Competence Network Interdisciplinary Ukrainian Studies Frankfurt (Oder) – Berlin (KIU)

About

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The KIU competence network is a four-year DAAD-funded project to strengthen Ukraine-related research, teaching, networking and transfer activities. The competence network, initiated and led by the European University Viadrina, includes the ZOiS, the Humboldt Universität zu Berlin, the Freie Universität Berlin, the Berlin-Brandenburg Academy of Sciences and Humanities and the Wissenschaftskolleg Berlin.

KIU – Competence Network for Interdisciplinary Ukraine Studies Frankfurt (Oder)-Berlin and the “Denkraum Ukraine” Regensburg, led by the European University Viadrina, are the two Ukraine Centers in Germany funded by the DAAD (German Academic Exchange Service). Together, they are working on building Ukraine-related academic research and teaching, disseminating Ukraine expertise in politics, academia, media, and civil society, as well as promoting a Europe-wide dialogue with Ukraine.

 

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KIU – Competence Network Interdisciplinary Ukraine Studies

Frankfurt (Oder)-Berlin

News

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Facts and Findings: KIU Sur Place fellows present their research (online-event)

SAVE THE DATE & REGISTRATION OPEN Part 1: Wednesday, 5 November 2025, 9.30 am to 11.30 am (surplace fellows 2024-2025) Part 2: Wednesday, 5 November 2025, 1.30 pm to 3 pm (surplace fellows 2025) What do memory studies, food security, higher education, political preferences, and history have in common, to name just a few? They are all part of the diverse research conducted by this year’s KIU Sur Place fellows working from Ukraine. At our upcoming event, they will present findings from their scholarship period (Oct 2024–Jun 2025) and share the new questions and perspectives that emerge from their work. In the second part of the event our current KIU surplace fellows (Sep 2025-Dec 2025) will present their ongoing KIU research-projects. The event is open to previous, current and incoming KIU fellows, KIU alumni network, KIU allies, researchers connected to the KIU as well as everyone interested in the topics. Please feel free to to share the information about the event with probably interested collegueas, institutions and organisations. Registration open until Monday, 3 November 2025:

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Fault Lines and Lines of Defence: Ukraine’s Infrastructure under Attack

War does not just destroy roads, power lines, and water systems – it shakes the very foundations of modern society. The full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine shows that critical infrastructure is not only technical, but also strategic – often targeted, contested, and deeply political. How does the war reshape Ukraine’s infrastructures, how are reconstruction and recovery unfolding, and what can Europe learn from these processes? Sign up for the panel discussion here.

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Introducing Guest Lecturer Prof. Oleh Nivievskyi

In the winter term 2025-26, our second KIU guest lecturer, Prof. Oleh Nivievskyi from our partner university Kyiv School of Economics, will teach three courses focusing our semester topic; Infrastructural fragmentation, infrastructural resilience - Interdisciplinary perspectives on techno-politics and crisis. Prof. Nivievskyi is a economist and specialised in Agricultural Economics and Applied Statistics. He worked as an economic policy advisor with the World Bank Group’s Reforming Investment Climate project in Ukraine and contributed to projects of other international agencies, having more than 20 years of international experience in applied research in agri-food products and factor markets and value chains, as well as in agri-food and regulatory policy impact. Oleh contributed to several major reforms in Ukraine, including a comprehensive farmland market reform and opening of the farmland market in 2021. In 2020, he founded the Center for Food and Land Use Research at Kyiv School of Economics, where he was also Dean of the Faculty of Graduate Economics Studies. He is interested in political economy and performance of local governance in Ukraine, EU integration, conflicts’ impact and post-war rebuilding and recovery, as well as in transport services pricing and policy.

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KIU guest professor named among Berlin-Brandenburg’s top 100 scholars

Ukrainian researcher Nataliia Steblyna began her career as a journalist before moving into coding. Today, she uses software to scan millions of online posts for traces of Russian disinformation. During the summer semester 2025, she shared her expertise with students at Europa-Universität Viadrina in Frankfurt (Oder), where she served as the first visiting professor of the KIU competence network. Beyond academia, she is also active in a democracy NGO, helping to expose war propaganda on Telegram and other platforms. Read more here!

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The new Ukraine Lecture Series for Winter Semester 2025/26 is here!

Infrastructures are both physical and knowledge-based. Physical infrastructures—such as bridges, power plants, and cable networks—and knowledge infrastructures—including universities and civil society organizations—are increasingly being attacked and destroyed in Ukraine and its occupied territories by Russia's full-scale invasion. As geopolitical uncertainties rise, these attacks are also increasingly affecting other parts of Europe. In this lecture series, we will discuss what infrastructural resilience means today, how it is being tested by different forms of attack, but also how resilience can become preventive rather than merely reactive towards physical and informational attacks. We will focus on socio-technical, historical, cultural, economical aspects of both infrastructures and resilience, and find out what role critical engagement plays in shaping infrastructural developments.

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NEW - KIURIOUS Interview with KIU Fellow Dr Michael Dobbins

Since July 2025, Yuliya Svyrydenko has been Ukraine’s first female prime minister after the Revolution of Dignity, shaping the new government with her economic expertise and international negotiating skills. Political scientist Michael Dobbins explains the significance of her appointment amid war, reforms, and President Zelenskyy’s leadership.

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Fellowships and Programmes

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Fellowships

The KIU Research Fellowship in Interdisciplinary Ukrainian Studies supports innovative and significant research on topics related to Ukraine.

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Programmes

The KIU Competence Network Interdisciplinary Ukrainian Studies Frankfurt (Oder) – Berlin offers various programmes. Among them is its first Summer School on "War in Ukraine: Destruction of heritage – mastering legacy".

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Partners

Funded by

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with funds from the Federal Foreign Office (AA)