculty Liubov Petukhova, and Head of the International Initiatives and Project Management Department Yevheniia Revenko – for their teamwork. I also extend my deepest gratitude to Rector Ada Pellert, Professors Tilmann Reuther and Heinrich C. Mayr, and the entire team of the University of Klagenfurt for organizing our official visit, for their hospitality, dialogue, new projects, support, and exchange of experience,” concluded Oleksandr Spivakovskiy.

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