Reaching out: Furiv from Ukrainia is looking for a PhD position

My name is Uliana Furiv, MSc. I am a 28-year-old Ukrainian woman. In 2018, I graduated from MaRIHE with a Master's degree in Higher Education in 2018. Between 2018-2022 I worked as an Associate Project Officer at the UNESCO International Institute for Educational Planning (IIEP) on the project 'SDG-4: Planning for Flexible Learning Pathways in Higher Education'.  In February, just before the war started, I ended my contract with UNESCO-IIEP, hoping to resume my work in education in Ukraine. The war had taken many things away from me, including the chance to use my talent for my country.

Just a few days ago I managed to evacuate my younger brother and sister to Poland. It was a long and difficult journey, which took us 24 hours, while we live only an hour and a half away from the border. Yesterday a town in western Ukraine, through which we evacuated only a few days ago, was bombed (only 20km from the NATO border). Luckily, we made it to the Netherlands, where a charity agreed to shelter the three of us for a while. My father, mother and older brother couldn't leave, because men aged 18-60 are not allowed to leave the country.

Since the first day of the war, I have been trying to support Ukraine and my people by raising funds for relief units in the affected areas. It is difficult to do any job that is not directly related to Ukraine. I feel sorry for the people who are forced to live in cold basements without access to electricity, water and other basic amenities.

While studying for my master's degree in Finland, I researched higher education during the crisis. I studied how 18 displaced universities from eastern Ukraine were able to survive (using crisis management strategies) the armed conflict in 2014 and move into Ukrainian-controlled territory. Now the war has affected the whole country and millions of children and students have no access to education. My deep desire is to help Ukraine rebuild its (higher) education system. Therefore, I am keen to pursue a PhD in a field related to education in emergencies, crisis management in education, education for peacebuilding, access to refugee education, etc. Please share my message or let me know if you are aware of such opportunities. 

If you would like to know more about my experience as well as see my work, please see the attachment below.

Thank you for being with Ukraine in this hour of need!

Uliana Furiv
ulyana.furiv@gmail.com