Due to the ongoing war in Ukraine, the Institute of Slavic Studies, Polish Academy of Sciences hosts more and more scholars from Ukraine. The Polish Academy of Sciences has been one of the first scientific institutions in Poland to extend a helping hand to colleagues from across the eastern border. As part of the agreement with the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, the Polish Academy of Sciences announced a new cooperation program. As part of the first support programme, the Institute of Slavic Studies has accepted applications for a three-month research stay from eight Ukrainian scholars, among them linguists, cultural and literary studies scholars and historians.
Due to the considerable interest in the programme among Ukrainian scholars, the Polish Academy of Sciences has opened another support programme together with the American National Academy of Sciences. Nine more scholars working on topics closely related to research pursued at the Institute of Slavic Studies have come for three-month research stays at the Institute. The guests of the Institute represent various Ukrainian universities from Kyiv, Kharkiv, Lviv, Mariupol, Zaporizhia, Chernivtsi, Ivano-Frankivsk and Drohobych.
Moreover, along with the increase in the number of Ukrainian refugees in Poland and the urgent need to improve communication between guests from Ukraine and people organizing their help, the Institute of Slavic Studies opened free language courses. Intensive Polish language courses are held for people from Ukraine, and Ukrainian language courses are offered to Polish volunteers involved in helping refugees. In March and April 2022 in total 207 people learned the Polish language, while 162 people took part in the Ukrainian language courses.
The Institute of Slavic Studies of the Polish Academy of Sciences is open to cooperation with Ukraine all the time. Recently, the Institute of Polish Academy of Sciences hired two scientists from Ukraine under an employment contract, and further employments are also planned in the projects financed by the National Science Center (NCN). The cooperation with Ukraine will also be continued within the framework of the project “Science on-line. Counteracting exclusion in the international virtual space “, which the Institute of Slavic Studies of the Polish Academy of Sciences realizes as part of the program financed by the National Agency for Academic Exchange (NAWA)” Welcome to Poland “.
