The kick-off event for the DAAD programme ‘German-Ukrainian University Network‘ took place on 3 and 4 December 2025 in Berlin. More than 100 representatives from universities and politics of both countries came together for the launch of 30 projects and the first network meeting.
On the event website, you will find the event program, information about the political opening ceremony with high-ranking guests, as well as about the networking formats that took place during the event. Furthermore, posters of the participating projects and the funding programme, as well as impressions of the event are also available.
The speakers unanimously acknowledged the great commitment of the Ukrainian and German universities involved in the projects. Prof. Dr. Joybrato Mukherjee (President of the DAAD) and Dorothee Bär (German Federal Minister of Research, Technology and Space) highlighted the impressive resilience of Ukrainian science in the face of the enormous challenges posed by Russia’s war of aggression. H.E. Oleksii Makeiev (Ambassador of Ukraine to Germany) and, via video message, Prof. Dr. Mykola Trofimenko (Deputy Minister of Education and Science of Ukraine) emphasised the opportunities that the German-Ukrainian University Network (DUHN) offers for cooperation between the two countries in science and beyond. Harald Christ (founder and chairman of the Harald Christ Foundation for Democracy and Diversity) impressively demonstrated his commitment to Ukraine and underlined the broad support that DUHN receives from politics and society.
Representatives from universities and politics explored these topics in depth during a panel discussion entitled ‘German-Ukrainian University Network – Getting Stronger Together’. In the networking part of the event, poster sessions and numerous workshops offered participants the opportunity to get to know the other projects in the network and to engage in intensive exchange.
Overall, the event showed that there are big challenges for the German-Ukrainian university cooperation, but there are also enormous opportunities. The political support as well as the commitment and confidence of the representatives of the participating universities are impressive.
Adapted from the DAAD report