Dear colleagues, employees, students, the entire university family!

I sincerely congratulate you on the New Year 2025!

Another difficult year for Ukraine and for all of us is coming to an end... A year that once again brought a lot of grief and destruction. Our university also suffered: one of the oldest buildings – the mechanical engineering facility – was damaged as a result of an air attack. Despite all challenges, this year once again demonstrated the unity and purposefulness of our university community. The university shows high performance in all areas of activity: education, research, scientific competitions, grant programs, partnerships.

For several years in a row, SumDU has confidently held high positions in rankings: Times Higher Education, QS, UI GreenMetric, etc. SumDU again took the first place among Ukrainian universities in the Times Higher Education World University Rankings and became the only representative of Ukraine among the thousand top institutions worldwide. We have new landmark recognitions. In particular, SumDU entered the top 300 universities in the world and headed the ranking table of domestic HEIs. Our university is among three Ukrainian institutions included in the Times Higher Education Online Learning Rankings (silver). Our strategic partner, the University of Liverpool, was awarded the gold level in this ranking, which once again confirms the strength of our international cooperation within the Twinning Initiative. SumDU is actively integrating into the international scientific and educational community. We became an associated partner of the European Alliance of Universities “E³UDRES²”. It unfolds new opportunities for our students and teachers.

Science is developing dynamically. This is evidenced by income from performance of research projects commissioned by domestic and foreign partners. SumDU has been consistently among the best Ukrainian universities in terms of research funding for several years in a row. SumDU is the leader in the number of winning projects for young scientists. Six of our projects will receive funding from the state budget from January 2025. We are proud of the young elite of scientists. This means SumDU has a great scientific potential and a powerful lever for further successful development!

We establish academic contacts, expand joint projects with colleagues within the Alliance of Ukrainian Universities. We recently signed a cooperation agreement with the Izmail State Humanitarian University. We widen partnership relations with communities and institutions throughout Ukraine. This is evidenced by signing cooperation memorandums with the Chortkiv City Council and the Ternopil Regional Employment Center.

The university is, first of all, students. They shape the past, present, and future of the higher education institution. We are grateful to the applicants who choose SumDU. This means studying at our university is prestigious and SumDU diplomas are a ticket to a successful career.

2024 is a successful year for our talented students. SumDU won silver at the Summer Universiade of Ukraine. Our creatively gifted students have traditionally become winners of all-Ukrainian and international art festivals.

Students are our great pride. They are incredible. Smart, creative, purposeful. Extremely productive. They manage to be successful in their studies and implement excellent scientific, social and volunteer projects. Together with our entire university community, they actively support defenders of Ukraine, demonstrating patriotism and social responsibility. We are grateful to everyone who joins volunteer activities, who works for victory, who on the front line or in the rear cherishes a happy future for themselves, their families and their native country.

The New Year Eve is a time when we stop, look back and thank each other for support and cooperation. This is a time of bright thoughts, warmth of soul and family unity. I wish you these festive days will fill your homes with comfort, hearts with joy, and thoughts with optimism and faith in the best. We believe that the coming year 2025 will be the beginning of a new stage: successful, inspired and full of pleasant events. Most importantly, the peace that we all strive for will come to every home and every heart.

Happy New Year!

With best wishes,

Vasyl KARPUSHA (SumDU rector)