UzhNU signed Memorandum of Cooperation with Transcarpathian Regional State Administration
The signing of a Memorandum on Scientific and Practical Cooperation between Uzhhorod National University and the Transcarpathian Regional State Administration took place on Monday, December 16 2019. The document was signed by the Rector of UzhNU Volodymyr Smolanka and the Head of the Transcarpathian Regional State Administration Ihor Bondarenko. It should be noted that the current visit of the head of the region to the most powerful university of Transcarpathia was the first one in the last 4 years.
At the beginning of the meeting, Volodymyr Smolanka said: “Today, we are resuming cooperation, partnership, and friendly relations between our institutions, which we have been missing a lot in recent years. When our students choose a place to study, they choose not only the university, but also pay a great deal of attention, in which country and city it is located. That is why it is very important for us to support the regional state administration, and it supports us with its work. The intentions of the Memorandum include the implementation of joint projects, programmes aimed at achieving the common goals and interests in the fields of education, science, technology, innovation, as well as mutual involvement of both parties in public, social, charitable, sports, and cultural events, which take place in the region and in our higher educational institution."
The Head of the Transcarpathian Regional State Administration, Ihor Bondarenko, said in his speech: “There’s a wonderful event today. I am sure that the cooperation will be beneficial for both the university and the Transcarpathian Regional State Administration. We recently analyzed that 70% of employees of the Transcarpathian Regional Administration are the alumni of UzhNU. We already have some suggestions for cooperation, in particular, concerning internships for students at the Transcarpathian Regional State Administration.”
There were a lot of suggestions regarding future directions of cooperation between UzhNU and the Transcarpathian Regional State Administration at the meeting. In particular, there was a discussion about the interaction in the framework of the process of creation of ATCs, and project management trainings for community representatives. “We can see the establishing of the work of the Science Park activities that will be able to effectively combine innovative technologies and their implementation as a promising direction of productive cooperation. We see the possibility of cooperation in the creation of a business incubator, where we might jointly raise funds for start-up projects which already exist at UzhNU. According to the results of the innovative ideas competitions, held at UzhNU for several consecutive years, there are about sixty of them.” Said the Vice-Rector for Research Ihor Studeniak.
International activities are also possible areas of cooperation. “We are the westernmost region and the westernmost university in Ukraine. With the help of joint projects we can make each other sronger and more powerful. This applies both to submission of projects and their implementation.” Said the Vice-Rector for Academic Affairs, Research, and International Relations Myroslava Lendel.
"What is required from us? It is the understanding of a clear perspective of the region's development. I believe that the cooperation of the university, its considerable intellectual power and the Transcarpathian Regional State Administration in this respect is extremely necessary and important for our area. We also need to know what kind of specialists will be needed for the economy of the region in the near future. At the moment, the help of Transcarpathian Regional State Administration is also very important for us.” Said the First Vice-Rector Oleksandr Slyvka.
Following the signing of the memorandum, the parties agreed to prepare a timetable of events to be implemented in cooperation between the Transcarpathian Regional State Administration and UzhNU.
