SumDU participates in the Ukrainian University Alliance school “Grant Ecosystem”

On 2-5 April 2024, the National University of Water and Environmental Engineering hosted a school for administrators of the Ukrainian University Alliance on the topic “Grant Ecosystem”. Almost three dozen representatives of higher education institutions improved their skills in attracting and implementing grants. They shared experience and developed the best solutions for further joint work within the Alliance.

Sumy State University was represented by the joint team of the International Cooperation Office and the Media Centre.

“The Grant Ecosystem School brought together the Alliance partners to create a network of grant preparation, management and administration. Modern formats of work, exciting discussions and open exchange of the best practices in grant work – this is how we build our team of professionals for further effective cooperation”, – said Kostiantyn KYRYCHENKO (head of the SumDU International Cooperation Office).

The participants discussed grant projects at all stages: from application to administration and audit. They also sorted out legal, financial, and communication aspects of projects. David QUIN, an Irish colleague, also joined the school and spoke about his experience of participating in the Alliance. Besides, the event included a workshop on the AI model use in grant preparation.

“Reliable legal support is required for grant projects: from checking the project application to signing all annexes and reports. This school was a great opportunity to consider peculiarities of legal assistance in project application, risk matrix, budget, etc. We reviewed the legal support for concluding a grant agreement and obstacles at this stage. Identified problematic cases of legal support for grant implementation and ways to solve them. Grant reporting was also discussed.

Note: The school was organized by the Ukrainian University Alliance. It comprises six higher education institutions: Taras Shevchenko Kyiv National University, Kyiv School of Economics, National Technical University “Dnipro Polytechnic”, National University of Water and Environmental Engineering, Sumy State University and Ukrainian Catholic University.