From donating surplus laboratory equipment to collaborating on research papers, Pitt professors are working with Ukrainian scholars in disciplines ranging from quantum physics to post-war reconstruction.
Since Russia invaded Ukraine on Feb. 24, 2022, academics in educational facilities have faced feelings of unsafety and isolation, and academic research has taken a sharp decline in regions more heavily impacted by air strikes and other hostilities. Pitt professors have established and maintained connections with scholars in Ukraine through a variety of programs and research collaborations during the war.
Ukrainian schools and research centers have been primary targets of Russian bombs, causing significant losses in the field of science and astronomy. Over 3,600 higher education establishments across Ukraine have been damaged since the start of the war.
Sergey Frolov, a professor in the Department of Physics and Astronomy, was born in Ukraine and said he is involved in an ongoing research-based collaboration between Ukrainian scientists and Pitt professors.
“We are always trying to expand and extend the collaborations with Ukraine,” Frolov said. “Pitt professors and Ukrainian academics collaborate on quantum physics research and are writing papers together, and we are also involved in an educational program where we are helping create a master’s program in quantum computing in Kharkiv, Ukraine.”
Frolov also initiated an effort to collect lab equipment that internal labs at Pitt no longer need and send the donated equipment to scientists in Ukraine.
“The equipment in Ukraine may be less advanced and from the Soviet Era or before,” Frolov said. “This equipment [from Pitt] would allow the academics and scientists in Ukraine to keep some projects going through the war, attain results and become competitive to apply for their own funding.”
Frolov said a central goal of this effort is to sustain “some kernel of science” in Ukraine and help grow the nation back into a full academic and research enterprise, which historically is “very strong.”
“Ukraine has made many contributions to science and innovation — there is much to build on and much to preserve. This equipment could bridge [Ukraine] into a new era of research and science,” Frolov said.
Frolov said helping sustain the research within Ukraine and working on collaborative efforts have immensely benefited both sides.
“When we collaborate with the scientists there, they do some calculations for us, and some of the samples we work with come from Ukraine,” Frolov said. “I am hoping this collaboration and the lab equipment donation effort extend beyond Pitt.”
Jennifer Brick Murtazashvili, a professor in the School of Public and International Affairs and director of the Center for Governance and Markets, said she has been working with Ukraine for a long time and that the CGM works to collaborate with and support scholars in Ukraine.
“I work closely with many faculty at the Kyiv School of Economics, especially since the war,” Murtazashvili said. “We focus on post-war reconstruction and have collaborated on writing and editing journals on this.”
Murtazashvili remarked that people at the local level in Ukraine and at the universities solve problems and collaborate well together, and that the CGM strives, through this collaboration, to keep the intellectual community in Ukraine alive.
“The CGM has a unique mission to explore the innovative ways people come together to solve problems and aim to help Ukrainians create new political identities,” Murtazashvili said. “Another central focus of the collaboration and research is considering how to support Ukrainians when universities have been damaged and displaced.”
Adriana Helbig, a professor in the Department of Music and associate dean for undergraduate studies and the College of General Studies, said her support for Ukraine has evolved through many stages since the war began.
“Initially, I concentrated on sharing my knowledge of Ukrainian culture and music — forms of expression that remain vital to cultural resilience and resistance,” Helbig said. “As the humanitarian and educational impacts of the war worsened, I became more actively involved in supporting Ukrainian students, helping them navigate pathways to higher education in the United States.”
In her role as associate dean for undergraduate studies, Helbig said she remains deeply committed to fostering long-term academic partnerships and institutional commitments with Ukraine through service on the boards of the Shevchenko Scientific Society and the Ukrainian Studies Fund.
“I work to ensure the ongoing growth of Ukrainian studies in North America and at Pitt and to help restore and amplify academic voices that have been systematically marginalized and silenced throughout Ukraine’s history,” Helbig said.
Kathleen Manukyan, executive director of the Summer Language Institute, said the Ukrainian group is a “standout group” that defines the spirit of the whole institute.
“In the Ukrainian program, students learn a whole year of Ukrainian in just six weeks,” Manukyan said. “The program involves a ton of cultural events and Ukrainian guest speakers, and every week students meet a different Ukrainian specialist.”
According to Manukyan, students engage in hands-on learning activities involving Ukrainian culture during the classes as well.
“There is a strong cultural atmosphere woven into the program thanks to [its] professor, who is great at making connections in Ukraine,” Manukyan said. “People are willing to come and speak for her, and as such, many layers of collaboration and connection with Ukraine are integrated in the program.”