THE POSITIVE CHARGE OF PHYSICS TRANSFER BY NON-FORMAL V4-UKRAINE LEARNING
Visegrad+ Grant: Project No. 22510354
THE POSITIVE CHARGE OF PHYSICS TRANSFER BY NON-FORMAL V4-UKRAINE LEARNING
Duration period: 23/06/2025 – 21/12/2026
Project Overview:
The project brings together universities and student organizations from the V4 countries and Ukraine to promote non-formal STEM education, with a particular focus on physics. It aims to inspire Ukrainian youth to pursue science through collaboration with Visegrad partners by introducing best practices from international physics competitions such as "Náboj Physics" and Fyziklání developed by partners. Activities include preparing students for international physics tournaments, fostering teacher development, organizing academic mobility, publishing educational materials, creation of a new Learning Hub “Charge of Physics” and supporting the development of student communities at the Faculty of Physics.
Relevance and Context:
Main Issue and Current Situation:
In Ukraine, the formal system of physics education for youth is under pressure due to the ongoing war, limited funding, and brain drain. At the same time, non-formal STEM education is gaining popularity and demonstrates high effectiveness. However, Ukrainian educators lack access to best practices from the EU, especially in scaling informal education to regional levels and involving school teachers and university students in meaningful cooperation.
Project Contribution to Solution:
This project introduces the proven non-formal education strategies of the V4 countries to Ukraine through local adaptation, joint training, and public tournaments. Capacity building activities and joint events will support sustainable knowledge transfer. The establishment of the "Charge of Physics" Hub will become a focal point for spreading best practices, involving educators and students, and motivating youth through real competitions and challenges. The activities directly support soft skills, peer-to-peer learning, and professional development for teachers.
Added Value and Innovation:
The innovation lies in combining tournament-based learning with structured support for teachers and the launch of a multichannel Hub (Website, YouTube, Facebook, Telegram) for physics learners. The team will adapt the methods of Trojsten (Slovakia) and FYKOS (Czech Republic) to Ukrainian realities, while using V4 partners as mentors. Students will be both learners and facilitators, receiving mentoring and then sharing knowledge in their communities. The approach ensures long-term impact beyond the project timeframe.
Regional Relevance:
The project will reach Ukrainian regions bordering Slovakia and Hungary, and offers a model for international scientific cooperation in times of crisis. It also enables partners from the V4 to test scalable, cross-border non-formal education strategies. Joint events and tournaments will deepen cooperation and ensure real transfer of experience. The final outputs will be open-access and applicable in other regions of Ukraine or neighboring countries.
Project manager: Prof. Vasyl Rizak
Project team:
- Assoc. Prof. Oleksandr Chobal, PhD
- Assoc. Prof. Nataliya Popovych, PhD
- Assoc. Prof. Ivan Trykur, PhD
- Pavlo Ihnatolia, PhD student
- Diana Dubanych, student
The amount of the grant: €17,450.00
APPLICANT:
State University "Uzhhorod National University", Department of Solid State Electronics & Information Security
PROJECT PARTNERS:
- FYKOS, z.s. (Charles University in Prague),https://fykos.cz
- Trojsten, o. z. FMFI UK (Comenius University in Bratislava),https://trojsten.sk
- Institute of Physics and Applied Computer Science, University of Gdańsk https://ftims.pg.edu.pl/en/institute-pacs
- Faculty of Science, Pavol Jozef Šafárik University in Košice https://www.upjs.sk/prirodovedecka-fakulta/en/
Website: https://www.visegradfund.org/
