About Aurora European University Alliance

The full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine has forced us to reorient a number of areas of cooperation to help Karazin University faculty, students and staff who remained in Ukraine, as well as those who were forced to go abroad and seek refuge as a result of the hostilities.

The Aurora Alliance was one of the first to support Karazin University by offering quick and effective measures. As the first critical aid at the beginning of the war, funds were raised (EUR 13,000) to purchase the necessary equipment to organize the educational process at the university online. The partners launched a fundraising campaign to raise funds to support the academic community of Karazin University.

On March 13, 2022, the President of the Aurora Alliance, Jon Atli Benediktsson, announced the official position on supporting Ukraine and Karazin University in the context of the war unleashed by the Russian Federation, and in April 2022, the Alliance members published an Action Plan under the Capacity Building Support Program to provide assistance in the short and long term.

On May 10-12, 2022, the delegation of Karazin University headed by Rector Tetiana Kahanovska took part in the final meeting of the partner universities of the Aurora Alliance held at the University of Innsbruck (Austria). As an honorary delegate of the meeting, Tetiana Kahanovska presented Karazin University to the academic community of the Alliance and outlined the current situation after the Russian invasion.

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Participants of the Aurora Spring Biennial at the University of Innsbruck, May 10-12, 2022

On May 10, 2022, during the first meeting between Rector of Karazin University Tetiana Kahanovska and Rector of the University of Innsbruck Mark Thielman and President of the Aurora Alliance, Rector of the University of Iceland Jon Atli Benediktsson, a check for over UAH 1.5 million was received as a sign of support and solidarity. The funds raised will be used to rebuild and restore Karazin University.

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From left to right: Rector of Karazin University Prof. Tetiana Kahanovska; Rector of the University of Iceland, President of the Aurora Alliance Prof. Jon Atli Benediktsson; Rector of the University of Innsbruck Prof. Mark Thielman

The first biennial meeting of the Alliance culminated in a charity concert dedicated to raising funds to support Karazin University as part of its fundraising campaign.

International Summer School in Refugee Law and Rights

In August 2022, Karazin University was scheduled to host the International Summer School in Refugee Law and Rights with the support of the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD). Due to the hostilities and constant shelling by Russian troops, it was impossible to hold the school in Kharkiv. In order to support Karazin University in its efforts to disseminate academic knowledge even in the face of extremely difficult wartime conditions, Palacký University in Olomouc (Czech Republic), as a partner within the Aurora Alliance, offered to co-organize the school and host its participants.

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The first International Summer School on Mass Displacement: Focus on IDPs at Karazin University, August 5-16, 2019. Photo courtesy of the Karazin University Web Communications Center

Subsequently, the format of the event was expanded, and the 9th International Summer School on the Status and Rights of Refugees at Palacki University in Olomouc became one of the initiatives of the Capacity Building Support Program. It is envisaged that the school's budget will be transferred to the restoration of Karazin University.