Maria Bayliak, Head of the Department of Biochemistry and Biotechnology, participated in a five-day seminar organized by the Virtual Institute for Advanced Studies Ukraine (VUIAS) in collaboration with the Institute for Advanced Studies in Berlin (Germany). The seminar marked the start of the new academic year and the activities of the VUIAS Fellows 2025/2026 cohort (https://vuias.org/fellows/).
The program began on October 27 in Ivano-Frankivsk at the relocated Kherson State University with a panel discussion entitled “Holding Ground: Challenges and New Models of Resilience of Displaced Universities,” dedicated to the resilience of Ukrainian universities during wartime.
The following day, October 28, the solemn opening of the VUIAS 2025/2026 academic year took place at Yuriy Fedkovych Chernivtsi National University, chaired by Professor Viktoria Sereda, the VUIAS coordinator in Ukraine. The event was attended by the rector of Chernivtsi National University, Prof. Ruslan Biloskursky, representatives of the Wissenschaftskolleg zu Berlin (Prof. Barbara Stollberg-Rilinger, rector of the Wissenschaftskolleg and head of VUIAS, Prof. Iris Fleßenkämper, Secretary of the Wissenschaftskolleg and Co-Director of VUIAS), and the Scientific Attaché of the Embassy of the Federal Republic of Germany, Dr. Mykhailo Leshchenko, graduates and new scholarship holders from different regions of the country.
Over the next few days, participants presented their own research projects, took part in workshops on the mission and activities of VUIAS, discussed ways of interdisciplinary communication, and developed joint projects and plans for the Alumni Association. The workshops were moderated by Professor Victoria Sereda and Professor Daniel Schönpflug, a co-chair of VUIAS.
The program also included a cultural component (visits to the Khotyn Fortress and Kamianets-Podilskyi), which provided an opportunity to immerse oneself in the multicultural history of Ukraine and discuss issues of heritage and memory in a scientific context.
The VUIAS (Virtual Ukraine Institute for Advanced Study) initiative was launched in 2023 by the Berlin Graduate School as a hybrid scholarship program funded by the Volkswagen Foundation. Since 2023, VUIAS has awarded 87 fellowships, with 49 being awarded in Ukraine and 38 abroad. Fellows represent 17 different fields of knowledge and 40 academic institutions in Ukraine from all regions.
For more information, visit the VUIAS website https://vuias.org/
