On 8–11 September, Glasgow's Scottish Event Campus hosted the 36th Annual Conference of the European Association for International Education (EAIE) — the largest international higher education event in Europe. This year it brought together more than 7,300 professionals from over 100 countries. Sumy State University was represented at the forum by Tetyana MAYBORODA, Deputy Head of the International Relations Office .

SumDU took part as part of a broad Ukrainian delegation. The delegation was led by Deputy Minister of Education and Science Mykola TROFYMENKO and included representatives of the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine, the Ukrainian State Centre for International Education (UDCIE), the National Erasmus+ Office in Ukraine, the Global Coalition of Ukrainian Studies, the secretariat of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on Education, Science and Innovation, and 12 higher education institutions, including SumDU.

Ukraine presented its higher education opportunities at the joint national stand Study in Ukraine and within the Education Remains a Target exhibition.

"International presence should open new opportunities for our universities: joint programmes, research, and academic exchange. Ukraine represents a strong and resilient higher education system, ready for full-fledged partnership," said Deputy Minister Mykola Trofymenko.

Over the course of the conference, SumDU's representative held dozens of meetings with existing and potential international partners and took part in sessions and discussions on the internationalisation of education, the future of the Erasmus+ programme, the cooperation of Ukrainian universities as associated partners within European Universities Alliances, and the further prospects of Ukraine, Moldova and the Balkan countries as candidates for full partnership.

Among the key events was the session "Universities as Engines of National Recovery: Lessons from Ukraine for Crisis-Affected Regions Worldwide," organised jointly with the European University Association and Cormack Consultancy Group. It was devoted to the experience of Ukrainian higher education during the war — the strong and resilient system in which lecturers, students, researchers and management teams ensure the continuity of education and research every day, preserve university communities, and keep moving forward despite the challenges of war.

Also notable was the panel discussion "University Alliances Join Forces with Ukraine: Building a Resilient and Competitive Europe," which grew out of a focus-group workshop held in Prague in October 2025 that worked on recommendations for the European Union regarding Ukraine's status as an associated partner — a workshop in which Ms Maiboroda took a direct part. Meetings also took place at the stands of the university alliances E³UDRES², NEOLAiA and FilmEU, in which SumDU participates as an associated partner; participants discussed further directions for cooperation within the alliances.

A separate strand of work involved meetings with representatives of Exchange Programs of the U.S. Department of State during a dedicated briefing session, the EducationUSA Europe and Eurasia Regional Briefing for U.S. and European Higher Education Institutions at EAIE 2026, as well as with the leadership of the Canadian Bureau for International Education. An important outcome of the conference was the start of negotiations and the initiation of new cooperation agreements with representatives of higher education institutions from Argentina, Turkey, Ireland, Spain, Poland, Georgia, the Netherlands, Belgium and many other countries.

Sumy State University extends its sincere gratitude for supporting its participation in the conference to the European Association for International Education (EAIE), the Ukrainian State Centre for International Education (UDCIE), and the University of Liverpool.

Participation in EAIE 2026 once again confirmed that SumDU, despite the challenges of wartime, remains an active member of the global academic community and an integral part of the team representing Ukrainian higher education around the world.