Four SumDU students recently had a unique opportunity to study at the School of Fundraising, Grantwriting, and Entrepreneurship Development. It which was held at the Kyiv School of Economics as part of the initiative of the Alliance of Ukrainian Universities. This project develops skills to attract funding, create startups, and successfully implement student initiatives.

During the three-day training, SumDU students Yevhenii HAPCHENKO, Anna RYBALKO, Alina VETROVA, and Dalila BONDKHAS, together with other participants, immersed themselves in the world of entrepreneurship, grant opportunities, and fundraising strategies. The training consisted of two parts: theoretical (the first and second days) and practical (the third day). Thus, the students had an opportunity to demonstrate the acquired skills.

The program included:

🔹 Lectures and workshops from leading experts, entrepreneurs, and grant writing specialists who spoke about key principles of preparing grant applications, methods of funding, and effective strategies for developing startups;

🔹 Practical tasks during which students not only gained theoretical knowledge, but also worked on creating their own grant applications, which then received professional assessment and useful recommendations from experts;

🔹 Communication with entrepreneurs and business representatives who shared their experience in launching and scaling their own initiatives, as well as provided practical advice on attracting donor funds;

🔹 Networking and cooperation, which became an important part of the program.

SumDU students had an opportunity to establish contacts with representatives of seven Ukrainian universities within the Alliance. Particularly, active contacts were held with representatives of the YuriI Fedkovych University, the Kyiv School of Economics, the National University of Water and Environment Management, the Dnipro Polytechnic, and the Alfred Nobel University.

Studying at the School was not only an opportunity to gain new knowledge, but also to practically apply the acquired skills in real projects. SumDU students returned with specific ideas, developed applications and new professional contacts that can help in implementation of their initiatives.

The participants from SumDU express their gratitude to Andrii SIDLIARENKO (executive director of the Alliance) for organizing the event, to SumDU for an opportunity to participate, to the Kyiv School of Economics for their hospitality! They are also convinced that the acquired skills will help them successfully attract funding for their projects and develop own initiatives.

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