Mills & Reeve provides pro bono advice to UUKI on University twinning scheme

The “twinning” programme sees a Ukrainian university twinned with a UK university of a similar profile, size and education offer.

Partner and joint head of our education and research sector, Martin Priestley, organised the pro bono advice to Universities UK International (UUKI). Our principal associate Nathalie Jacoby-Danesh led on advising Universities UK International on the grant agreement between the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office and UUK and on the sub-grant agreement between UUK and CCG.

Martin said: “It has been a pleasure to be able to play a small part in supporting the vital work that Universities UK and the Cormack Consulting Group are doing to help and strengthen universities in Ukraine. It is great to see the “twinning” partnership agreement already providing lots of benefits to universities and students in Ukraine.”

Over 70 partnerships between UK and Ukrainian universities are now in place, facilitating the sharing of resources and support in a collective gesture of solidarity and reciprocity to help Ukrainian institutions, staff and students.

The partnerships will provide a wide range of practical assistance including:

• helping to physically rebuild campuses of Ukrainian universities that have been damaged and destroyed
• mutually recognising credits so that English-speaking Ukrainian students can take online courses from UK universities that count towards their final degree
• allowing Ukrainian teaching and research to continue in UK laboratories and classrooms where their own facilities were destroyed or damaged
• facilitating the sharing of academic resources such as libraries and technical equipment
• preserving Ukrainian archives in UK institutions; facilitating more cultural and language exchange opportunities
• sharing mental health support – particularly for Ukrainian staff and students suffering from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) due to conflict
• allowing Ukrainian students to ‘catch-up’ on the learning they have missed at summer schools hosted in UK institutions

Find more detail on the scheme here.