Kherson State University

Darya Malchykova is a professor, Doctor of Geographical Sciences, professor of the Department of Geography and Ecology and Vice-Rector for Academic and Scientific-Pedagogical Work of KhSU.

Within the framework of the scholarship, Darya Malchykova will implement the project:

“Spaces and People Forged by War: (Un)Sustainability of Transformed Everyday Practices and Rethinking Urban Planning”.

The project explores the impact of war on communities, urban spaces and everyday practices, seeking to support post-war recovery and community cohesion. The project explores demographic changes, settlement transformation, socio-spatial processes and problems of post-war recovery, combining qualitative and quantitative methods. Using the example of the Kherson urban community, adaptation to war, changing social needs, limited access to resources, and the growth of local activism are studied.

Mykola Homanyuk is a candidate of sociological sciences, associate professor of the Department of Geography and Ecology of KhSU.

His research project:

“Ethnic Minorities in Ukraine during the War: Adaptation to Crisis, Belonging and Identity Preservation.”

The project examines how a full-scale war affects ethnic minorities’ sense of belonging to the Ukrainian political nation and to their own ethnic communities. Particular attention is paid to identity transformations and the role of the kin-state in shaping the political identity of ethnic minorities. The research covers two border regions of Ukraine: Transcarpathia (Hungarian minority) and Odessa region (Moldavian/Romanian minority). For comparison, groups without a kin-state — the Roma and Crimean Tatar communities — are also analyzed. Preliminary results suggest that established Hungarian and Romanian minorities, with developed civil society networks, facilitated cross-border communication and assistance from the kin-state. The project seeks to determine whether this has contributed to the long-term consolidation of civic identity among minorities.

The VUIAS program, launched in 2023 by the Berlin College of Science with the support of the Volkswagen Foundation (Germany), combines research fellowships with active academic cooperation: seminars, panel discussions, round tables and trainings in Ukraine in partnership with the Institute for Advanced Studies in Berlin.

We congratulate Daria Malchykova and Mykola Homanyuk on this important achievement and wish them success in implementing their research projects, which will contribute to the development of Ukrainian science, post-war community reconstruction and the strengthening of social and civic identity consolidation in Ukraine!