NaUKMA Hosts EU Commissioner at First Western-Model PhD Diploma Ceremony in Ukraine
Jose Manuel Pinto Teixeira, Head of EU Delegation to Ukraine; Androulla Vassiliou, EU Commissioner for Education, Culture, Multilingualism and YouthAndroulla Vassiliou, EU Commissioner for Education, Culture, Multilingualism and Youth visited National University of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy on December 5, to meet students, staff and alumni at the opening of the conference, "Tempus and Erasmus Mundus: Opportunities for the Eastern Partnership". Her speech on the topic, "Cooperation and Mobility Opportunities for Individuals and Institutions between the Ukraine and the European Union" was followed by a question and answer session.
Ms. Vassiliou expressed her strong support for the integration of Ukraine’s educational sector into the European model. “In the firm belief that investment in education, training and creativity is essential for the prosperity of future generations… the European Commission adopted …the programs, Erasmus for All and Creative Europe. These programs are the right tools to help us respond to the challenges we face and I am confident that they will deliver the results we all want to see," said Ms. Vassiliou.
EU Commissioner A. Vassiliou met with faculty and students who are engaged in the implementation of European and other international projects. Tempus, Erasmus Mundus and Jean Monnet are the European Union's key programs for international cooperation in higher education in Ukraine. NaUKMA has been the recipient of 15 grants implementing such programs.
Professor Mychailo Wynnyckyj, director of the NaUKMA PhD Program; Androulla Vassiliou, EU Commissioner for Education, Culture, Multilingualism and Youth; Dr. Hanna Bielenka, PhD diploma recipientMs. Vassiliou’s visit coincided with the Award Ceremony bestowing the first PhD degree of western equivalency in Ukraine to Hanna Bielenka, who completed her PhD degree in finance. Dr. Bielenka’s research and dissertation was titled, “Mathematical Methods of Estimating the Financial Stability of the Ukrainian Banking Sector”.
Dr. Hanna Bielenka was born in Zaporizhzhya. Her background includes an undergraduate degree in economic cybernetics from Zaporizhzhya National University, and a master’s degree in economics from National University of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy - Economics Education and Research Consortium (EERC). She has been the winner of the All-Ukrainian Student Olympiads in Economic Cybernetics (I, II, III places in mathematics, informatics, and English). In 2011 Dr. Bielenka also defended her “Candidate of Science (Kandydat Nauk)” degree in economics. She is the author of numerous research articles published in international journals.
European Integration and International Standards
Jose Manuel Pinto Teixeira, Head of EU Delegation to Ukraine; Androulla Vassiliou, EU Commissioner for Education, Culture, Multilingualism and Youth; Sergiy Kvit, President of National University of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy; Mychailo Wynnyckyj, director of the NaUKMA PhD ProgramThe fact that the EU Commissioner for Education, Culture, Multilingualism, Sport, Media and Youth presided over the ceremony is significant and ironic, because even though the degree is recognized by the EU as it conforms to the principles of the European Higher Education Area (EHEA), under existing government rules it is not yet recognized by Ukraine’s Ministry of Education. European recognition of this academic achievement should become a powerful impetus to Ukraine to finally begin implementation of its long-promised reforms in education toward European integration and international standards.
Kyiv-Mohyla Academy’s PhD program, officially established in 1998, is the first program of western orientation and curriculum in Ukraine. It is a revolutionary step for Ukraine’s higher education system, representing a radical departure from the legacy of the Soviet-era system that still persists in Ukraine.
Unlike the traditional Soviet era “aspirantura”, which is highly regulated by the Ministry of Education’s Higher Attestatation Council (“VAK”), the Kyiv-Mohyla Doctoral School’s PhD programs represent an embodiment of the principle of university autonomy, which is fundamental to the western system of higher education. The program is recognized as a model for the enactment of reform within Ukraine’s higher education system.
The Doctoral School includes the following PhD programs: Management in Public Health (an initiative of the Kyiv-Mohyla School of Public Health); Mass Communications (a joint program of the Kyiv-Mohyla School of Journalism and Department of Sociology); Finance (a joint program of the Department of Finance and Kyiv-Mohyla Business School). Each doctoral program was established with extensive international partner cooperation of Norwegian, American, Spanish, and Dutch academics serving as program experts, research supervisors, and potential dissertation examiners.
Androulla Vassiliou, EU Commissioner for Education, Culture, Multilingualism and Youth; Sergiy Kvit, President of National University of Kyiv-Mohyla AcademyThe director of the NaUKMA PhD Program is Professor Mychailo Wynnyckyj (PhD in economic sociology of post-Soviet transition, Cambridge University),the Doctoral Program Coordinator is Professor Volodymyr Morenets (Vice President for Research and Academic Affairs, Chair of the Department of Literature), and the Deputy Director is Professor Tetiana Oharkova (PhD degree in comparative literature, University of Sorbonne, Paris).
Despite initial EU grants, funds are continuously required for the Doctoral School’s infrastructure, faculty, journals, books and stipends.
More photo from the ceremony at http://ukma.kiev.ua/Galleries/gallery2/main.php?g2_itemId=26478
For more information about the Kyiv Mohyla Academy’s Doctoral School, see: www.gradschool.ukma.kiev.ua.
In the United States, tax deductible donations to the new PhD program can be directed to Kyiv Mohyla Foundation, P.O. Box 46009, Chicago, IL 60646 or at www.kmfoundation.com.
For more information, see: www.kmfoundation.com.