Academic Mobility as a Strategic Instrument of Resilience: Reimagining Ukraine’s Internationalization of Higher Education during the Russian Military Invasion

This presentation examines how Ukrainian universities have strategically leveraged internationalization and academic mobility as instruments of resilience during the Russian military invasion. The study is part of a broader research project supported by the British Academy and Cara, which investigates internationalization during war as an institutional strategy for resilience and continuity. Drawing on original empirical research conducted among Ukrainian students at Ivan Franko National University of Lviv, the University of Oxford, and the University of Glasgow – including surveys and research interviews – the study explores how the nature and meaning of academic mobility have fundamentally shifted since the beginning of the full-scale invasion in February 2022.

Against the backdrop of disruptions that have affected Ukrainian higher education since 2014 – including occupation, displacement, loss of facilities, and fragmentation of academic communities – universities have demonstrated remarkable institutional continuity and civic commitment. The analysis shows that mobility has therefore moved beyond its pre-war function as a pathway for individual development and institutional cooperation. It now operates as a mechanism of wartime agency, academic diplomacy, and knowledge sovereignty, contributing to identity preservation and long-term capacity-building for post-war reconstruction.

In parallel, Ukrainian universities have adapted their internationalization strategies under extreme circumstances, maintaining global partnerships, securing new formats of collaboration, and engaging more deeply in European initiatives. The presentation argues that internationalization, once primarily a developmental priority, has become a core resilience strategy for Ukrainian higher education during the Russian military invasion – with academic mobility emerging as one of its most significant strategic instruments. Internationalization is now driven by the need to safeguard knowledge continuity, strengthen global visibility, and protect Ukraine’s intellectual sovereignty.

Finally, the study examines how this reorientation is reshaping not only institutional policies, but also students’ own sense of agency, responsibility, and contribution to Ukraine’s future.